Tuesday, July 22, 2025  

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Today's Scripture
Psalm 138

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
but the haughty he perceives from far away.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands. (NRSV)

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Reflection

Do you write notes in your Bible? One that was a gift to my grandfather in 1945 has bookmarks and postcards to mark my favorite books and verses. But those I have owned since they were new have notes like “see Psalm 23” here for the part about enemies, and definitions and lessons I’ve written in the margins, with dates for my diary.

But in the two versions of Psalm 138 I read to prepare for this devotion, I found brackets around the verses at the end, starting with the last verse or two, one at “Though I walk in the midst of trouble” and one at “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.”

These verses are reassuring, but also, they remind me that we can rely on God when things are difficult. We’re able to get help.

But as I kept looking, I thought again of those notes — references to lessons from John Buchanan, Tom Are, and other pastors, but written in my own handwriting and referring to my diary for more details on the lessons.

“Do not forsake the work of your hands” strikes me today as a reminder of the work my hands have done in making notes and tucking illustrations, cards, even comics into my Bibles. (Charles Schulz’s Peanuts has copies to illustrate several stories.)

Two Bibles given directly to me are now covered by fabric covers made by my mother, and the one given first to her father now has a fabric cover I bought. So all have been changed, been “the work of my hands,” since they came to me.

I’ve made the Bible part of my life in various ways. I’ll no more give up on that than God would give up on me.

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Prayer

Dear God, our Father, we are the work of your hands. Thank you for the gift of human creativity, so that we can experience the feeling of “It is very good” — and so that we want to save things because they are the things we made. We can be sure that we are defended by you in the same way. In our brother Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Written by Margaret Laing, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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