Daily Devotion for April 22, 2018
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.
(Note: Composers frequently repeat, omit, or put phrases out of order.)
Ave, verum corpus
Cujus latus perforatum
O Iesu dulcis,
A Prayer Before Reading Scripture
Open my eyes, gracious Lord, as I turn to your word. I long to know you, to understand life, and to be changed. Examine me, Lord, by the floodlight of your truth.
Glorious Lord of Life
Most glorious Lord of life, that on this day,
Did make thy triumph over death and sin:
and having harrowed hell, did bring away
Captivity thence captive us to win.
This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin,
and grant that we for whom thou diddest die
being with thy dear blood clean washed from sin,
may live forever in felicity.
And that thy love we weighing worthily,
may likewise love thee for the same again;
and for thy sake that all like dear did buy,
and love may one another entertain.
So let us love, dear Love, like as we ought,
love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
Closing Praise
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.
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.
Interpreting the Bible
“When God closes His holy mouth, I will desist from inquiry.”
~ John Calvin
Psalm 90:1-12 (NKJV)
Teach Us to Number Our Days
ord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
Notes on the Scripture
This magnificent psalm treats a theme that is seen many times in the Bible: Life is transitory, just a brief moment in the vastness of eternity. Here, the psalmist (it is attributed to Moses) adds an Old Testament twist, showing that we live our lives in constant peril of God's anger.
This is a very Christian theme, the idea that our lives of all men are tainted by inevitable sinfulness. Although the psalm stops short of declaring an eternal life after death, to be lived in harmony with God, there is a strong implication of just such an idea.
It is easy to see the last two paragraphs of the psalm as a prophecy of Christ and a prayer for His coming. Moses asks God to “return” and “satisfy us with your mercy (soon).”
