Psalm 31:9-16 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 31:9-16 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.
Verse 10For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.
Verse 11I 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.
Verse 12I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
Verse 13For I hear the whispering of many- terror all around!- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
Verse 14But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."
Verse 15My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Verse 16Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.
Devotion
A teammate and classmate of mine at the U.S. Naval Academy served as a Marine Corps officer in Afghanistan in the 2000s. During his first tour of duty, he talked about being in an area of so much uncertainty and hostility and suffering—both towards him and the everyday citizens who lived there. No one was safe; it seemed that everyone there was surrounded by adversaries. Yet my friend volunteered to go back for a second tour—where he was killed in combat. My friend wrote a letter to his family, explaining his reasoning for returning. He wrote, "If not me, then who?" That is how I think about Christ, entering into a hostile world to save a suffering people who could not save themselves. Christ, seeing our reality and need to be saved from it, perhaps said, "If not me, then who?"
Prayer
Christ, you came to us when we were surrounded by our enemies. Help us turn towards you always, trusting in your steadfast love. Amen.