I rise before dawn

      and cry for help;

I hope in Your words.

My eyes are awake

  before the watches of the night,

that I may meditate

                on Your promise.

 

                  Psalm 119. 148

 

(I can’t say that my first reaction

to waking in the night

is to meditate on God’s Word

or to hope

or pray against the darkness.

And as I lay there,

may I not just pray

             to go back to sleep,

but to trust Him more.

I cannot fix things at that hour,

but I can turn to Him.

And know that He is near.

What does it take to

      realize His Presence?

If it were all easy,

             would I still seek Him?

Perhaps it is not worry that wakes me,

   but realizing the hand of God,

embracing and

motioning to me

            to trust Him more.)

 

O LORD,

Interrupt even our sleep

   that we may know You more.

Help us to leave our concerns

                at the altar

and not keep retrieving them,

but following You

           in what You are redeeming

           and what we can do.

Worry never turns anxiety away.

Let not fear grab us in the darkness,

    but help us to realize we can respond

    by trusting You even more.

You are near.  We are not alone after all.

It may be that the LORD

will look on the wrong

             done to me,

and that the LORD

will repay me with good

    for his cursing today.

            2 Samuel 16. 12

(How do I respond differently

    because I am a believer?

God never promises

   that our way will be easy,

but "Do not fear. I am with you."

How does that change

           what I do

from reaction to response?

Do I believe that God redeems?

That shows in

    how I respond with grace

               toward others.

Grace is always

      an unexpected ambush,

catching others by surprise

   by loving them anyway.)

O LORD,

Abide in us

that we may respond with good

    even in the broken places

    and among the desperate.

Help us to see others

     with the grace and love

     how You see us.

Grant us the courage

   to respond differently

   because we know You.

Do not just redeem for our sake,

       but for Your glory.

Even in this situation.

 

 

Oh how I love Your Word!

It is my meditation

                all the day.

...Your Word is

       a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path.

            Psalm 119. 97, 105

(Consider not just

       what we do,

but what it does to us.

Reading and meditating

        on God's Word

does not just check off a box

       or obligation for the day.

God's Word infiltrates

      our neural pathways

and changes how we think,

what we think about,

   and on what we dwell.

God's Word radically alters

  how we see circumstances

     --the ordinary and the crisis--

     and how we respond.

We see differently

  because we see God differently.

Steps and paths emerge out of what

            appears as sheer darkness.

God does not just guide our steps

       but our hearts.)

O LORD,

Help us to embrace Your Word

and know that You

     change us incrementally

     every time we open

              our hearts to it.

You change us through it

  and thereby,

       everyone around us,

how we respond

              to circumstances,

how we treat others,

how we love and serve You.

We do not ask for You enter our day,

but that we would follow You

and be faithful

           into Your day for us.

If Your law

had not been my delight,

I would have perished

       in my affliction.

 

               Psalm 119. 92

 

(Storing up God’s Word

    changes our hearts

and changes our response,

like training

     for an endurance event

     that is not yet even on our radar,

infiltrating, invading, and transforming

                  our very core.

In times of trouble,

       when we least expect,

God’s Word rises up

         to equip, protect, provide,

         empower,

     and reveal His Presence

     in the most unlikely places.

God’s Word changes our hearts,

      how we operate

      and how we respond.

God helps us see in the dark.

That’s how loving His Word

    translates in our lives.)

 

O LORD,

We love You.

And we love Your Word.

Your Word is not a guidebook,

    nor an impersonal set of ancient instructions,

    but Your very words to us,

                         Almighty One.

We cannot help but to be changed

                  and strengthened

      by desiring You a little more,

         each day, each conversation

                 each encounter with You.

Thank You for giving Your Word to us

    and for speaking through it,

Your Word in us

    to change our hearts

   and to give us strength for today

           and bright hope for tomorrow.

Help us to live and respond differently

       because we know You.

 

 

…because I have hoped

        in Your Word.

                      Psalm 119. 74

 

(Hope is not wishful thinking,

  but on Whom to stake our lives.

Not hope as in a particular outcome,

                     but in Him.

When I hope in God,

I see God differently,

      others differently,

     circumstances differently,

     myself differently,

and even how to approach this

             with a new mindset.

Hope changes my heart

   and the trajectory of my life.

Hope is never limited

    to a singular outcome,

nor to my ideas about it.

“Trust Me in this.”)

 

O LORD,

Help us not just to see Your hand,

     but to trust You,

even in what we cannot understand,

even in what draws us closer to You.

May we know that You are good

                   and do good.

Help us to know You more,

      even through this.

You are the One

      who brings Your victory

     in impossible situations.