Reflections on Scripture through the Daily Office
A new series
I am part of a team that writes daily devotionals for my local Episcopal church. We rotate through the weeks, starting on Sundays, and write an approximately 250 word meditation off of a passage from the Common Book of Prayer’s daily office. I am now completing my first year of being on this team, having written 6 weeks worth of devotionals. It has been an encouragement to hear throughout the year that even though mine are “scholarly” and “often have to be read twice,” they are also worthwhile or enjoyable.
Now, until recently I have held to a firm conviction—that what I write for my local church stays local (that is, offline). Yet, a quarter in my life has repeatedly requested that I reproduce these devotionals on Substack, and I now wish to give ear to it. Perhaps this shift of perspective is owing to the reflectiveness that naturally comes with the ending of a calendar year, for the doubts that have held me back are now being doubted.
My plan is to post a week’s worth of devotionals at a time, enabling you to read at your own leisure. I will post these bi-weekly, until we run into the present day. The weeks that the devotionals were originally being published in were of course kept in mind when they were written, but this should not be a problematic or too-troublesome barrier to the reader here.
All that remains to be said is that while these devotionals’ imperfections are glaring to me, in an important sense that is entirely the point—it is a gift to be faced with the opportunity for humility. I offer these as an act of service, with confidence that their worthiness roots and rests in He who is ‘the ground of thy beseeching.’
Sunday: Psalm 24, 29; Genesis 18:16-33; Galatians 5:13-25; Mark 8:22-30
The Voice of God in a Great Storm. A Psalm of David.
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendor.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl
and strips the forest bare,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!
There is a beautiful rhythm to this Psalm—two injunctions to “ascribe to the LORD!”, repetitious ruminations about the voice of God that follow one after the other, with then two statements about God’s sitting enthroned before ending with two blessings of response.
Early creation comes to mind at first, as the heavenly beings (vs 1) are beckoned to ascribe of their own volition that God is beautiful, powerful, and good when he speaks over the waters (vs 3). The sound of God’s voice is called to attention, along with the effects of his speech displayed (vs 4). Trees and wind, and therefore later creation, remain the focal point of God’s voice too; God’s creation and his involvement with it ever continues (vs 5-9). But then it is back to the waters, and with it a turn of focus to God’s throne and his temple (vs 10, vs 9).
Fire, wind, water, and earth (i.e. the oaks and forest) have each been created by God’s voice, and are all governed and shaken by his voice as well. In response to this wondrous thought, David prays that God’s people would be granted his strength, and blessed with peace (vs 11). It is a remarkable choice of request, given the witness of wild-yet-tamed, unified-yet-separated creation—that the people have strength to bear and contend with God as he ought. That the people have peace, including the strength to desire and enjoy that peace, within a world untethered by humanity’s rebellion into danger and uncertainty—all graced by the very creator God who upholds everything by the glory and power of the Crucified and Risen One—God’s spoken Word.
Prayer: Oh God my Truth, make me one with You in eternal love. Often I become weary with reading and hearing many things. You are all that I want and desire. Let all teachers be mute and all creation keep silence before You. Speak to me, You, and You alone. Amen (Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, p. 6)
Monday: Psalm 56, 57, [58]; Genesis 19:1-17, (18-23), 24-29; Hebrews 11:1-12; John 6:27-40
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death, and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.” And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would approach God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, with Sarah’s involvement, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old, because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’
Hebrews 11 lands towards the end of the book of Hebrews, with so much having happened and so much being proclaimed in the lead up to this chapter. Hebrews 1 begins as the overture and key to the book as a whole, by declaring Jesus Christ as the creator and heir of all things—being God’s radiance, glory, and exact imprint of the nature of God. The following chapters then take pains to show how Jesus both upholds and fulfills the faithful yet earthly work of the prophets, priests, and rulers before him. Moses, David, Joshua, Aaron, and others served faithfully yet imperfectly, and then Jesus came and submitted to all as they did, ‘yet without sin’ (Heb 4:15). In this way Jesus is the forerunner of our lives and our faith unlike any other, and is our example of what it is to live in this world (e.g. Heb 6:20). “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb 10:14).
This, then, better illumines the profundity of verse 1 in this present chapter. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is not true belief, but is instead trust and reliance upon the God revealed in Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews offers a further assurance immediately following this, too: “Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.” None of these ancestors were perfect, morally upstanding individuals. Each was flawed in his or her own way (even Enoch, despite our knowing next to nothing about him)—and yet they are each held up as paradigms of faith, not for our discouragement, but for our encouragement. Each of their lives, taken both separately and together, is a reminder that faith looks kaleidoscopic when observed in the diverse lives of God’s saints.
Prayer: I pray you, Lord, make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding. I owe you more than my whole self, but I have no more, and by myself I cannot render the whole of it to you. Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness of love. I am wholly yours by creation; make me all yours, too, in love. Amen (St Anselm of Canterbury, end of “Meditation on Human Redemption”)
Tuesday: Psalm 61, 62; Genesis 21:1-21; Hebrews 11:13-22; John 6:41-51
All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.” He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.” By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.
In a way, verse 13 here is a re-statement of verse 1 of Hebrews 11—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Enoch, and Abel all died in a state of expectation, hope, and assurance in God’s goodness and in God’s ability to make right what has been made wrong. It was a matter of faith for them to be dissatisfied with the crooked and bent ways of the world, while recognizing the desirability and goodness of the earth at the same time. They were willing to not only desire better, but expect better, all because of God—and this they did, despite the appearances they could see, touch, and reason about. For this alone, the text tells us, “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” And this is still staggering, to me.
I still and too often carry the idea that God is dissatisfied with me…that I am not being good enough, in some way or another, and that he is disappointed in my shortcomings. Yet Hebrews begs to differ! Instead of this attitude reflecting a sense of piety, it does the opposite. To have faith includes accepting what God has said of me, and this includes not just his finished work, but his true pleasure in every “yes” or “amen” I utter in response to him. It is such a glorious thought, that I give God pleasure in my small, daily moments of inclining my head towards him, even by resting it on his shoulder.
Prayer: Jesus, would you afford us the grace to be aware of the state of our spirit in light of Yours, and awake to our own malaise and despondency. Would you bring us into the mirror reflection of your person, Oh King, that shows us where we are sick and faint in our own beings. And in light of this purifying light, illumine and show us that which is true reality—in our work, in our jobs, in our relationships, in our discernment. In your lovingkindness and mercy, afford us the means to say no to temptation and yes to your abundant love. Amen (Meghan Fisher)
Wednesday: Psalm 72; Genesis 22:1-18; Hebrews 11:23-31; John 6:52-59
By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
How can Hebrews say of Moses that he consider the abuse he suffered ‘for the sake of Christ,’ when Moses was born as much as two thousand years before Jesus was? We set aside the philosophical considerations around time and our state of consciousness after death for now, as those considerations aren’t as important as recognizing that here we have an example of Scripture teaching us how to read Scripture. The author of Hebrews is interpreting Exodus’ account of Moses through the lens of Jesus Christ and his Passion (indeed, he or she has been doing so throughout the book). The claim here isn’t that Moses had special knowledge of Jesus Christ. The claim is that Moses’ risky behavior, his choice to be associated with his people of birth rather than his adopted people, was a decision that shows a commitment, a faith, in something beyond pragmatics. Moses left his life of prestige, comfort, and safety for a life of debasement and exile, and this, argues the author of Hebrews, is reflective of Christ’s own suffering. For the author of Hebrews, much akin to what Jesus says on the road to Emmaus (“Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures”, Luke 24:27), Moses’ suffering and faith are akin to Christ’s, and are therefore foreshadows and participations in Christ’s own suffering. Moses knew Christ, before actually knowing Christ (again, we’ve put those philosophical puzzles aside), through his Christ-like actions.
Prayer: I ask, I seek, I knock. You who made me seek, make me receive; you who gave the seeking, give the finding; you who taught the knocking, open to my knock. Amen (St Anselm of Canterbury, end of “Meditation on Human Redemption”)
Thursday: Psalm [70], 71; Genesis 23:1-20; Hebrews 11:32-12:2; John 6:60-71
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverence the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Many persons, named and stories told and unnamed with stories untold, have preceded the ancient audience to whom Hebrews was addressed. And also, since then, us too…all of these are the great cloud of witnesses that surround us. How impossible is it for us to say that we are alone, or misunderstood, in such a company! There is an astounding claim about our salvation here, too—namely, that we are participants in each other’s ‘being made perfect’. We cannot elevate the faith and lives of those who came before Christ any more than we can elevate our faith and our lives over those who didn’t see the fulfillment of the promises in Christ. Hebrews is taking pains to show that, while it is glorious to be a part of the generation that has seen the giving and coming of Christ, this does not elevate our faith or our status above those who only looked and prayed for the coming of Christ. With the help and knowledge of Christ, we too are to live exactly as those who lived before Christ did—laying aside sins and our ‘yeses’ to temptation, our perseverance in faith matters in the perfecting of those before and behind us…how astounding! In other words, our lives lived in faith have direct affect and consequence on others’, and it is only together as the Bride of Christ that we, each one of us, is perfected into the likeness of Christ himself.
Prayer: Oh Lord, grant us to greet the coming day, and this new month, in peace. Help us in all things to rely upon Your holy will. In every hour of the day, reveal your will to us. Bless our dealings with all who surround us. Teach us to treat all that comes to us throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all our deeds and words, bless our thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events, let us not forget that all are sent by You. Teach us to act firmly and wisely, without embittering or embarrassing others. Give us strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring. Direct our wills, teach us to pray, and You, Yourself, pray in us. Amen (St Philaret of Moscow)
Friday: Psalm 69:1-23, (24-30), 31-38; Genesis 24:1-27; Hebrews 12:3-11; John 7:1-13
Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—
“My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when you are punished by him,
for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves
and chastises every child whom he accepts.”
Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children, for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
“Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls or lose heart.” Hebrews has held up Christ and his willing submission to suffering throughout its contents, and this not as an impossible bar we will always fail to live by, but instead as a reminder and an exhortation. Because Jesus Christ lived as he did, suffered as he did, experienced temptation as he did, died as he did…no part of our lives or experiences are therefore left unexperienced or untouched (unassumed) by him. He understands us, and endures with us. And then, because of his life, suffering, temptation, death, and resurrection, we now can see and experience our lives far differently than before. Even to the point of seeing each trial, minor and major alike, as something not only to experience by God’s help, but as something that God himself saw as worthy to undergo—which can then make us partakers of Christ’s own suffering. For, it is through the experiencing of evil that evil is resisted, and then finally realized as defeated.
Therefore, as we read on to the discipline of God, we must see that this text is not equating discipline with evil, or saying that God uses evil. We must be very careful in what we mean here, for God is Light and in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Theologian Chris Green puts the distinction helpfully: “What does the resurrection accomplish? It brings our humanity into a full share in the life of God, and destroys death from off of it completely. God does not need bad suffering to do good in your life. God creates from nothing; God has no need. He doesn’t need to take a few bad things to make some good things…God does not use evil! God does not need death to bring life! What he does in resurrecting Jesus is not make death good. He destroys death by the goodness of Life.” (taken from the recorded lecture “Trauma, Healing, and the Life of Faith”). When we consider the discipline of God, we consider it by the character of God (the character of Holy Trinity), which is an unchanging character of an always good and always loving Father.
Prayer: Father in Heaven! You hold all good gifts in Your gentle hand. Your abundance is richer than human understanding can apprehend. You are more willing to give and Your goodness is greater than the human heart can understand. You fulfill every prayer and give what we pray for, for that which is far better than the thing for which we ask. So You give everyone his appointed share, as it is pleasing to You. But, too, You give everything the assurance that all things come from You, that no joy can separate us from You in the forgetfulness of pleasure, no sorrow effect a separation between You and us; but that we may resort to You in our gladness, and abide with You in our sorrow, so that when at last our days are numbered, and the outer person has perished, Death may not come in his own name, cold and terrible, but gentle and friendly, with greetings and messages, with testimony from You, our Father who is in heaven. Amen (Søren Kierkegaard, opening prayer to “Strengthened in the Inner Man”)
Saturday: Psalm 75, 76; Genesis 24:28-38, 49-51; Hebrews 12:12-29; John 7:14-36
Thanksgiving for God’s Wondrous Deeds. To the leader: Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks; your name is near.
People tell of your wondrous deeds.
At the set time that I appoint,
I will judge with equity.
When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep its pillars steady. Selah
I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,”
and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn;
do not lift up your horn on high
or speak with insolent neck.”
For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed;
he will pour a draught from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs.
But I will rejoice forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
‘Thanks to God and to his name and his presence; because he is near, we give thanks.’ So the psalm opens, and then continues and concludes in a different vein. The focus primarily rests with the speaker, and with his intentions and his understanding. He wishes to use his authority to remind and to teach that all human beings are subject to the living God. The people being addressed are stiff-necked and boastful, who need reminding of the God who oversees and upholds all.
There is a difference, it seems, not so much in the actions of the wicked and the righteous (though of course there are distinguishing features there), but in the perspective and reception the wicked and righteous respectively make when God lifts up and brings down. If God pours out the foaming mixed wine (i.e. the prepared wine), the wicked respond by drinking it down to the dregs. Yet this is not directly contrasted with the righteous’ reception of the mixed wine. Indeed, the righteous are only mentioned directly at the very end, and there it is the speaker who acts as judge, and not God (“all the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted”).
And why do the wicked drink the mixed wine down to the dregs? It seems to be a sign of greed, lackadaisicalness, and even cynicism…an unwillingness to trust that what was once received from God’s hand will come again (and thus, not saving any but polishing down to the dregs). God feels more removed and distant in this psalm, with the speaker’s confidence and conviction taking center stage.
Prayer: Thanks be to You, O Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which You have given us, and for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know You more clearly, love You more dearly, and follow You more nearly, for Your own sake. Amen (St Richard of Chichester)
These were all so lovely. Thank you for sharing. We need more of this in such trying times. 🤍