A Daily Dose of Good News

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Today, this devotional will be offered online at https://youtu.be/Jp78MVn9fE8.
A printer-friendly version of today’s devotion is available at DDGN 20220105

Additionally, if you’d like to talk about this Daily Dose of Good News further, or previous ones, have questions, or additional thoughts, please feel free to email me at sara.wunsch@engagedbygrace.org.  I’d love to interactively engage with you about them.

 

Good morning!  It is January 5 and it’s time for our Daily Dose of Good News which is from Psalm 72.  This is a psalm which is believed to have been written by King Solomon,  It’s asking for God to support the king as divine authority and for God to be present.  So, let’s take a listen…

 

Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.

 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.

 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.

 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.

 May he live while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.

 In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

 May his foes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.

 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.

 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations give him service.

 For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.

 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.

 From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his sight.

 Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all day long.

 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.

 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;
may they pronounce him happy.

 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.

 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen.

 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

 

 Here ends the reading.

 This psalm, while it’s written for a king, I’d like to stretch that a bit and think of all of us as heirs to our King and God, which makes all of us princes and princesses. 

 In this passage, while the king asks for all these blessings to be shown upon him, for there to be wealth upon the land, and for his name to endure forever, and many things are asked for- one of the prevalent themes is righteousness being successful, justice, and peace.  But particularly, the idea that the servant of God, the king, who is viewed as authority who’s been promoted by the Divine, that they specifically are caring for the needy, they specifically are caring for the poor, they specifically are caring for the defenseless- for those who have no helper. 

 I want to point that out because I think there can be times when all of us in our lives, feel defenseless, or feel like we are in need, or that we are poor, or that we have great need.  Contrary to what the world would tell us- which would be to try and pull ourselves together, maybe pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, or to be strong and keep it together, or things like that, this specifically says you are the one who God will care for.  God cares much for the needy, for the poor, for those who are vulnerable.  It’s not only that the king cares for those people- as the assistant to God.  It emphasizes how much God’s heart is focused on people who are not able to receive help from other sources. 

 So I think it’s a great consolation for any of us, when we’re feeling really vulnerable, to recognize we can run to the God whose arms are outstretched, waiting for us, and wanting to embrace us in our vulnerability, in our poverty, in our need.  Our God cares tremendously for us in that.  That is not inconsequential to God, but that is a heavy focus of God’s.  God wants to care for those who are in need. 

So, I encourage you on that today.  If you’re feeling vulnerable and you’re feeling like you’re in poverty in your life- maybe that is financial- maybe there are other difficulties going on that make you feel wrecked and like you’re in poverty: run to God.  Because your God is devoted to you in that.  Your God is devoted to caring for the needy and that includes you- no matter how great your need is. 

 Likewise, if there are people you come across in your daily life today, who are in need, who are in poverty, who seem to have wants that are larger than them and there seems to be no one to help- remember the graciousness of God.  Remember the tenderness and think of how you might model Christ in coming alongside of those people.  For whoever is in need- that you might be able to extend God’s love and grace and favor and help to- specifically today.  Have a great day, everybody.  Bye-bye.