WEEKEND FEAST LITURGY
PRACTICE HOSPITALITY
Prepare for worship tomorrow by seeking ways to be hospitable with those in your community today. If possible, invite someone to share a meal with you and intentionally engage Psalm 121 with them.
Word
Read Psalm 18:1-34
2nd Reading: Psalm 18:35-50
“I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; and I am saved from my enemies.” (Ps 18:3)
Psalm 18 is a celebration of God’s power to save his anointed King when he is in trouble. As a psalm of David, we can easily imagine ways in which David needed to be saved from his enemies. In particular, the short description before vs. 1 attributes this to the time when David was delivered from Saul’s murderous intentions. However, since the psalm ends with a reference to David as the anointed one, it is inviting to consider how Jesus, the ultimate anointed one, may have also prayed this prayer and fulfilled these promises. This is especially true as we see the anointed king being “rewarded for his righteousness (v.24.)”
As we look closer at the psalm we can observe that there are two different ways in which God worked to save David. First, God is portrayed as a mighty warrior who arrives in splendor to defeat David’s enemies (v.7-19.) There were many places where the Bible records God’s acts of salvation for David in which David was completely passive. Like Pharaoh’s defeat at the Red Sea, sometimes God saves his people when they are completely helpless. However, there is a second way in which God is described as saving David. David says that God “equipped me with strength…I pursued my enemies and overtook them (v.32-37.)” In this reference, God saved David by empowering him to fulfill his calling as the king.
In the Christian life we experience God’s salvation in both of these ways. Sometimes we see him working for us completely beyond our own abilities. Certainly, when we think of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for us that would the best example. Christ died for us when we were God’s enemies (Rom 5:8-10.) We contribute nothing to our justification. There are many other moments in the Christian life when God works around us, completely independent of our actions and abilities. However, it is also true that as God works to sanctify us, he often works through us, by empowering us to accomplish his purposes. The Apostle Paul said it this way, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Col 1:29.)” Like David, we sometimes find that God works for our deliverance by strengthening us for the challenges that we face. We should be alert for the wide range of ways that God works in our live for his good purposes.
GRACE FOR MEAL
Dear Lord, our keeper and great hope, we thank you for watching over us and providing the food we need to trust you more. As we are nourished by these gifts you created for our pleasure, please also lift be our gaze to delight in your abiding presence with us. May we trust you more and rest in your love, amen.