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 14 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

To the leader. Of David.

Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is no one who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after God.

They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse;
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon the Lord?

There they shall be in great terror,
for God is with the company of the righteous.

You would confound the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.

O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

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Reflect

God is the refuge for all who are oppressed, giving them deliverance from the oppressors who would “eat up (God’s) people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord.” This Psalm is a two sided equation: On the one side, it is an assurance for those who need rescue (those who are God’s children); while on the other side, it’s a warning to those who “would confound the plans of the poor,” seeking security in wealth and power at the expense of the poor and the powerless. Let us diligently seek God’s light and way of truth and mercy first and foremost, lest in our quest for worldly security we find ourselves on the wrong side of this equation.

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Pray

Righteous God, Thank you for being a refuge from injustice and oppression. Form us and transform us by your truth and your grace so that we walk with humble gratitude to you and with genuine love toward all your children. By your living Spirit within us, teach us to value mercy more than power and kindness more than riches. In the life-giving name of Jesus we pray,
Amen.

Go with God!