Friday, February 21, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Ephesians 6, Philippians 1
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 22
Devotional Thought
Paul wrote to the Ephesians from a Roman prison, chained to a soldier, and yet the closing chapter of that letter is anything but defeated. He tells children to obey their parents, fathers to nurture their children in the Lord, and servants to work heartily as unto Christ. Then he lifts his eyes to the real battlefield: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.” He names the pieces of armor one by one—truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God—and calls the church to pray always, for him and for all the saints. In Philippians 1, written in the same imprisonment, he tells the believers at Philippi that his bonds have actually advanced the gospel, that Christ is preached whether in pretense or truth, and that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Two letters, one dungeon, one confidence: the Lord is not hindered by chains.
Then we turn to Psalm 22, and the tone drops into the depths. David cries out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He describes bulls of Bashan surrounding him, dogs compassing him, his strength dried up like a potsherd, his hands and feet pierced, his garments divided by lot. These are the very words Christ took upon His lips from the cross. Yet notice the hinge at verse twenty-two: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren.” The lament turns to praise. The sufferer is heard, and the congregation of the meek shall eat and be satisfied.
It is late February, and winter has worn long. The trees are still bare, the ground still hard, and many hearts feel the same. Perhaps you are praying and hearing nothing, crying in the day and finding no answer in the night. Psalm 22 gives language to that ache without pretending it away. But it does not end in the ache. It ends in a great congregation, in vows paid, in a seed that shall serve the Lord.
Ephesians 6 and Psalm 22 belong together. The armor is given to people who will still feel the bulls pressing in, who will still taste the dust of death. The victory is not the absence of the battle but the presence of the Lord within it. David was heard. Christ was heard. And because He was, so shall you be.
Reflection
- Where in your life right now are you crying out to God in the daytime and hearing nothing—and can you, like David, still call Him “my God” while you wait?
- Paul said his chains advanced the gospel. What present hardship in your life might God be using to strengthen His church or draw someone to Himself?
Prayer
O Lord, our Strength, be not far from us. We come with the words of David on our lips, crying in the day and finding no answer in the night, and yet we call You our God, for You took us from the womb and have been our hope from our mother’s breasts. You did not despise the affliction of the afflicted, nor hide Your face from Your Son upon the cross, but heard Him. Hear us now. Clothe us with Your whole armor, that we may stand against the wiles of the devil, and let our present trials serve Your gospel rather than silence it. In the great congregation we will praise You. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 22:1 — “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”