Happy Easter!
Alleluia, He is Risen!
Our Daily Bread
TV commercials range from the ridiculous to the sublime in my opinion. One that seemed to gross me out was the antacid medicine commercial that had a talking stomach as its spokesperson. We usually call it heartburn instead of stomach burn. I am not sure why.
The men walking on the road to Emmaus experienced a burning in their hearts that no medicine could relieve! They remembered later that the only other time their hearts burned within them like that was when Jesus was speaking to them before his death. How could they not have recognized him?
We can be like this today. God can speak. We keep waling like everything is normal even when we feel the burning of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Can we listen today? Listen and obey?
Lord, your words burn in our hearts. Please help us worship and obey.
Psalm Sunday
Let's look at Psalm 88 this week. Talk about a Debbie Downer psalm! The thing I like about the psalms so much is the total honesty and the ability to express this honesty even when it may not be comfortable for the folks around us. Would you say the words below out loud when other folks could hear them? Would you say these words in prayer to God? We should feel comfortable to express these things, then turn them over to God. This is an important lesson that God reminded me about this week, also known as Duane's Holy Week of whining... OH boy. Read the psalm out loud. Pray the psalm to God.
Psalm 88
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
3 I am overwhelmed with troubles
and my life draws near to death.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like one without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, Lord, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, Lord;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, Lord, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
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Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40
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