Monday Devotional: March 25, 2024

Bible Reading: Psalm 36:5-11 (CEB)

⁵ But your loyal love, Lord, extends to the skies; your faithfulness reaches the clouds. ⁶ Your righteousness is like the strongest mountains; your justice is like the deepest sea. Lord, you save both humans and animals. ⁷ Your faithful love is priceless, God! Humanity finds refuge in the shadow of your wings. ⁸ They feast on the bounty of your house; you let them drink from your river of pure joy. ⁹ Within you is the spring of life. In your light, we see light. ¹⁰ Extend your faithful love to those who know you; extend your righteousness to those whose heart is right. ¹¹ Don’t let the feet of arrogant people walk all over me; don’t let the hands of the wicked drive me off.

The psalmist speaks the truth yet again. For who on this Holy Monday, after Jesus enters Jerusalem, after Mary publicly prepares Jesus’ body for burial and for death, who does not need a reminder of the protective, present love of God?

We know where the road to Jerusalem leads. We know that the hosanna shouts and palm-branch waves quickly fade into the background. We know the authorities meet in secret, making deals, and sacrificing lives. We know Judas betrays and Peter denies. We know what lies ahead. It was a long week then, and it is a long week now.

Which is why the psalmist’s words sing in our hearts, offering us hope, offering us love, offering us light.

Biblical scholars tell us Psalm 36 is a hymn of rejoicing in the Temple. The Israelite people were people of pain. They knew their share of heartache and betrayal, yet they also knew how to testify to God’s love and to celebrate Yahweh’s victory.

The ancient songwriters, much like the poets of today, looked to the mountains and the sky, to the sea and the forest, to the birds of the air and the animals of the land, trusting that in all things God was present with them.

The psalmist trusts in the strength of God’s love and the vastness of God’s protection and returns to the natural world to tell the love story of God. The psalmist trusts in the strength of God’s love and the vastness of God’s protection and returns to the natural world to tell the love story of God.

Is it any wonder that Jesus quoted the Psalms so often? Is it any wonder that Psalm 36 is part of our reading for this Monday of Holy Week?

Prayer

Today, help us, O God, to trust in your vast love. May we follow the way of Jesus-the way of salvation, trust, and life. Amen.

By Claire McKeever-Burgett, The Upper Room Disciplines 2015, page101.

Lenten Bible Study

The Third Day: Living the Resurrection
By Tom Berlin with Mike A. Miller

Session 4: Emmaus
Bible Readings: Luke 24:13-32
Act 4:13-21a, 33

ZOOM Session

Monday, March 25, 2024, 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
For Zoom Link, send email to [email protected]

IN PERSON Session

Wednesday, March 27, 2024, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Conference Room, McGee Building