Daily Devotions are published Tuesday-Saturday during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Psalm 68:7-10
O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
you restored your heritage when it languished;
your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
Devotion
It’s been a rainier-than-usual spring thus far, and this is good news/bad news for me in my “remote working,” COVID-19 environment routine. On the one hand, it’s made for a very green and floral season – one that I’ve enjoyed watching more closely than usual as it unfolds in our backyard. On the other, it has limited somewhat my ability to take breaks outside walking the family dog.
Despite the abundance of rain, though, my world feels parched.
I thirst for the company of friends and extended family. I long to worship in person together at Lewinsville. I want for making music with my band mates and with the choir at church. I’m missing handshakes and hugs, conversations with buddies over a meal, eye contact with work colleagues, being able to travel, and even just going to the store without looking like I’m dressed to hold up a stagecoach.
Truthfully, I am not entitled to any of these things – the blessings of fellowship for which I thirst again – just as we are not (like the people of Israel were not) entitled to rain. But the Psalmist praises God for a time when God did shower blessings on a parched and needy land and people. In so doing, he points to the sure hope that God will again rain these blessings “in abundance” on God’s people.
So, even as I feel parched, I have hope. Surely God once again will sustain us through this difficult period of figurative drought. And surely God is not only very present with us in it but also will “[go] out before [God’s] people” to bless us once again with good things.
When that happens, I will not take those blessings for granted. Selah.
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, as the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you. We thank you for the gift of hope and ask that you sustain us all in our hopefulness during these days. Please lead us also to help others through this journey with both hope and love. Amen.
Clay McConnell