January 2 ( Epiphany) - Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Light tied to righteousness, mercy, and justice, Lord, the way life ought to be. King David recognized it, and called on you to make it happen, not only in his life but in genrations yet to come. No doubt you were pleased with his prayer, even if not always with the way he lived.
Does light from you, so much desired, depend on the symmetry between the way we pray and the way we act? In your Son there was no division betrween the two. Help us, Lord, to live out the things we confess to want from you lest we ask in vain. Help us always to remember that Jesus is the light of the world. Only living in him and by his Spirit will we be the light for others he calls us to be. Amen.
January 9 (First after Epiphany) - Psalm 29
When you speak, O God, power abounds. like the thunder over mighty waters. Your voice breaks the cedars in Lebanon, shakes the wilderness, causes even oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare. To hear it is to respond with all your people in the only way possible, with shouts of "Glory"!
Forgive us in this season of light for glorying, as we often do, in all the lesser lights that surround us daily, tempting us to let them point our way. Teach us, rather, your way, by holding us in the light of your Son and your Spirit. Give strength to your people from the throne where you sit enthroned, and bless us with true peace. Amen.
January 16 (Second after Epiphany) - Psalm 40:1-11
The power of David's witness seems to flow here, Lord, from the narrative of his life. He waited patiently for you to draw him out "from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog." His brokenness as a man, even while yet a king, brought him to that desperate point.
Sort of owning up to his desperation, he acknowledged that the Lord would not be pleased with his sacrifices and other offerings. It was only in coming forth as he was, saying "Here I am," that the Lord gave him an open ear.
Delivered, finally, of the scourge of his sin, he was set free to witness personally to "the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation." The grace he received could not be kept there, hidden from others. It had to be shared, spread abroad, if it was to be sustained in him. What a lesson in light, Lord! Every beam of it, sent forth by you, cannot be contained, but demands to be shared. Amen!
January 23 (Third after Epiphany) - Psalm 27:1, 4-9
Deeply personal, Lord, was David's faith in you. He did not fear others after discovering that you were his light and salvation. "The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
His faith was also focused. "One thing I asked of the Lord," he writes, "that will I seek after; to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."
David knew that in so doing, you would hide him in your shelter in the day of trouble, and set him "high on a rock." He also knew that only in continuing to behold your beauty and inquire in your temple could his faith and focus be maintained. No wonder he plead with you not to hide your face from him!
Hide not your face fro us, either, Lord. We perish without you! Amen!
January 30 (Fourth after Epiphany) - Psalm 15
As light eminates from you to us, Lord, so must it eminate from us to others. Failing to reflect your light in our living, anything we offer others can hardly be helpful--much less redemptive.
Failing to "walk blamelessly ... to speak the truth from [our] heart" we evidence only the lack of light in our lives. Your light with have nothing to do with slander, doing evil to our friends, or taking up reproach against our neighbors. It calls on us also to stand by our oaths, even to our hurt, avoid lending at interest, or taking bribes against the innocent.
Only those who follow the light can be said to live in it, Lord, and they shall never be moved. Help us, Lord, both to believe that and to live it out. Amen.
