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Advent Devotional for Tuesday, December 9
Psalm 27
Don’t you just love David? Apparently God did. In 1 Samuel 13:14 we read that David was “a man after God’s own heart.” As the composer of Psalm 27 one moment David celebrates God’s favor, protection and deliverance almost to the point of braggadocio; the next he is far less certain of his standing, seeking a God who has somehow become distant to him, plaintively imploring God to act on his behalf.
What does not waver in these verses is David’s confidence in God. Whether near or far he recognizes the Lord’s power and preeminence. Even more remarkably he seems to assume a compelling and intimate relationship with God whether or not he can see, hear or feel God’s presence. He simply lifts his song of praise or lament, trusting that he will be heard and heeded by the Almighty.
In Psalm 27 and throughout Hebrew Scripture we taste and see the goodness of a Lord who walks with his people, who comes close to protect, to save, to lead his chosen into abundant life. In Psalm 27 we also witness a human being participating whole-heartedly in a lively relationship with God. Is it any wonder that from such a lineage as this the God-Man should be born, incarnating in his very body the life-blood of this mutual relationship?
The fully human and the fully divine have been seeking one another for an eternity, and that mystery reaches its fulfillment in the birth of Jesus, the Christ. What might Christ’s second coming bring? Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! In times of plenty, times of want and this unique time of far too many distractions, we seek your face. Do not hide your face from us, but in your mercy hear and answer our hearts’ deepest longing which is always and forever for your fresh, newly born life within and among us. Amen.
Christine Wagner
Middler MDiv Student
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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