Erin Newton - The Park Forum

November 26, 2025November 23, 2025

A Psalm for Thanksgiving

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 26 Read: 1 Chronicles 22 Listen: (3:25) Read: Psalms 97-98 Listen: (2:19)

Links for tomorrow’s readings:

Nov 27 Read: 1 Chronicles 23 Listen: (4:20) Read: Psalms 99-101 Listen: (2:42)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 100:4

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

Reflection: A Psalm for Thanksgiving

By Erin Newton

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Gather around the dinner table, smile and laugh. Curl up in chairs and on the floor with blankets by the fire’s warm glow. Breathe in the crisp autumn air and let your creaturely body run wild and free. Everywhere nature sings to God: the orange and yellow leaves; the crisp brown crunch of acorns; the rustling winds through the bare grass; the birds fluffing their feathers, capturing the warmth; the mild days and the quiet, longer nights. The days slow down, giving our souls the chance to join creation in a shout of joy.

Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Quiet your mind and let go of your grip. He holds our breath. He holds our life. He holds our future. Like children tucked in warm blankets drifting carefree, we are his. This green planet is our pasture. We graze and frolic and rest under his care. He has created us to enjoy the blue skies, the sunsets and the sunrises, the full moons and the shooting stars. We give thanks, and he keeps guard.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

The whole of creation, the shelter of our homes, the tabernacle of our bodies invite him in with thanksgiving. Enter the gates of life with unending thanksgiving to him. Enter into community with family and friends, knowing he has created this world for you to thank him.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

He is good. He is “the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God.” Knowing the Lord is the joy that can never be taken away. It endures. It endures hardship. It endures time. It endures the dark nights of the soul. You are loved. You are known. And you are never forgotten from generation to generation. For as our Lord is good and loving, he bestows that on you.

May your Thanksgiving and holiday season be a gateway to hope that exceeds expectation, that exceeds present circumstances, that surprises even yourself. And may we enter his gates with thanksgiving this season.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are they who trust in him! — Psalm 34.8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Consider Supporting Our Work

Our work needs your support. Especially at this time of year, please consider becoming a one-time or monthly donor.

Supporting our Work

November 19, 2025November 17, 2025

Revelry and Reverence

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 19 Read: 1 Chronicles 13-14 Listen: (4:13) Read: Psalms 88 Listen: (1:58)

Scripture Focus: 1 Chronicles 13:7–10

7 They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.

9 When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. 10 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

Reflection: Revelry and Reverence

By Erin Newton

What is holy revelry without appropriate reverence?

Martin Luther is said to have proclaimed, “If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.” I concur with the desire for eternal laughter and frivolity. Yet some prefer to keep religion serious and devout, perhaps echoing the lyrics from Sound of Music, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?,” who was (according to the song) “a clown.”

David and the Israelites were fellow “clowns” celebrating the return of the ark—with all their might. The same account in 2 Samuel 6 tells of David’s wife Michal criticizing him for “going around half-naked . . . as any vulgar fellow would!” David says his celebration was merely an expression of joy.

In both accounts of the ark’s return, the fate of Uzzah is repeated. As a quick, seemingly absent-minded, reaction he failed to show the ark and by proxy, God, the proper respect. David danced and celebrated without care of his reputation or impression. Uzzah lapsed into religious carelessness. David was chastised. Uzzah died.

The juxtaposed stories of how a person responds in this religious setting is interesting. David was much like the “will-o’-the-wisp” nun Maria, carried on by his emotions and joy. The story of him dancing is often used to encourage others to hold nothing back emotionally, to praise God with every fiber of our being. Uzzah could have benefited a little from Mother Abbess, who sought to ensure obedience.

What of churches today? Are we to follow the lead of holy revelry and let our joy go unbounded? Or do we keep our minds focused on the holiness of God, knowing that a misstep into irreverence would only anger our Lord?

As they say, everything in moderation. And perhaps everything according to our context.

So many Christians today have lost the joy of the Lord. Perhaps their reading of God’s Word has been used to define faith as a stern list of do’s and don’ts. The focus is constantly on finding the right posture before God, always with downcast eyes and quiet reflection. This type of church would benefit from some revelry before God.

While God is the source and aim of our joy, loving God isn’t just a life of fun and laughter without morals and responsibility.

The pendulum must continually swing between revelry and reverence. May we always seek to find the middle.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to you holy hill and to your dwelling;

That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness; and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God. — Psalm 43.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Consider Supporting Our Work

Please consider becoming a donor. Support ad-free content that brings biblical devotionals to inboxes across the world.

Supporting our Work

November 12, 2025November 10, 2025

Starving People for Gold

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 12 Read: 2 Kings 25 Listen: (5:24) Read: Psalms 78.38-72 Listen: (7:12)

Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 25:3, 11-15

3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.

11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.

Reflection: Starving People for Gold

By Erin Newton

The siege against Jerusalem by the Babylonian army lasted nearly two years. What takes us just seconds to read covers months of devastation for the people. Siege warfare, at least to our nearly isolated geography in the United States, is a strange concept to our minds.

According to Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible, to lay a siege “involves the surrounding of a city until its population either surrendered or was weakened enough to be overcome.” Famine sets in, not from lack of rain but from manmade power. This type of warfare is still happening today.

In 2 Kings 25, we see the Babylonian army surrounding Jerusalem and effectively prohibiting them from normal trade or receiving crops or aid from outside their walls.

The Babylonians knew that hungry, starved people were easier to control. Not only were they easier to push over, but they were much easier to rob.

Part of 2 Kings 25 focuses heavily on the destruction of the Temple. Nebuchadnezzar burned it down. It was an affront to God as the place where he met with his people was torn apart, stripped of its beauty and sacred vessels.

But Babylon had already decimated the temples of God by isolating and starving humans. We are familiar with 1 Corinthians 3:16: “You yourselves are God’s temple.” We know that each person is the image of God. So what was done to the Temple was merely a reflection of what had already been done to the people.

And for what? To gain power. To gather gold.

Nebuchadnezzar stroked his ego by decimating God’s people. He filled his coffers for no other reason than to appear important and flaunt his power over others. To strengthen himself, he had to weaken others—by any means necessary. And that is the face of cruelty.

Many of us today are opening the gates of our pantries, behind the cabinet walls, and counting the few measly cans left on the shelf. Fellow image bearers are looking into accounts, drained by the siege of those in power. Just like the ancient tactic to starve a people in order to control them, powers are exploiting the weak.
Will another gilded ornament be placed on the wall while supplies are strategically cut off from those in need? There is nothing new under the sun, just like Qoheleth said (Eccl 1.9). Cruelty today looks an awful lot the same.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Rescue me from the hurtful sword and deliver me from the hand of foreign people,
Whose mouths speak deceitfully and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.
May our sons be like plants well nurtured from their youth, and our daughters like sculptured corners of a palace.
May our barns be filled to overflowing with all manner of crops; may the flocks in our pastures increase by thousands and tens of thousands; may our cattle be fat and sleek.
May there be no breaching of the walls, no going into exile, no wailing in the public squares.
Happy are the people of whom this is so! Happy are the people whose God is the Lord! — Psalm 144.11-16

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Always the Rock of Refuge

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 5 Read: 2 Kings 18 Listen: (6:52) Read: Psalms 70-71 Listen: (3:29)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 71:3a, 14

3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go…
14 As for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.

Reflection: Always the Rock of Refuge

By Erin Newton

I remember sitting in the NICU with my twins hoping against the continual onslaught of bad news. Hope was hard to grasp; anxiety became a constant companion. I assumed that I would always feel that way.

Always. There is a constant and enduring essence to the word “always.” It is expected. It is reliable. For me, it was constant dread, then I latched onto Psalm 71 for dear life.

I needed a rock of refuge on day 1 of the NICU. I needed refuge on day 30, day 75, day 150 and on that last day, number 241. I read this psalm every day. It was my chant as I walked into the hospital. It was the prayer when I called each morning. It was the thought that helped me drift off to sleep.

I went to that rock of refuge again and again. And from that continual, enduring, and reliable source of refuge, I found hope.

Our story is a happy one. Just this week we celebrated the twins’ ninth birthday. Anxiety, doubt, and fear would have me think that maybe the Psalm 71 chant somehow guaranteed a positive outcome. But that’s not how Scripture and meditation work. It is not some magical spell (despite how much my dread wanted a solution). Prayers anchor our hearts against the ebb and flow of life.

For me, anxiety and fear continue to cling to the edges of my mind. I was right; I do always feel this way. I haven’t been freed of pain and suffering. New crises emerge. But what has changed is my relationship with that rock of refuge. I know he is reliable. I know he’s an open door for me any day or night. I know I can reach him with a faint whisper. I know I can reach him with a heartfelt scream.

While pain and suffering (and anxiety and dread) are always with me, so is hope. Verse 20 reminds us of the reality of life: “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.”

Our life is restored when we learn that we can run back to God, our rock of refuge. Maybe we stumble and crawl, but this return to the rock is a defiant effort against darkness. God, our rock is always there, even in the depths.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
Indeed, our heart rejoices in him, for in his holy Name we put our trust.
Let your loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, as we have put our trust in you. — Psalm 33.20-22

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Wholeness for the Holidays — Readers’ Choice

Readers’ Choice is here: Over two-thirds of our devotionals get emailed responses from readers like you. Hearing that what we have written is meaningful to you is meaningful to us. That’s why we love sharing some of your comments and messages. Thank you, readers. We do what we do to serve you. There’s still time to tell us about your favorite, most meaningful posts of the year. If you shared it with someone, or it helped you, let us know via email, direct message, or by filling out the linked form.

Links for today’s readings:

Oct 30 Read: 2 Kings 11-12 Listen: (7:38) Read: Psalms 60-61 Listen: (2:27)

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:

Brian, DC — Thanks for this reflection. I learned about kintsugi from Mako Fujimura when he gave me a tour of his studio years ago. I love the theology of this practice. I agree that looking at something that was broken but is being used again is beautiful. But the practice of kintsugi showcases the brokenness and then renders each crack as a new work of beauty. Such grace, joy, creativity, and redemption.

Like last year, we will repost all Christmas-themed Readers’ Choice posts together in one week. We pray our hearts are prepared to make room for Christ this coming Advent season. This post was originally published on December 9, 2024, based on readings from Isaiah 9.2, 6.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 9.2, 6

2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Reflection: Wholeness for the Holidays — Readers’ Choice

By Erin Newton

The thing about Advent is that it is just a waiting game. We know to wait with hope for Jesus’s birth. We know that we will receive love through him. We know that joy will follow this grand event. But what does the peace of Advent offer us?

What are we hoping to find in peace? The feeling of hopelessness, that’s familiar. The heartache of being unloved, we know what that’s like. The weight of sadness and lack of joy is a regular routine. What is life without peace? It is chaotic, broken, raging, tumultuous, scary, fear-driven, uncertain.

Peace is a noun and, within the original Hebrew context, it came from a verb meaning “wholeness” or “complete.” Peace also carries other connotations such as calmness or freedom from conflict. But in the most basic essence of the term—peace is that which fills all voids.

So when Isaiah proclaims the coming child who is a counselor, deity, and father—he is also a prince of wholeness.

The gift of the season is Someone who makes things whole. He mends tears. He binds wounds. He fills chasms. He makes all that is insufficient sufficient.

There is a Japanese technique for mending broken pottery—kintsugi. Many have seen the beautiful pieces that were formerly broken shards of bowls or plates, delicately repaired using golden lacquer. The gold seams not only repair that which was broken but reinvent the beauty of the vessel. The bowl, albeit beautiful as it was before it was broken, becomes an exquisite piece of artistry in kintsugi.

The peace of Advent is like these mended pots. The peace of God is a promise of mending, repairing, and completing all that was broken or lacking. But it is more than just taking the pieces of our lives and putting them back into working order. The peace of God is reinventing our lives, binding the pieces that make us who we are and then shining the golden rays of Himself amongst the pieces.

Isaiah speaks of the people walking in the darkness, living in deep darkness. But the light breaks through. The radiance of Christ, an infant born in a lowly place, illuminates all that they could not see. It is the wholeness of life and light that overcomes the darkness here.

With the Holy Spirit, we no longer lack anything. The pieces have been spiritually mended. The golden seams are already there.

The Lord’s Prayer:

We will take a break from The Divine Hours prayers for the month of October and instead pray Dallas Willard’s paraphrase of The Lord’s Prayer:

Dear Father, always near us, may your name be treasured and loved, may your rule be completed in us—may your will be done here on earth in just the way it is done in heaven.

Give us today the things we need today, and forgive us our sins and impositions on you as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.

Please don’t put us through trials, but deliver us from everything bad. Because you are the one in charge, and you have all the power, and the glory too is all yours-forever-which is just the way we want it!

Author: Erin Newton

A Psalm for Thanksgiving

Links for today’s readings:

Links for tomorrow’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Psalm 100:4

Reflection: A Psalm for Thanksgiving

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Read more: We Gather Together – Hymns for Giving Thanks

Consider Supporting Our Work

Revelry and Reverence

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: 1 Chronicles 13:7–10

Reflection: Revelry and Reverence

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Read more: Irreverently Abusing God’s Presence

Consider Supporting Our Work

Starving People for Gold

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 25:3, 11-15

Reflection: Starving People for Gold

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Read more: Restoration Begins

Read more: The End for Summer Fruit

Always the Rock of Refuge

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Psalm 71:3a, 14

Reflection: Always the Rock of Refuge

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Read more: Embracing Uncertainty

Read more: Discipline for the Anxious

Wholeness for the Holidays — Readers’ Choice

Links for today’s readings:

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 9.2, 6

Reflection: Wholeness for the Holidays — Readers’ Choice

The Lord’s Prayer:

Support Our Work

Many times at the end of the year, funds are low and end-of-year giving is vital to fund the coming year. Donate today to help us in 2026.

https://theparkforum.org/support/

Read more about Truth and Love — Love of Advent