Lent Devotional March 3, 2024

Lenten Devotional March 3, 2024

Scripture

Psalm 42

1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.
8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.

Devotion

Simeon Rodgers ’23

Like the psalmist, we have all encountered times where the circumstances of life have amassed like a great wave and caused us inner turmoil. Perhaps this very moment is such a time for you. There is certainly no shortage of things to be vexed to the soul about in this troubling day. Whether it be personal or about the state of the world, heaviness is much too easy to come by. Everywhere we look there is something that questions the veracity of our claim to hope. Although the words “Where is your God?” are attributed to adversaries who are mocking, we may oftentimes find ourselves asking a very similar thing: “God, where are you?” Depending on different factors, you may face some mental anguish when doubt arises. Perhaps you were told that to have doubt is sinful, disrespect of the divine, or proof of an empty faith. I would like to present another way to look at doubt and renew the image of the person that asks God for God’s whereabouts when facing something that surely needs God’s presence. The very act of asking God, “Where are you?” is more proof of a teachable faith and a heart that is searching and longing after God’s presence than would be a cold, rigid certainty that disengages from the reality of suffering in the world. We ask because we care to know and realize a need! We ask because we are thirsty for the rivers of God’s justice and goodness to flow into the desert places of our lives and our world. When we ask, “God, where are you?” may it encompass the humility of not yet seeing as well as our hope to find the one whom we seek so that we may join them there in the work of healing and restoration.

Prayer

Heavenly Parent, present with us even when we cannot perceive you, grant us peace and patience with ourselves and our world in the process of becoming. Let us seek your presence while recognizing that we bear you with us wherever we go. Permit us to feel the weight and rest of that truth. In your name, Amen.

ABOUT PITTSBURGH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Rooted in the Reformed tradition, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is committed to the formation of students for theologically reflective ministry and to scholarship in service to the global Church of Jesus Christ.

Become a Hybrid Student

PTS Neighborhood Collaborative Resource Programs

Faculty

In addition to their on-campus duties, our faculty are experts in their fields and are available to preach and teach. Learn more about their topics of research and writing and invite them to present at your congregation or gathering.

Events

The Seminary hosts a wide range of events—many of them free!—on topics of faith including church planting, mission, vocation, spiritual formation, pastoral care and counseling, archaeology, and many more. Visit our calendar often for a listing of upcoming events.

Visit PTS

Interested in the Seminary? Come visit us!

Stay in Touch with PTS

Sign-up to receive the Seminary's newsletters: Seminary News (monthly), Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry, Continuing Education, Kelso Museum, Metro-Urban Institute, Miller Summer Youth Institute, and World Mission Initiative. Alums, there's also one for you!