The Luther Seminary of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Tuesday, 26 January 2016 "God Pause Daily Devotional" Psalm 71:1-6

The Luther Seminary of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Tuesday, 26 January 2016 "God Pause Daily Devotional" Psalm 71:1-6Psalm 71:

1 In you, Adonai, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

2 In your righteousness, rescue me;

and help me to escape.

Turn your ear toward me,

and deliver me.

3 Be for me a sheltering rock,

where I can always come.

You have determined to save me,

because you are my bedrock and stronghold.

4 My God, help me escape from the power of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.

5 For you are my hope, Adonai Elohim,

in whom I have trusted since I was young.

6 From birth I have relied on you;

it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.[Complete Jewish Bible]

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Again...from the womb. Young Jeremiah heard that he was set apart "before being created in the womb." The aged psalmist declares God's dependability, known since the moment of birth. God "cut the cord" as the child emerged from the mother's womb. Of course neither Jeremiah nor the psalmist actually recalled those prenatal and infant moments; they recognized God's actions in retrospect.
And yet, I notice that the psalmist's time frame is churning. Verb tenses jump from having taken refuge in the past to pleading for deliverance now and to be ever shielded from shame.
In this swirling experience, how is it that the singer is able always to be praising God? Maybe hope is the still point? Perhaps it is because faith grows out of trust learned from the past and flowers into hope that allows us to see what God has done and then to rely on God from our birth into the future.
My God, you have been with me since before I drew a breath, and you sustain my life in the rhythm of exhalation and inhalation. As I rely upon you for air, teach me to trust you for all things until my final breath. Amen.
L. DeAne Lagerquist
Professor of Religion, St. Olaf College
Master of Arts , 1981
Psalm 71:1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.[New Revised Standard Version]
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