Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Matthew 27-28, Mark 1
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 142
Devotional Thought
The night before Jesus died, Peter sat in a courtyard warming his hands at a charcoal fire and denied three times that he knew the man standing trial inside. Matthew and Mark tell it plainly: a servant girl’s question, a rooster’s crow, and Peter going out to weep bitterly. Yet the same Gospels that record his failure record his restoration. In Matthew 28 the risen Christ meets the women at the tomb and says, “Fear not: go tell my brethren” — and by Mark 1, the story has turned a page into a new beginning, with John crying in the wilderness and Jesus stepping into the Jordan to be baptized. This is the shape of the whole gospel: failure, then resurrection, then a fresh call. Peter, who could not stay awake one hour in Gethsemane, becomes the apostle who preaches at Pentecost.
Psalm 142 sounds like Peter’s courtyard. David, hiding in the cave at Adullam or Engedi, cries out that no man cares for his soul, that his persecutors are stronger than he is. He is not exaggerating; Saul’s army is hunting him, and the snares are real. But notice where his complaint goes. He does not pour it out to his friends, who have failed him, nor into the dark. He pours it out “before him” — before the LORD, who already knows the path and the trap alike. “Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living,” he says, and then asks God to bring his soul out of prison so that he may praise.
We read these chapters in the second week of Advent, when the days are short and the year is closing. Many of us carry our own courtyard scenes into December — words we wish we could take back, a season that feels more like a prison than a promise. The good news of Matthew 27–28 and Mark 1 is that God specializes in bringing souls out of prison. The One who rose from the tomb is not ashamed to call failures His brethren.
Reflection
- Where in your life have you felt like Peter in the courtyard — known by God, yet hiding your allegiance — and what would it look like to bring that failure to the risen Christ rather than away from Him?
- David says God knew his path even when his spirit was overwhelmed. How might trusting that God already knows your trouble change the way you pray this week?
Prayer
O Lord, You are our refuge and our portion in the land of the living. Like David in the cave and Peter in the courtyard, we come with our complaints and our failures, for no one else truly knows our souls. You knew our path before we walked it, and You laid no snare for us; the traps were set by others, yet You remain our hiding place. Attend unto our cry, for we are brought very low. Bring our souls out of prison, that we may praise Your name. Deal bountifully with us, through Jesus Christ our risen Lord. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 142:1 — “I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.”