By Gracious Powers

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.

—Psalm 16:5-6

Literally millions of martyrs were created by the Nazis during the Second World War. But one of the best-known in Christian circles was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Protestant pastor. After his arrest and during his confinement in a Gestapo prison in Berlin, he wrote a poem which he sent to his family in late December 1944. It has lived on as a hymn of faith during confinement. It does not deny fear, but nonetheless looks

Old Time Religion

O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?

—Psalm 15:1

Zion was a physical location in the Hebrew Bible. But for Christians, it is a spiritual reality which refers to the Body of Christ—a people, not a place. So asking who may dwell on God's holy hill is quite the same as asking in whom God may find a welcome. The answer, it would seem, is a pretty tall order. Here is a list of standards provided by Psalm 15:

• Those who tell the truth, not just outwardly but within—in other words, they don't just act right for

Caremongering

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

—Psalm 14:1

The 14th Psalm appears to be about the folly of atheism. But it's not, really. When I look at the two halves of the first verse separately, then put them back together, something becomes clear. First, it's not about those who loudly proclaim that they believe there is no God, but for those who believe in their hearts that God doesn't exist. It's easy to imagine that such people speak aloud of believing in God, even though they do not really believe what they're saying. And second, the psalmist wrote in an age when kindness was lacking. 

When we combine these two thoughts (as, indeed, the psalmist no doubt intended), we see that a true faith

Mustache and Walking Stick

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.  

❀ Psalm 13 ❀

As is so often the case in the scripture, the 13th Psalm is an example of one of the faithful looking ahead confidently to deliverance, even while in the midst of pain. Doubt is natural, and it's hard to avoid it. But I don't need to nurse it.

A literary hero of mine, the Rev. John Ames, the narrator of Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, put it best when he said, "I'm not saying never doubt or question. The Lord gave you a mind so that you would make honest use

Protect the Workers

You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.

—Ps. 12:7

I don't tweet very much. But I love to follow twitter. It's where I get a lot of my news, plus it can be very humorous. With the COVID-19 situation changing so quickly these days, other people's tweets are one of the main ways I have of keeping up with what's going on.

But there's something that's really bothering me. There are so many "verified" accounts (meaning that Twitter has made sure those accounts actually belong to celebrities and other influencers) which are using their tweets to bully people into social distancing, especially telling us to work from home. Don't get me wrong. I agree. It's one of the ways we're going to lick this thing. But staying home is a luxury most Americans simply

Called to Reflect

In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains; for look, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates the lover of violence.

On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulfur; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

❈ Psalm 11 ❈

Considering the state of the world during a crisis, I am called to reflect:

What is the foundation of my world? Is it what I own? my politics? my job? my family or friends? Any of these

The Fruit of the Spirit

O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear
to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.  

—Psalm 10:17-18

Like Psalm 10, the Apostle Paul warned the Galatians against the sort of crass sin that separates the faithful from the faithless. Then he talked about a solution he called the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23). The law of God, the psalms, the prophets, the apostles, and our Lord Jesus himself all remind us that there are consequences for the mistreatment of the least among us But Paul reminds us that we have complete freedom to perform good