Friday, July 17th

The first psalm today sounded familiar to me. After thinking about it, I remember that Jesus said the words, "into your hands, I commit my spirit" on the cross before he died. The psalm is all about receiving vindication from God in the midst of your enemies attacking you and your friends deserting you. Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of this psalm. He took on all his foes, and ours, on the cross. Yet he was found victorious and vindicated by God the Father. The psalm ends,

" Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!"

This is a promise we can all count on as we have seen it acted out on Jesus. We can be strong in the midst of the pain we feel, the struggle with sin, unrelenting attacks from the enemy, and our loneliness. The Lord will not cut us off, his reputation is on the line in our lives. Therefore he will not allow us to be ground to dust. As we wait for the Lord in this situation, we can be strong and take courage, he will preserve us who are faithful to rely on him. In fact, because of the cross of Christ and resurrection, our preservation has already arrived.

Lord, though my strength fails from my iniquity, be gracious to me.