May 1, 2022 - Psalms 31-37

As Christians, we have what some call “high holy days.” Generally, when someone speaks of these, they are referring, especially, to Christmas and Easter and the celebrations on those days that remind us so powerfully of our Savior, his birth and his death and resurrection. We read the birth narratives that we love so much. We sing those Christmas hymns; oh my, how we love to sing those! And, on what we call Good Friday, we remember the darkest of days but look forward with a can’t-wait-for-Sunday-to-arrive anticipation because we know that the tomb is not the end of the story.

But you know, we don’t have to leave the Psalms in order to see the hope that is ours in God’s provision. David prays: “In you, O Lord, do I take refuge . . . in your righteousness deliver me!” (31:1). He declares: “Blessed is the one who transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity” (32:1,2). And: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the Man who takes refuge in him!” (34:8). To the Lord, David says: “For with you is the fountain of life” (36:9) and: “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble” (37:39). Always, we can find ourselves singing:

My faith looks up to thee,

thou Lamb of Calvary,

Savior divine.

Now hear me while I pray;

take all my guilt away;

O let me from this day

be wholly thine! -- Ray Palmer (1830)