April. 15 - His Love Endures Forever
Contributed by
Galen Graber, director of financial aid on Tuesday April 15
Scripture
Psalm 118: 1-2
Give thanks to the LORD , for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
Psalm 118: 14-24
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD .
This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
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Devotion
Psalm 118 is a song of thanksgiving. Over a month ago when I picked this passage, I chose a Psalm because at the time I thought that in uncertain times, a Psalm would be a safe choice given what I feared was ahead. Now, in the midst of the current war I wonder how I can be thankful. I wonder how I can rejoice and be glad for this day that the Lord had made.
The answer comes immediately from the opening verse. It offers a perspective from which we can face the realities of our times. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever”. It is precisely in the difficult times when we should be reminded of God’s enduring and steadfast love.
“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” quotes Exodus 15:2. It is the song that Moses and the Israelites sang immediately after crossing the Red Sea. The allusions to the Exodus continue in the next few verses. God has always been faithful to his people and will continue to be faithful to us in the days and years ahead.
Psalm 118 had special appeal to the Gospel writers. Matthew 21:42 and Luke 20:17 both cite “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone” to suggest that Jesus is the rejected Messiah. For me today, I am comforted by the idea that unpopular stances such as mine against the war may indeed be fundamental to our faith and to our understanding of God.
During this season of Lent, we need only look to the resurrected Christ to realize why we should rejoice and be glad and the many reasons we have to be extremely thankful.
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