Lent Devotional 2021 - Pittsburg - Flipbook - Page 3
PRAYER
DEVOTIONAL
“Breathe on us, breath of God, fill us with life anew, that we
may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst
do.” Amen.
“For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a
furnace . . . I wither away like grass” (vv. 3, 11b). When time
does its job well, what tends to be left behind are our bones.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021
The Rev. Rebecca Dix ’15/’16
SCRIPTURE
Psalm 102
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you. 2 Do not
hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your
ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call. 3 For
my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like
a furnace. 4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
I am too wasted to eat my bread. 5 Because of my loud
groaning my bones cling to my skin. 6 I am like an owl of
the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places. 7 I lie
awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. 8 All day long
my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name
for a curse. 9 For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears
with my drink, 10 because of your indignation and anger;
for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside. 11 My days
are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. 12 But
you, O LORD, are enthroned forever; your name endures to
all generations. 13 You will rise up and have compassion on
Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on
its dust. 15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD, and
all the kings of the earth your glory. 16 For the LORD will
build up Zion; he will appear in his glory. 17 He will regard
the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a
people yet unborn may praise the LORD: 19 that he looked
down from his holy height, from heaven the LORD looked at
the earth, 20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free
those who were doomed to die; 21 so that the name of the
LORD may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship
the LORD. 23 He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days. 24 “O my God,” I say, “do not
take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years
endure throughout all generations.” 25 Long ago you laid
the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work
of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you endure; they will
all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing,
and they pass away; 27 but you are the same, and your
years have no end. 28 The children of your servants shall live
secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.
We place a lot of trust in bones. They house and protect
many vital organs. They provide structure, support, and
enable mobility. If a house is solid and trustworthy to weather
tempests and time, we say it has “good bones.” And in a
number of cultures and civilizations, bones were depended
on for tools, crafts, agriculture, and medicine. Bones have
played a vital role in our current existence and also in learning
about where we have been as a human species.
Yet as formidable and important as they seem, even bones
are not permanent. Bones ache and break. They burn. One
day they hold us upright, the next they pull us down. Back to
the earth. Back to the dust. Back to the beginning.
Even our bones will perish and pass away. So during this
Lenten season, place your trust in something that has
weathered all time. Place your trust in the One who laid the
foundation of the earth.
PRAYER
God who hears the groans from our weary hearts and who
knows the worn aches of our bones, whose name endures
to all generations, hear our prayers. Walk with us as our
days lengthen like evening shadows, and fix our sight on you
alone. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2021
The Rev. John Culp ’98
SCRIPTURE
Deuteronomy 7:12-16
12 If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them,
the LORD your God will maintain with you the covenant
loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; 13 he will love you,
bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your
womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine
and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your
flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you.
14 You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither
sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock. 15 The
LORD will turn away from you every illness; all the dread
diseases of Egypt that you experienced, he will not inflict on
you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16 You shall
devour all the peoples that the LORD your God is giving over
to you, showing them no pity; you shall not serve their gods,
for that would be a snare to you.
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary | www.pts.edu