Daily Devotion for February 21, 2021
Prayers
Scripture
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Our “Virtual Sunday Church” this week takes us to Sunday School at the Centenary Church (Methodist) in Fiji, on Palm Sunday. They are apparently singing “Little David Play on Your Harp.” Hearing these children sing to the glory of Christ, on some little island in the South Pacific, fills my heart with joy.
Let's worship God with them!
Refrain:
Little David play on your harp,
Hallelu, hallelu,
Little David play on your harp, hallelu.
Little David play on your harp,
Hallelu, hallelu,
Little David play on your harp, hallelu.
Little David was a shepherd boy,
He killed Goliath and shouted for joy.
Joshua was the son of Nun;
He never would quit till his work was done.
Music and Lyrics Traditional
Prayer for Sunday Worship
O God, you make me glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son my Lord: Give me the peace to worship you with my whole heart and mind, forgetting the cares of the world, and dwelling with you for a short moment with my entire being. And give me this day such blessing through my worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in living knowledge of your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Great Prayer for Sunday (by Archimandrite Sophronios)
O Lord Eternal and Creator of all things,
Who of Thy inscrutable goodness called me to this life;Who bestowed on me the grace of Baptism and the Seal of the Holy Spirit;
Who imbued me with the desire to seek Thee, the one true God: hear my prayer.
I have no life, no light, no joy or wisdom; no strength except in Thee, O God.
Because of my unrighteousness I dare not raise my eyes to Thee.
But Thou said to Thy disciples, ‘Whatsoever you shall ask in prayer believing, you shall receive.’
and ‘Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do.’
Wherefore I dare to invoke Thee.
Purify me from all taint of flesh and spirit.
Teach me to pray aright.
Bless this day which Thee give unto me, Thy unworthy servant.
By the power of Thy blessing enable me at all times to speak and act to Thy glory with a pure spirit, with humility, patience, love, gentleness, peace, courage and wisdom: aware always of Thy presence.
Of Thy immense goodness, O Lord God, show me the path of Thy will,
and grant me to walk in Thy sight without sin.
O Lord, unto Whom all hearts be open,
Thee know what things I have need of.
Thee are acquainted with my blindness and my ignorance,
Thee know my infirmity and my soul’s corruption;
but neither are my pain and anguish hid from Thee.
Wherefore I beseech Thee, hear my prayer and by Thy Holy Spirit
teach me the way wherein I should walk;
and when my perverted will would lead me down other paths
spare me not O Lord, but force me back to Thee.
By the power of Thy love, grant me to hold fast to that which is good.
Preserve me from every word or deed that corrupts the soul;
from every impulse unpleasing in Thy sight and hurtful to my brother-man.
Teach me what I should say and how I should speak.
If it be Thy will that I make no answer,
inspire me to keep silent in a spirit of peace
that causes neither sorrow nor hurt to my fellow man.
Establish me in the path of Thy commandments
and to my last breath let me not stray from the light of Thy ordinances,
that Thy commandments may become the sole law
of my being on this earth and all eternity.
Yea, Lord, I pray to Thee, have pity on me.
Spare me in my affliction and my misery
and hide not the way of salvation from me.
In my foolishness, O God, I plead with Thee for many and great things.
Yet am I ever mindful of my wickedness, my baseness, my vileness.
Have mercy upon me.
Cast me not away from your presence because of my presumption.
Do Thee rather increase in me this presumption,
and grant unto me, the worst of men,
to love Thee as Thee have commanded, with all my heart, and with all my soul,
and with all my mind, and with all my strength:
with my whole being.
Yea, O Lord, by Thy Holy Spirit, teach me good judgment and knowledge.
Grant me to know Thy truth before I go down into the grave.
Maintain my life in this world until I may offer unto Thee worthy repentance.
Take me not away in the midst of my days, nor while my mind is still blind.
When Thee shall be pleased to bring my life to an end,
forewarn me that I may prepare my soul to come before Thee.
Be with me, O Lord, at that dread hour and grant me the joy of salvation.
Cleanse me from secret faults, from all iniquity that is hidden in me;
and give me a right answer before Thy judgment-seat.
Yea, Lord, of Thy great mercy and immeasurable love for mankind.
Dedication
God of love, Father of all, the darkness that covered the earth has given way to the bright dawn of your Word made flesh. Make me and all who confess your holy name people of this light. Make me faithful to your Word that I may bring your life to the waiting world. Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Psalm 89:1-2 (NKJV)
I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
Colossians 3:12-17 (ESV)
Forgiveness
ut on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Notes on the Scripture
True forgiveness is one of the hardest things in life to do and one of the most important. It is the antidote for the sins of anger and pride. Forgiveness destroys a great barrier that separates us from Christ’s grace. Like a muscle, it must be exercised repeatedly, for we will never tire of anger and pride.
Forgiveness is an expression of one of the two great commandments of Christ: “Love the Lord with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it: Love thy neighbor as thyself.” We remind ourselves of its importance every day, when we pray “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The Lord’s prayer was written by Christ Himself, and the prayer to forgive as we are forgiven is a constant reminder of its importance.
This is one act that divides the Christian from the secular world. Society and the media seem obsessed with revenge and justice. By and large, secular society does not ascribe to Christ’s commandment. Many Christian doctrines have been secularized by society, but forgiveness is rarely one of them. Every time someone sins against you, hurts you in your earthly life, or offends your pride, you are given an opportunity to show the power of Christ.
We believe that justice belongs to God, not to ourselves. Certainly, the secular law may punish criminals, and most Christians have no problem in seeing that the law is carried out. But we must always be on guard against the trap of the “hanging judge”, a person who has internalized high standards of conduct for himself and therefore becomes even angrier and more vindictive when he sees evil in another. This is a parody of Christianity, held by many non-Christians to be typical and, in truth, occurring often enough in life to worry us.
When evil is done, our starting point must be Christ’s commandment to forgive. It is sometimes unbelievably difficult, because people sometimes do terrible things. Drunken drivers run over and kill children. Rebellious teenagers vandalize property. There is nothing evil that can be done, that man will not do. But we must remember that the people who commit these terrible acts are God’s children and their souls are not necessarily lost. Our initial reaction must be to remember this and to forgive them in our hearts.
Luca, the uncle of the equally famous Andrea, was not only a great sculptor, but also invented glazes that made outdoor pottery sculpture possible. The Madonna here is exceptionally realistic and her face, no doubt, the likeness of a notable Florentine woman.
Comments (3)
With reference to forgiving, is it not important, whether the harm was done to ourselves or others, that the act creates an anger, a fury that burns in ourselves that needs relief. Perhaps, in that instance the forgiveness stays in our hearts and the peace we experience through forgiving is a reward in itself. However and surely, if we ourselves or someone we love are the victim, the forgiveness may need an outward response to the perpetrator by the victim and even ourselves. Perhaps, it is not always to ease the mind of the wrong doer, but for the victim to find forgiveness as Christ requires us to do.
Wonderful choice of scripture today, Mason. Our country is so divided at the moment. An admonition to love and forgive is just what I needed to hear. I pray that the peace of God will rule in your heart today; as well as all of the believers!
"When evil is done, our starting point must be Christ’s commandment to forgive."
I would change it to "When evil is done to us". Otherwise it becomes "cheap forgiveness". We cannot forgive someone who has done something to someone else and the sin does not directly effect us. Only the person sinned against can because the sin is done to them. An example would be that you tell a friend that you forgive their spouse for cheating on them. It is not your place to do so. I see this too often when forgiveness is asked by a pastor for killers in a distant place.
I am fairly certain that is what you meant it is just that you could be misunderstood without the qualifier.
I understand what you're saying. But remember, too: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."