Daily Devotion for November 3, 2016
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.
Emeli Sandé performs the song she sang at the London 2012 Olympics in a quiet studio with a single mike.
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,
But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea.
Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile,
And though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee.
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Music (Eventide) by Wm H. Monk, 1861
Lyrics by Henry Lyle, 1847
For a Cheerful Disposition in All I Do Today
Holy God, who has filled me with the joy of your grace and salvation, assist me this day that I may do all things I am called to do without grumbling or disputing. I call on your Spirit to assist me, that I may be blameless and innocent, a child of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.
Let me follow holy Christ and all his saints: Let me shine as a light, a beacon in a world where darkness seeks to overcome us in every thing and at every moment. And help me to hold fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ's return I may be proud that I did not strive in vain.
I pray this not for my own glory, but in all humility before you, to whom be all glory and honor,
Meditation
[Let me shine as a beacon in a world where darkness seeks to overcome us]
Prayer for Those Who Have Turned Away
Grant, O Lord, peace, love and speedy reconciliation to your people whom You have redeemed with your precious blood. Make your presence known to those who have turned away from You and do not seek You, so that none of them may be lost, but all may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, so that everyone, in true love and harmony, O long-suffering Lord, may praise your all holy Name.
Thirty Days of Thanksgiving
#2 What technology am I thankful for?
Dedication (from St. Teresa of Avila)
May it please you, my good Lord, that there may come a day when I can repay a little of my great debt to you. O Jesus, strengthen my soul, you who are good above all good; and since you have inclined my soul in this way, show me how I may act for you, whatever it may cost, O Lord. Here is my life, my honor and my will; I have given them all to you and they are yours: use me to do whatever you want.
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.
1 Maccabees 13:41, 50-51 (Douay-Rheims 1899)
In the year 170 [142 B.C.] the yoke of the Gentiles was taken off from Israel. . . .
In those days Simon [Maccabeus] besieged Gaza . . . . And they cried to Simon for peace, and he granted it to them: and he cast them out from thence, and cleansed the castle from uncleannesses.
And they entered into it the 23rd day of the second month, in the year 171, with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and harps, and cymbals, and psalteries, and hymns, and canticles, because the great enemy was destroyed out of Israel.
Matthew 21:6-11 (ESV)
Hosanna to the Son of David
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Notes on the Scripture
Jesus fulfilled many specific messianic prophecies, but most often we do not see him doing it intentionally. Here, though, he goes out of his way to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey . . . colt.” (Zechariah 9:9) Moreover, Jesus is making a Big Entrance. Where he has usually sought to avoid crowds, now he embraces them. Riding a donkey colt is theatrical; it is an intentional show, and halfway a parody of the triumphal march of a Roman victor.
ven closer, Christ mimics the triumphal march of Simon Maccabeus, the brother of the great Judah Maccabeus, into Gaza. The specific of the palm branches laid in his path were not lost on the early Jewish Christians, and should not be lost on us. Around 175 B.C. Jerusalem had fallen to the Syrian (SeleucidThe Seleucids were one of the divisions of the empire of Alexander the Great, after his death.) king, Antiochus Epiphanes, and he had been determined to stamp out Judaism. He set a statue of Zeus on the Temple's altar and turned its rooms into a brothel.
The Maccabees reconquered Jerusalem and much of Canaan. The Sadducees were actually the inheritors of the Maccabean revolution; they believed that the “Messiah” predicted by the prophets was an ongoing process, begun by the Maccabees, that would cast out foreigners and re-establish the most ancient interpretation of Mosaic Law. So it was they who most fervently anticipated a messianic entry into Jerusalem, by a Jew riding a charger at the head of a victorious army, coming to cleanse the Temple.
Thus, Jesus riding a donkey colt is loaded with implications. Here is your conquering King, Israel: a scruffy and impoverished holy man, who preaches peace and sacrifice, not in shining armor, but the tunic of a working man — and riding a small donkey. Yes, he is coming to cleanse the Temple, but it is you, the religious leaders of Judaism, from which it will be cleansed!
The cries of “Hosanna” and “Hosanna in the highest” are often misunderstood. The word means hosanna means “save now”. It is more a plea than a joyful shout of celebration. It is somewhat similar to the British “God save the King”, with “the King” standing as the symbol of the nation. “Hosanna to the Son of David” thus asks Christ to save Israel, but implicit in it is a recognition (or hope) of His ability to do so and his right to lead. “Hosanna in the highest” asks the angels in heaven pray to God for the salvation of Israel.
