Dial-a-Devotion --January 9th

In the name of Jesus our Savior, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church welcomes you to ‘Dial-a-Devotion’, this is Vicar Tom Schlund.  Our text for today is from Psalm 62:5-8 which reads:

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
 for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
 my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
 my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 
Trust in him at all times, O people; 
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us."

Are you ever unsure about anything?  It seems as though our world is an increasingly unsure place.  We see people dying and property being destroyed by earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis.  Wars and other uprisings come and go with regularity.  Violence carried out by governments against their citizens take place around the world. Here at home we see school shootings and workplace violence senselessly take the lives of people. 

Closer to home we may find our budgets strained by lower incomes and higher prices for the basic things we need in life.  Chronic illness and pain may make us unsure about what tomorrow might hold.  Will we feel ok, will we be able to function, and will we still even be here tomorrow?  So many questions for which we don’t have certain answers.

This is where our Psalm for today can be so comforting.  The Psalmist declares that God alone is where he gets his hope.  God is his only rock and his salvation.  Because God is his rock he will not be shaken.  Then he exhorts all people to trust in God at all times because God is a refuge for us.  The good news for you is that God is your source of hope, your rock, and your fortress.  As a baptized, redeemed child of God you can be certain that he will be with you always.  Whether you have plenty or not enough, whether you are sick or healthy, or even whether you live or die, God is your refuge and your strength and he will be with you always.  You can put your hope in him and you will never be shaken. 


Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for being our rock and our salvation.  Help us always put our hope in you no matter what happens in our lives or in the world around us.  Remind us that we have nothing to fear because you have adopted us as your children through our baptism.  Help us to live each day with the hope that we have in you.  In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen