Sept 8 - Daniel 9:18

O my God,

lean down and listen to me.

Open your eyes and see our despair.

See how your city—the city that

bears your name—lies in ruins.

We make this plea, not because we

deserve help, but because of your mercy.

Daniel 9:18

 

We are beginning a new season of devotions. They will be based loosely on the classic Moravian daily texts. On the day I was writing this, the most current text available is very appropriate for this week in our nation.

 

As Houston is still tragically waterlogged from Hurricane Harvey, yet another massive storm barrels toward our nations coast. Ponder how today's verse speaks to today: O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city ... lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.

This verse spoke originally of the plight of Jerusalem during the days of Daniel. Jerusalem was in the midst of a prophesied seventy years of destruction, occupation, grief, and mourning. Thus the cry: O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city ... lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.

 

Houston and whatever cities Irma barrels into this week are certainly not the Jerusalem of the ancient past. But shouldn't this be our continual cry in the face of any trial?

 

·         "O my God, lean down and listen to me." We address God as we begin our supplication. Weil promised of his continual attention, we don't take it for granted. We humbly ask him to hear our prayer.

 

·         "Open your eyes and see our despair." From the midst of trials, it can seem like God's eyes are closed and that our Lord is far away. Don't be afraid to be honest as you begin your plea. 

 

·         "See how your city ... lies in ruins." State your problem and your reason for concern. In this case, too many metropolitan areas as wellas Caribbean islands lie in ruins. Therefore…

 

·         "We make this plea." On what basis? 

 

·         "Not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy." Here is the key: Just as all individuals sin and fall short of the glory of God, all nations sin and fall short too. we must not be proud. No individual nor any nation "deserve[s God's] help." Therefore, we don't plead for God's help on the basis of who we are… but on the basis of who God is. We make this plea," says Daniel, "because of your mercy."

May God be merciful on our nation. Indeed, Heavenly Father, protect those in the path of this newest hurricane, and help those recently flooded and battered. "Not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy." Amen.

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who grieves

for those whose lives have

been seemingly swallowed

by the chaos of the sea ...

and the guy who grieves

for those who do not know

the one who calms the storms