Lenten Devotion by Goshen College Students, Faculty, and Staff "Lowly Worm" by Jim Histand, vice president for finance for Wednesday, March 25, 2015 02:00 am

Lenten Devotion by Goshen College Students, Faculty, and Staff "Lowly Worm" by Jim Histand, vice president for finance for Wednesday, March 25, 2015 02:00 am

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 31:9 (8) You did not hand me over to the enemy;

you set my feet where I can move freely.

10 (9) Show me favor, Adonai, for I am in trouble.

My eyes grow dim with anger,

my soul and body as well.

11 (10) For my life is worn out with sorrow

and my years with sighing;

my strength gives out under my guilt,

and my bones are wasting away.

12 (11) I am scorned by all my adversaries,

and even more by my neighbors;

even to acquaintances

I am an object of fear —

when they see me in the street,

they turn away from me.

13 (12) Like a dead man, I have passed from their minds;

I have become like a broken pot.

14 (13) All I hear is whispering,

terror is all around me;

they plot together against me,

scheming to take my life.

15 (14) But I, I trust in you, Adonai;

I say, “You are my God.”

16 (15) My times are in your hand;

rescue me from my enemies’ power,

from those who persecute me. (Complete Jewish Bible)
DEVOTIONAL:
The Psalmist bemoans the lowliness and reproachful nature of mankind. “My strength fails and my bones waste away; I am repulsive and an object of scorn and dread for others; I am forgotten, a broken vessel; my life is spent with grief; I hear the slander and whispering of many, as they scheme to take away my life.” Wow, this sounds like the ultimate in glass half-empty pessimism! How awful are these words, and how can there be any hope, with these kinds of thoughts?
I’m reminded of reading with my granddaughter about Lowly Worm. Life can be and IS the pits at times for the poor little guy, and of course for us. We all experience depths of struggle, pain, ill health, untimely death of loved ones, etc., at different points in life. It is our reality – and even unfairly more for some of us than others – where, oh where is God in our anguish?
But of course God indeed is always there, a lifter and supporter of Lowly Worm. The underdog’s hero! How can we not overcome, and how can we not believe? God is the creator, the author and shaper of our very lives. Hosanna in the highest, yes, dancing cherubs and dancing/prancing Lowly Worm with the jaunty hat and smile! Our LORD is in our worm-mobile with us! ZOOM!!!
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 31: Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.
I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
For I hear the whispering of many— terror all around!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.[New Revised Standard Version]
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