Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Psalm 137 (NRSV)

By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our harps.
For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How could we sing the LORD’s song
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy.

Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
Down to its foundations!”
O daughter Babylon, you devastator!
Happy shall they be who pay you back
what you have done to us!
Happy shall they be who take your little ones
and dash them against the rock!

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Reflect

Have you ever found it difficult to feel like worshiping God? Have you ever faced or been in the midst of circumstances that quenched your enthusiasm for praise? Most people have been in that position at one time or another.

It’s easy to sing praises when life is what we desire it to be. When we are happy and feeling positive about our situation, offering praise is almost automatic. However, it is much more challenging to muster the will to sing praises when life’s circumstances are challenging.

Life sometimes cycles through one major challenge after another. Many people have uttered the words, “If it’s not one thing, it’s something else.” We may feel that the troubles and challenges will never stop, but through faith we are able to believe that things will work out…that trouble doesn’t last forever…that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Hallelujah!

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Pray

“O God our help, our Help in ages past, Our Hope for years to come, Our Shelter from the stormy blast, And our Eternal Home!” In Jesus’ name. Amen!

Go with God.