Bible:
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:7-14 ESV
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:25-33 ESV
Reflection:
Marianne and her mother were very poor, and finally her mother took her to an orphanage in New York City and left her there. Her mother promised that she would go west and make a new life for herself, and then come back and get Marianne, but several years went by, and Marianne’s mother never came back for her. Finally Marianne was put on an orphan train with a group of other orphans. They traveled west to find homes and families, and Marianne looked for her mother at every stop. At each stop, some of the children found new families who wanted them, but no one seemed to want Marianne. Finally she was the only child left, and her mother hadn’t met her at any stop, and she felt terribly alone and unwanted. But at the last stop a kind couple named the Books took her in and made her a part of their family.
The writer of Psalm 27 said that his mother and father had forsaken him, but that the Lord would take him in. Most parents love their children very much and would never abandon them, but perhaps the psalmist’s parents had died. That’s probably what had happened to Marianne’s mother, too. The psalmist knew that he could count on God to take care of him and help him even if no one else in the world was on his side or able to do anything for him. He knew he should seek God’s face, and no one else’s, for the help he needed.
Little children think that their parents can do anything, but when they grow up a little they start to see that there are things their parents can’t do. They can’t stop sickness or accidents or war or disasters or death. There are things that our parents can’t help us with, but God is always ready to do whatever is best for us, and we can look to God for help. There’s one thing that no one else except God can do, and that is to forgive our sins and free us from death. Jesus died and rose again so that we could be free from sin and death forever. We look to Jesus for his righteousness and know that our heavenly Father will give us everything we need and take us into his kingdom now and forever.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Jesus, our Savior. Please take care of us and help us with all our problems in life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Source:
Bunting, Eve Train to Somewhere New York: Clarion Books, 1996.
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