1-16-2026

Good Morning!

         Psalm 70:5; “But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!”

    I enjoy most sports. I enjoy high school or college or pro sports. But I must confess that technology has allowed me to become lazy. I used to attend the various events but now, with my tablet in hand, I sit in my recliner and follow the games. It is quite slick. I can follow a number of teams at once and if the current game is less than stellar, I just go to a different one. I watch from start to finish and I have been paying attention to the end of the game more and more. When a team wins, they have a “happy” walk, they shake hands with their opponents and then excitedly congratulate their teammates on a “good game!” But when they lose, it is a little more subdued. They still shake hands with their opponent (even though it looks forced) and their interaction with their teammates is much less and looks of blame and recrimination seem more likely.

    I wonder if our worship life is like this. It seems that many of the popular methods of worship emphasize celebrating the good things. This is the right thing for us to do. We should thank God for healthy babies, for job or business success, for children or grandchildren who succeed in school. We should truly be thankful for the joyful events of our lives, but what about the not-so-great moments? What about those days or times of sorrow or fear? What about the times we despair about tomorrow, then what?

    It can be easy to offer worship to God when things are going well but it can be shallow. Like the camaraderie of a winning team is easy, it is easy to be thankful in good times. It is good show for those around us. Yet, true worship, true faith, shows when we are poor and needy. Just like the true teammate is the one who goes to the player who missed the winning shot and tells him, “good game, without you we wouldn’t have even had a chance and there is nobody else who is more reliable than you. It was a tough break tonight;” true faith goes to God even, maybe especially, when things look bleak, when we are poor and needy, we come to God for mercy.

    This is not a desperate act; this is an act of confidence. We say with all boldness and confidence, “O, God, you alone can fix this and you have promised to be with us, to protect us, and to deliver us. Please do not wait for you and you alone are my deliverer.” This is faith, trusting God’s promises even when we don’t see them as clearly as we want to see them. Knowing that God will deliver us, even when we are at our poorest and neediest we know that the God who sent His Son to die for us will not hold back but will deliver us and bring us safely home.

Gracious Father, your mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Guide by your Spirit to trust in your promise of salvation and to never abandon us. Help us to walk in a bold faith that we may know that nothing can separate us from your love for us in Christ Jesus. Defend and deliver us we pray. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret