Wednesday, June 10, 2009

It is the Lord who keeps faith forever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is God who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,

the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the widow and orphan.

It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion's God, from age to age.
Psalm 146: 7-10

Today's Scripture
Jeremiah 22:1-9
Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O King of Judah sitting on the throne of David - you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place. For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their servants, and their people. But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
You are like Gilead to me;
like the summit of Lebanon;
but I swear that I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city.
I will prepare destroyers against you,
all with their weapons;
they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
And many nations will pass by this city, and all of them will say to one another, "Why has the Lord dealt this way with that great city?" And they will answer, "Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them."

Prayer for the Day
O God, you build up and you tear down.
You call us to lives of justice and righteousness
in faithfulness to your covenant.
May our compassion be swift
toward the least, the lost and the last.
May our resolve be firm against
all temptation and transgression.
Heeding your word, may we live in your blessing.
Amen.