"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Tuesday, 13 September 2016 with Scripture Psalm 113

"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Tuesday, 13 September 2016 with Scripture Psalm 113
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Psalm 113:1 Halleluyah!
Servants of Adonai, give praise!
Give praise to the name of Adonai!
2 Blessed be the name of Adonai
from this moment on and forever!
3 From sunrise until sunset
Adonai’s name is to be praised.
4 Adonai is high above all nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like Adonai our God,
seated in the heights,
6 humbling himself to look
on heaven and on earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dust,
lifts the needy from the rubbish heap,
8 in order to give him a place among princes,
among the princes of his people.
9 He causes the childless woman
to live at home happily as a mother of children.
Halleluyah![Complete Jewish Bible]
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I love doing children's messages in worship. One of my favorite activities is to invite the kids to bend over and peer through their legs at the congregation. The world looks funny upside down. God's ways can also seem upside down to the ways of the world. Turning the other cheek, leaving behind a flock because one sheep strayed and loving our enemies don't make sense in the logic of how the world works. This psalm speaks of a God who cares for the least, the last and the lost, who raises the poor and lifts the needy--all upside down from the ways of the world.
There is a woman named Betty in the congregation where I serve. Every Sunday she prays for the man who murdered her niece three years ago. We all know his name now: Rudy. And when Betty is gone from worship someone else prays for Rudy--for healing, for him to know God's love and forgiveness. In a world that demands revenge her prayer is a powerful testimony to this upside down way we are called to live as God's people. 
O God, who is like you? No one. And we are grateful. Amen.
Sandy Van Zyl, '88
ELCA Pastor serving United Congregational Church, Butte, Mont.
Psalm 113:1 Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.
4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord! [New Revised Standard Version]
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