Advent Devotional December 8, 2025

Scripture

Psalm 40

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.

4 Happy are those who make
the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.

6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.

11 Do not, O Lord, withhold
your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
keep me safe forever.
12 For evils have encompassed me
without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me
until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire my hurt.
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God.

Devotion

The Rev. Dr. Jane Holtzclaw ’25

It is Thursday morning. I am sitting at my dining room table trying to focus on writing my sermon. I have just returned from a morning run at a local lake, during which my mind was churning. How was I going to preach this Sunday? Yesterday, a shooter shot through the stained-glass window of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding many others as they sat with their teachers for mass. I’m upset and distressed. How does one preach a loving and compassionate God without appearing shallow when too many children are dying at the hands of violent adults?

With these thoughts occupying my mind, I’m looking at Psalm 40. How is it relevant to us now? The psalm is one of praise while at the same time seeking God’s presence and help in a time of despair. Not unusual for a psalm, but I realize that the structure is different. Rather than beginning with a plea for help followed by praise, the psalmist reverses the order. Praise is followed by pleas for God’s help, followed by further praise then another plea.

Throughout the Hebrew Bible there is a cycle of gloom, doom, and destruction followed by healing and recovery. Perhaps this psalm, as much by its roller-coaster structure as its content, is a reminder that a life of faith has its ups and downs. The question, “God, why this?” doesn’t have an answer. But history assures us that God hasn’t left us even though God may seem absent. In his resurrection and afterwards, Jesus appeared to leave but kept coming back—again and again and again.

Prayer

Lord, when we are overwhelmed by the ways of the world, open our eyes to see Your light, so that we may share the strength of Your presence with those alongside us. Amen.

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