Devotion 1.12.23

 "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for the God, for the living God;... Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." Psalm 42:1, 2, 5

I cannot tell you how many times I see on social media people who call upon the name of a dearly departed loved one. Moms and dads typically occupy the top spot. "Oh how I miss not having you to talk to" or a variation on that theme is what I read most often. Dr. Kari Vo, Lutheran Hour devotion writer, notes in her devotion based on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 (1.11.23) how often Paul calls on "the Lord Jesus Christ" and asks how and when we do the same?

I note the reason given for calling on loved ones is a similar reason Dr. Vo gives for calling on Christ: a deep need for help in a broken world.

The psalmist, however, points us in a direction more accurate. "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?" The brokenness is internal, part of a broken world but also a reminder of our broken lives within. We see the world as an "external thing," and its brokenness is part of the sin and evil in that world. Yet when we, like the psalmist, seek God, we acknowledge that we are "in turmoil within."

I can think of the number of head shakes in disbelief I have had in life for "those" people, usually those people who I think are part of the evil that corrupts the world in some way. You know the list. Yet when I call on Christ, I think I need to be much more specific and truthful. "Help me in my inner turmoil." My own corruption and the effect that can have on me and those around me.

The Psalms are a wonderfully accurate book of the bible to laser focus our language from God's Word to meet our needs. We pray for God to help us in our time of need, specifically the turmoil within my own soul.

Hope Men's Ministry