Psalms - The Park Forum

August 12, 2021August 10, 2021

After the Whirlwind — Readers’ Choice

Today’s post was originally published, November 2nd, 2020, based on readings from Hosea 8 and Psalm 125.
It was selected by reader, Diane from Corinth, TX
“My prayer has been for all to remember that, no matter who is in the White House, God is on His throne and Christ is still King. Our rights and freedoms do not come from the government, but from the Lord himself. And our marching orders remain the same: Love the Lord and serve Him, Glorify His Name.”

Scripture Focus: Hosea 8.2-4, 7
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
they make idols for themselves
to their own destruction.

7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.

Psalm 125.3-5
3 The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
for then the righteous might use
their hands to do evil.
4 LORD, do good to those who are good,
to those who are upright in heart.
5 But those who turn to crooked ways
the LORD will banish with the evildoers.
Peace be on Israel.

Reflection: After the Whirlwind — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

I am writing this devotional on Thursday evening October 29th based not on political events (whatever may occur) but on our readings in Hosea. We have been in this section of the Bible for every election week since 2012 when we started following this reading plan.

Not only is this reading plan nothing new, contentiousness in politics is nothing new to the world or to people of faith. The Athenians thought their fellow Greeks in Sparta to be embarrassingly immature in their voting practices. Whereas Athenians (and most Greeks and Romans) voted by show of hands or by secret ballot, the Spartans rejected these. Sparta preferred to vote by which side shouted the loudest.

Tomorrow’s vote in the United States concludes a Spartan-like election. Shouting is the new norm, even if our actual votes are by secret ballot.

With the validity of the United States election process being attacked, from within and from without, many fear that careless, vitriolic words from leaders may inspire physical violence that could erupt from either side of our fractured political spectrum. The outcome itself may be delayed longer than impatient partisans will be willing to wait.

To paraphrase Hosea, we have sown the wind with our violent rhetoric and we may reap the whirlwind of violent outcomes.

This week, we will pray for repentance, patience, peace, and faith using the scriptures from our reading plan. We will pray through the closing chapters of Hosea, beginning today in Hosea’s eighth chapter.

We pray that in every nation, Christians will repent of any political idols we cling to. Our faith in them will only reap the whirlwind. May we place our trust instead in our true and only king.

After the Whirlwind
Oh God, we confess we have sowed the wind
Of idolatry
Of violent words

We fear reaping the whirlwind
Of violence
Of suffering
Of humiliation

Forgive us for rejecting what is good
Forgive us for dehumanizing our brothers and sisters
Forgive us for demanding
Our freedom
Our lusts
Our way

Help us, Lord, to remember
To repent
To soften
To turn back to you
May we not waste away, crops lost to the storm
May you have mercy on us, redeem us, and replant us
After the whirlwind
Amen

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm. — Psalm 50.3

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 2 (Listen – 6:09)
Romans 2 (Listen – 4:13)

Read More about Readers’ Choice 2021
Have we heard from you yet? Tell us about posts from the past year (September 2020 – July 2021) that have helped you in your faith.

https://forms.gle/ozM13qvW9ouSWhJS7

Read more about The Language of a Good Neighbor
Where machine-gun-like blasts of vitriol cut through the airwaves, it is only a matter of time before actual bullets fly.

The Language of a Good Neighbor

August 4, 2021August 2, 2021

Our Hope Amidst Violence — Readers’ Choice

Readers’ Choice Month:
In August, The Park Forum looks back on our readers’ selections of our most meaningful and helpful devotionals from the past 12 months. Thank you for your readership. This month is all about hearing from you. Submit a Readers’ Choice post, today.

Today’s post was originally published, May 17, 2021, based on readings from Psalm 69.
It was selected by reader, EN, from Texas
“The prayer from South Africa was moving. I appreciate the incorporation of hymns and prayers of faith from around the world. In light of our often self-focused western faith, it is refreshing to have words from others who have truly suffered and kept the faith.”

Scripture Focus: Psalm 69.16-21
16 Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
18 Come near and rescue me;
deliver me because of my foes.
19 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
all my enemies are before you.
20 Scorn has broken my heart
and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

Reflection: Our Hope Amidst Violence — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

In 1995, with Aparthied still close in the rear view mirror, the Rugby World Cup was hosted and won by South Africa. In 2009, the story was turned into a film starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Sports metaphors and movies are inspiring, but the struggle in South Africa was just beginning. 1998 saw bombings in South Africa and attacks scattered over the entire continent. The times were tense, violent, unpredictable.

From that time and place, comes this prayer. It was written by South African Christians and published in a book of prayers prepared for a worship conference in Berlin in 1998. Like many of the prayers we read in the psalms, this prayer is familiar with violence and suffering. This prayer’s response is inspiring for us today.

These problems still exist in one way or another, popping up in one country, then another. We still see abuse, rape as a weapon of war, and mass killings motivated by tribal conflicts or religious radicalization. Often the chief victims of these events are women. We also still see state-sanctioned terrorist attacks and state-approved assassinations. We still see disproportionate responses to violence both by police forces around the world and by governments.

Today’s psalm, referenced by gospel authors, (Matthew 27.34, 48; Mark 15.23, 36; Luke 23.36; John 19.28-30), reminds us that Jesus entered violence and scorn on our behalf. May the church follow Christ’s footsteps as he moves to help those affected by violence.

His eye is on the sparrows. Is ours?

Join this prayer today for all people across the world experiencing oppression, violence, and exile. Whether people suffer because of their religious beliefs or any other reason, we pray on their behalf.

A Prayer of Hope from South Africa
Oh, God,
You can do anything, anywhere, any time.
All knowing, all seeing God,
There is nothing hidden from you.
You see the women of Africa:
Who are refugees,
Fleeing their war-torn countries
With babies on their backs and luggage on their heads.
Some who are victims of human rights violations, abuse, infected with AIDS.
We put our hope in you, oh God.
For you hear even our unmentioned prayers
You watch not only the sparrow, but you see us too.
And your hands guide us all the way.
Above all, you offer us the gift of eternal life.
We praise your holy name.

*Prayer from Hallowed be Thy Name, L. A. (Tony) Cupit, ed., Hallowed be Your Name: A collection of prayers from around the world

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good and those who are true of heart. — Psalm 125.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Judges 18 (Listen – 4:39)
Acts 22 (Listen – 4:26)

Read More about Readers’ Choice 2021
It is time to hear from you about the posts from the past eleven months (September 2020 – July 2021) that have challenged, comforted, and helped you find new meaning in the scriptures.

https://forms.gle/ozM13qvW9ouSWhJS7

Read more about Blossoming of Joy in Adversity
We find examples of joy under persecution and difficulty in Jesus, Peter, John, Paul, and many others in scripture.

Blossoming of Joy in Adversity :: Joy of Advent

July 7, 2021July 20, 2021

The Consequence of Carelessness

Scripture Focus: Joshua 9:14
14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.

Psalm 140:1-3
1 Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.

Student Writers Month:
This month, The Park Forum welcomes college and seminary student writers pursuing ministry careers. For more info about our yearly Student Writer program, see our website.

Reflection: The Consequence of Carelessness
By Erin Newton

There are times when the monotony of life creates an apathy toward caution. Each day is much like the last; one activity looks the same as the next. We grow comfortable in our abilities and go about our day with no need of counsel.

Joshua led the Israelite army against city after city. The mistake of Achan’s sin seemed to have been reversed with the defeat of Ai. However, the pattern of error had already taken root. Some of their enemies formed an alliance, but the Gibeonites chose an alternate method: lie and gain Israel’s protection through deception. With much planning, the ruse was set. The Israelite leaders took a cursory glance and trusted the Gibeonites’ claim. Regrettably, they did not seek God’s counsel. They were blind to the false pretense and propaganda before them. This lapse in judgment bound the Israelites with their enemy. Hastiness produced errors.

Psalm 140 presents a plea for protection, asking God for wisdom to discern evil plans and cunning words. The psalmist likens the words of an enemy to the poisonous, sharp tongue of a viper. The craftiness of the serpent in the Garden strikes again in the Promised Land through the Gibeonites.

Why did the leaders fail to inquire of God? Why do we? Is it apathy, busyness, or pride? Our lives are plagued with rash decisions because we operate at high speed. We are convinced of our abilities and fail to lay our lives before God. Are we neglecting God’s counsel because we do not want to deny ourselves certain things?

C. S. Lewis describes the gentle slope toward evil through his fictional story of demonic correspondence in The Screwtape Letters: It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards do the trick.

Israel’s tendency toward neglect would be a festering wound resulting in more errors and consequences. If we do not open every corner of our lives to God, we will likely slip unknowingly into a pact with the enemy. We will be duped by anyone with persuasive words. We must remember to seek God’s counsel and see through deception.

Joshua honored the covenant Israel made in error. Ultimately, the Gibeonites remained part of the Israelite community for centuries. Even though humanity errs, God redeems.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Let those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation say forever, “Great is the Lord!” — Psalm 70.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Joshua 9 (Listen – 3:46)
Psalm 140-141 (Listen – 2:44)

https://forms.gle/ozM13qvW9ouSWhJS7

Read more about The Idol of Control
True peace comes from trusting in the wisdom, plan, and counsel of God…we must ensure that we listen first and foremost to God’s wisdom.

The Idol of Control

June 28, 2021June 26, 2021

The Garden of Psalm 119

Scripture Focus: Psalm 119.169-176
169 May my cry come before you, Lord;
give me understanding according to your word.
170 May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your promise.
171 May my lips overflow with praise,
for you teach me your decrees.
172 May my tongue sing of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.
173 May your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, Lord,
and your law gives me delight.
175 Let me live that I may praise you,
and may your laws sustain me.
176 I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commands.

From John: As we wrap up Psalm 119 this week, we look back again at our reflection on Charles Spurgeon’s words about the great psalm. We are also eagerly anticipating the beginning of Student Writers Month in July followed by your Readers’ Choice selections in August. To submit your selections for Readers’ Choice, follow this link.

Reflection: The Garden of Psalm 119
By John Tillman

We finish Psalm 119 today and reflect on it with some words from Charles Spurgeon:

“Those who have studied this divine hymn, and carefully noted each line of it, are amazed at the variety and profundity of the thought…The more you look into this mirror of a gracious heart the more you will see in it.”

Spurgeon is convinced that David wrote the Psalm and if not he, then some other writer who spent long years in its work and created it not over a short span, but through a lifetime of faithfulness.

“There is evident growth in the subject matter. The earlier verses are of such a character as to lend themselves to the hypothesis that the author was a young man, while many of the later passages could only have suggested themselves to age and wisdom.”

In the end, rather than rising in acclaim or celebration, the aged wisdom of the psalmist leads him to a humble and prostrate stance.

“The psalmist is approaching the end of the Psalm…he seems to break into the inner circle of divine fellowship, and to come even to the feet of the great God whose help he is imploring. This nearness creates the most lowly view of himself, and leads him to close the Psalm upon his face in deepest self-humiliation, begging to be sought out like a lost sheep…It is a very sweet thing to a suppliant when he knows of a surety that his prayer has obtained audience. It is to Jehovah that this prayer is expressed with trembling earnestness…we crave audience of none else, for we have confidence in none beside.”

Meditating on Psalm 119 daily has been a common spiritual practice for centuries with many reporting a wealth of spiritual benefit.

“This sacred ode is a little Bible, the Scriptures condensed, a mass of Bibline, holy writ rewritten in holy emotions and actions. This Psalm, like the whole Scripture which it praises, is a pearl island, or, better still, a garden of sweet flowers.”

It is our hope that each cycle of our two-year-long tread through the garden of scripture produces not pride, but humility. Not judgmental attitudes, but merciful gratitude. Not clamoring commands for others, but tender notes of correction in our own hearts.

*Quotations abridged from A Treasury of David, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Hallelujah! Give praise, you servants of the Lord; praise the Name of the Lord. — Psalm 113.1

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 33-34 (Listen – 4:43)
Psalm 119:145-176 (Listen – 15:14)

Read more about Readers’ Choice 2021
It is time for us to hear from you about the posts from the past eleven months (September 2020 through July 2021) that have challenged and comforted you and helped you find new meaning in the scriptures.

https://forms.gle/ozM13qvW9ouSWhJS7

Read more about Setting Aside the Scriptures
Considering all of Scripture together without breaking it apart requires patience and a deep familiarity with Scripture.

Setting Aside the Scriptures

June 25, 2021June 23, 2021

The Stretching Arm of Salvation — A Guided Prayer

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 30.11-14
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Psalm 119.81
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation,
but I have put my hope in your word.

Reflection: The Stretching Arm of Salvation — A Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

The gospel is not a lifehack. Salvation is not a touch-up job on a fender bender. Sanctification is not akin to the marginal improvements available by the effort of will and self-determination. Jesus is not a self-help guru.

Self-help righteousness has been tried. It failed. Despite the fact that Moses tells the people that it, “is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach,” the rest of Israel’s history proved otherwise. Israel lived by sight yet could not avoid idolatry and judgment. We live by faith and our failures, in many ways, are more spectacularly evil than theirs.

We cannot reach salvation. Salvation reaches for us—and His arm is not too short.

We pray, today, along with a section of Psalm 119, a prayer for those in need of salvation. It is a prayer for those suffering oppression, injustice, and persecution. We pray on behalf of those inside or outside our borders who suffer the sting of unjust treatment and the careless disregard of the powerful. May God move on their behalf and may he do it through us.

For Salvation
My soul faints with longing for your salvation,
but I have put my hope in your word.

Extend to us the stretching arm of salvation, promised in your holy word and fulfilled in The Word who became flesh for us.

My eyes fail, looking for your promise;
I say, “When will you comfort me?”

We seek not the comforts of this world but those of the next, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,
I do not forget your decrees.

May suffering burn up our pride and vanity and fill us with your Word.

How long must your servant wait?
When will you punish my persecutors?
The arrogant dig pits to trap me,
contrary to your law.

Your law is abused, Lord.
Twisted to harm rather than protect.
Used to excuse abuse rather than to empower love and mercy.

All your commands are trustworthy;
help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.
They almost wiped me from the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
In your unfailing love preserve my life,
that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

We can obey your commands with joy, for they are good.
Your love will not fail us.
Amen.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.
With his right hand and his holy arm has he won for himself the victory. — Psalm 98.1-2

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 30 (Listen – 3:12)
Psalm 119:73:96 (Listen – 15:14)

This Weekend’s Readings
Deuteronomy 31 (Listen – 4:57), Psalm 119:97-120 (Listen – 15:14)
Deuteronomy 32 (Listen – 7:10), Psalm 119:121-144 (Listen – 15:14)

Read more about Ways of Canaan, Ways of Christ
Seek God’s face and ask him to reveal and remove “ways of Canaan” within you, replacing them with the ways of Christ.

Ways of Canaan, Ways of Christ

Read more about The Antivenom for Sin
We cannot save ourselves from the venom of sin. It inevitably will cause our death and many other harms in our lives.

The Antivenom for Sin