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April 20 - Psalm 124

4/16/2015

Escape to Glory

The Judaeo-Christian faith is not geared to contemplation, but experience. It is a faith that empowers be-cause it is personal. In Psalm 124 the writer looks at life and sighs in relief, “If the Lord had not been on our side.” Again, in the pattern of Hebrew poets, he repeats, “If the Lord had not been on our side,” and then he describes the rigors and dangers of his journey.

Augustine prayed for deliverance from “secret sins”. The writer of this Psalm speaks of militant evil deter-mined to destroy God’s people. We who follow and obey the Risen One know who guides and preserves us. We rejoice because we know who our helper is. In the church that I grew up in, prayer and praise worship were staples. And the older saints often quoted Psalm 124 to describe their lives.

Isaiah 40 speaks of the faithful as a “voice crying in the wilderness.” Indeed, the world is full of terror and tyranny. Violence is a constant. Greed and hatred are incubated even within religious establishments. Labor and management, haves and have-nots, people of color and those without color, males and females, and young and old are at each other’s throats.

Most of my ministry was focused toward two things: teaching people who believed they were beleaguered not to hate, but love; and, equipping them for what Howard Thurman called the “strange freedom” we find in Christ Jesus to live unencumbered lives.

I blanch when anyone speaks of the “simple gospel.” Looking at life and God in a balanced and responsible way is never simple. Facing failure, hurt, disappointment, treason we have played on God, and arrogant maneuvers we devise to avoid truth denies our sin and shallowness.

What am I most assured of? By God’s grace and mercy I have escaped and am now in the process of being saved. And I cannot cease praising God. I wonder what flood of emotion swept over the Pentecost crowd after their soul-shaking experience? Maybe they could say nothing more than, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

- James Scott

Click Here for Psalm 124

Today pray for:
Calvary Baptist Church of Springfield and their interim pastor Jim Dowse
First Baptist Church of Starksboro and their pastor Larry Detweiler
Humility, so that God can lift us up

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April 19 - Psalm 123

4/16/2015

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This song of praise and reassurance seems to be written for the psalmist’s own heart. By it he is remembering, reminding himself that it is in keeping his eye on God that human scorn and pride can be muted, letting a Divine peace take its place. The psalmist gazes upward and by this is continually reminded that God is transcendent, high above him in the heavens. But there is no great removal of God in this distance; indeed even at these heights, this great and Holy God has an eye to the everydayness of his quest to be tempered and found faithful.

The next couplet begs mercy, acknowledging his contempt. The words that follow are spoken perhaps to remind himself that even though God is “high”, God cares for him enough to hear and to provide merciful instruction. God’s very presence is as near as the mistress’ hand to her maid. As we follow the gaze of the psalmist in this Song of Ascent – spoken probably on the way up the Temple Hill – the psalmist remembers confession always comes first. The trek up the Temple Hill is perhaps just for this.

As we go, the psalmist’s words of prayer remind again that God is never absent or far away. God indeed is forever close-at-hand. We can ask for and receive in all our travels God’s word of goodness and mercy for our lives.

- Linda Lea Snyder

Click Here for Psalm 123

Today pray for:
First Baptist Church of South Londonderry and their pastors Chris and Kathleen Blackey
South Newfane Baptist Church and their pastor Malcolm Hamblett
Fresh visioning in our churches

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April 18 - Psalm 122

4/16/2015

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( V.1) Where could one find a more joyful invitation? Note the words, “with those.” Here there is the strength of fellowship. The strength of a group helps each individual in the group to be stronger; and joy, to be fulfilling, needs to be shared. Just as Israel in multitudes came to Jerusalem for the three great feasts of Passover, Firstfruits, and Booths, ever since Pentecost those who follow Jesus have banded together for instruction in Christ’s ways, for worship, for fellowship, and for doing the work of Christ’s Kingdom together. And we have Jesus’ promise that all of Satan’s most powerful attacks will never destroy the Church

(V.2) “Our feet are standing….” It was truly awesome for those groups of pilgrims from outlying areas to actually be standing in the Holy City, safely within her walls, invited to share in the great feast of celebration and worship. As they came together to remember and celebrate God’s deliverance in the Exodus, the con-quest of Canaan, and His continuing care throughout their history, so the church comes together to remember and celebrate our deliverance from sin at the cross and Jesus’ triumph over death, for Himself first, then for all who put their trust in Him. It follows then (v. 4, 5) that we offer Him our heartfelt praise and rejoice in His justice.

In regard to God’s judgments, Spurgeon comments, “To a true saint the throne is never more amiable than in its judicial capacity; the righteous love judgment, and are glad that right will be rewarded and iniquity will be punished.”

Verses 6-9 become a prayer for peace: “…peace within your walls….” The psalmist sees Jerusalem as secure within her walls, a place where the worshipers are safe from all dangers. Outside the walls there may be fear of violence, loneliness, hardship, etc., but inside is a place of peace, joy, and safety.

Today in our world there is much anxiety, unhappiness, want, loneliness and fear; but for all who trust in the Lord we have the promise “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1, 2). And Psalm 46 ends, “The LORD Almighty is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

- Dean Roth

Click Here for Psalm 122

Today pray for:
The Federated Church, Sheffield and their pastor Sean Quinn
South Hampton Baptist Church and their pastor Jeremy Pataro

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April 17 - Psalm 121

4/16/2015

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“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.” (v. 1)

Last October my husband Ted and I were alone on a pathway of the White Mountains National Forest in Waterville Valley, NH, without the sound of any voice, any vehicle, any footsteps, save our own.

I looked up, inasmuch as we were more than embraced by the mountains, we were secured by the hills that beckoned us somehow to be, to see, to even bow like the birches and the ageless maple trees at the wonder, the tapestry of God’s own hand showing the peak of His creative grandeur for the likes of humankind!

My soul had only to utter, with a hushed voice, before such peace and wonder, the imbedded timeless words of the psalmist, noted in the first line of this offering of a devotional. There, on the pathway, we stopped and together gave THANKS that indeed, in times such as these, when horrific happenings upon this good earth cause us to tremble, when the unseen becomes fearful and the seen becomes overwhelming, the plea and hope from anyone who walks this path of life or joins with others on this journey, all together are surely silently seeking to cry for help for our times, our world, our families, our churches and our very life and unfinished high calling.

The voice that resonated upon and above our path and still extends, literally and lovingly throughout time, simply resounds in the silence of the mountains’ splendor that “He will not suffer our foot to be moved nor does He slumber or sleep.” HE IS OUR KEEPER, HE is that shade upon our right hand, and His glory safe-guards us even under the fiercest of flame and heat by day and constant illumination of light and might by night which rules our tides and oceans. That “sun shall not smite us by day nor the moon by night.”

We worship, we serve, we are loved by a GOD whose word promises that HE SHALL PRESERVE us from all evil … and that is a great promise, an assuring hope for the body. HIS WORD goes even beyond safeguarding our bodies, our lives, the lives of those we love, but greater still, His word affirms that HE SHALL PRESERVE our Soul! Many of us have, surely, lifted our eyes unto those hills, whether in Vermont or New Hampshire.
However, not only have the leaves upon the mountains been glorified by His Almighty hand and attained their peak for the eyes to see and the soul to be, but this PSALM lays bare for us promises when the leaves have fallen and the storms of winter silence the hills with the softness of snow, “The Lord shall preserve our going out and our coming in from this time forth and even for evermore.”

This is the God who indeed HELPS when we lift up our eyes unto the hills. This is the God whom we worship in our churches across the landscape of northern New England, sheltered by this promise, secured by this hope, saved by His Grace and redeemed by His Son! We are the people of His Word! His Truth is from ever-lasting to everlasting and together when we seek in our time His help…. together as One Body, we can affirm not only to each other, but all those who walk along the path, that our God will not slumber during tremulous times. We can proclaim with the psalmist then and alongside God’s people now, in times like these, that “OUR HELP COMETH…from the Lord which made heaven and earth.”

- Mary Robbins

Click Here for Psalm 121

Today pray for:
Christ’s Church, Saxtons River
Trinity United Church, Seabrook and their interim pastor William Main
American Baptist Women’s Ministries of Vermont and New Hampshire

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April 16 - Psalm 120

4/16/2015

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“Goings Up”

One item near the top of my very brief “bucket list” is to make a pilgrimage. My definition of pilgrimage is “an arduous journey to a shrine or holy place with a particular intention in mind, often in the company of fellow pilgrims.” The Canterbury Tales comes to mind, as does the compulsory annual journey to Mecca for Muslims, and we have all seen pictures of devout Buddhists in Tibet literally inchworming their way toward some holy site by prostrating themselves on the ground, rising to take a step, then lying down flat again, again and again.
But those pilgrimages best known to Christians and Jews are the annual religious celebrations mandated by the Old Testament: Pentecost, Passover, Tabernacles, and more. At these designated times, Jews from all over the empire were required to make the journey – long or short – from their home sites to converge at Mount Zion and the Temple to sacrifice, to praise and to pray. Acts 2:1-13 describes the event in Jesus’ time, and Isaiah the prophet catches the mood of high joy and expectation:
“And you shall sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when peo-ple playing pipes go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Zion” (Isaiah 30:29).

This Psalm is the first of 15 subtitled “A Song of Ascents”; the Hebrew word being “ma’aloth”, meaning “goings up.” It is highly unlikely that I, an octogenarian plus two, will ever undertake such a strenuous trek, but in retrospect I see that indeed, I have made mini-pilgrimages at sundry times during my life when the joy and the excitement of travel and arrival were given in wonderful ways. And these experiences have changed my life dramatically.

One such mini-pilgrimage occurred in the spring of 1965 when I was serving as assistant pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Bridgeport, CT. Urban renewal was the rage back then and our beautiful 112 year old building, which stood smack in the path of an artery of Route 95, was designated for destruction. During the grace period that followed, the church, having received more than ample compensation for the loss, built a state-of-the-art edifice in the town of Fairfield two miles up the road. Immediately following the final worship service, the congregation gathered out in front and formed a parade, complete with banners, balloons and a flatbed truck with a piano. When all was in readiness, we stood in a moment of reverential silence as the church bell was rung 112 times to mark the passing of the old. Then began the ascent – the two mile trek to the new building. On the way we stopped at the Hebrew synagogue and the Catholic church where we were welcomed to the neighborhood and presented with commemorative plaques. Upon arrival at the new church we regrouped and again stood in reverential attention as the bell was rung 113 times to mark our new beginning. That was our pilgrimage.

Not much of an ascent. Was it? But not all ascents are measurable in the ordinary way. Perhaps the best “Goings Up” are matters of the spirit. How you travel is one measurement. What happens to your soul along the way is another. You may make it to the Rock and the Temple (and more power to you!), but then turn around and head for home hardly different than when you started out – except for the blisters on your feet.
I hope our psalmist, whoever he was, found what he was looking for. As for me, I’m ready for one more.

- Randy Rice

Click Here for Psalm 120

Today pray for:
Centerpoint Community Church, Salem & their pastor Bill Swilling
First Baptist Church, Sanbornton and their pastors Scott and Toni Manning
Second Baptist Church, Sanbornton and their pastor Chris McMicken

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April 15 - Psalm 134

4/16/2015

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As pilgrims on your personal faith journey you are invited, if not implored, to join the festive procession to the 2015 Annual Gathering of the American Baptist Churches of Vermont & New Hampshire on May 1-2 in Rutland. This invitation gives you the opportunity to prepare yourself for this Holy event. This invitation not only asks you to put these dates on your calendar, but to be awake and alert now at your local post.
Begin now to form in your life a new attitude, a new lifestyle that will bless God, praise God, thank God and honor God. Live out that new attitude and lifestyle in your prayers, in your homes, in your community and in your Church.

You are invited to then join many other prepared servants who will come on May 1-2 to bless God at a powerful once-a-year event. Sounds deliciously irresistible to me!

Psalm 134 not only invites you to bless God, but also understands that you will, in turn, be blessed by the Creator of heaven and earth, so much so that, in turn, you will have an opportunity to be a blessing to others. May the results of collectively inclining our ears toward God bring renewal in our churches on May 3rd. Sounds like a win-win to me!

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26-NRSV)

- David O’Brien

Click Here for Psalm 134

Today pray for:
First Baptist Church, Rutland and their pastors Jon and Patti Stratton
First Baptist Church, St. Albans and their pastor Bill Simmons
American Baptist Men of Vermont and New Hampshire

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April 14 - Psalm 133

4/11/2015

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One of the more sobering elements of retirement in the area in which I grew up and in a former pastorate very early in my ministry is the fact that I seem to be burying many old and very dear friends. In so many ways I feel deeply diminished with each “good-bye.”

John Donne’s poem comes to mind –
No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were;
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

This sense of personal loss is only intensified by our world of political polarization, growing international com-petition, economic inequalities and ideological hostilities.

One longs for “brothers to dwell in unity” as “the blessings of life forevermore.”

Is it too extravagant an idea that the Christian churches of Vermont and New Hampshire might become the Mt. Hermon from which the unifying dew of God’s blessings flow to the special anointing of all whom we meet? My faith tells me that as we live in unity of spirit, energy and creative imagination, that much is possible.

For me, much of my loss is compensated by my making new friends – in short, by being a friend: listening, caring and supporting in Christian love. My prayer for this time becomes: “Lord, help me to be sensitive to others in ways that communicate understanding and empathy, followed by prayerful support.

- Richard Painchaud

Click Here for Psalm 133

Today pray for:
Randolph United Church and their pastor Roger Wotton
First Baptist Church, Readsboro and their pastor John Brigham
First Baptist Church, Richford and their pastor Tim Stetson

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April 13 - Psalm 132

4/11/2015

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“Where is God’s house?”

When a child asks this question, they are expressing a very real need – the need to be able to ‘place’ God in the world that they are familiar with. She knows that she lives with Mama and Papa, but where is God? The fact that God is invisible doesn’t seem to matter – he exists so he has to live somewhere!

As a parent, this is one of those questions that I want to answer well. In my mind I think, “Yay! My child is showing spiritual interest. This could be the answer that will help propel them to Christ! I better not blow it!! Now, what would be the ‘right’ answer???” Fortunately, the scripture gives us many answers that can be meaningful to the toddler as well as those of us who are older.

God is everywhere – yes. God’s home is in our hearts – yes. God’s home is his temple – yes. God’s temple is his people, so that is his home – yes. God’s home is in Zion – yes. God’s home is in Jerusalem – yes. However, each of these answers can be expanded, modified, further explained and filled in. Like a coloring page for kids, each answer provides a line that draws a picture, but what does the picture really look like?

In this Psalm, David is remembered for his devotion to finding “THE” place, the home for the Ark of the Covenant – God’s home. And the blessing of God is described and promised, the longed-for Shalom of God! As the people sang this Psalm on their way up to Jerusalem they were walking in the steps of David, and all the others who had first established God’s home. They were continuing the journey of the people of faith, returning to the place where God was “placed”. As Christ followers, we know that God’s home is wherever he is welcomed and allowed the opportunity to bring Shalom.

May the Annual Gathering of the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire be a place of Shalom for those who attend. May those of us in the ABC/VNH be a dwelling place for God’s Spirit.

- Greg Vigne

Click Here for Psalm 132

Today pray for:
New Hope Baptist Church, Portsmouth and their pastor Arthur Hilson
United Baptist Church, Poultney and their pastor Todd Eaton
Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries of ABC/VNH

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April 12 - Psalm 131

4/11/2015

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Eighteen-month-old James is almost weaned, but not quite. During the day when Mama is at work, James drinks from a cup, eats table food, and loves to climb on Grandma’s lap just to cuddle and feel close and secure. But the moment Mama walks through the door, James is suddenly a nursing infant again, crying and clinging to his mother until he gets what he wants. He still wakes several times a night, wanting to nurse, wailing and refusing to be comforted until his desire is fulfilled.

As he penned this brief psalm, perhaps David recalled the tranquility and intimacy of one of his own toddlers contentedly leaning against the breast of his mother, wanting nothing more than to be held close. David’s own life had been far from tranquil and he had often needed to find again that soul-deep calm in the presence of God. He had learned the hard way.

Twice in verse 2, David compares himself to a weaned child. Weaning is a difficult process. No toddler chooses to wean himself or herself. Mother and Father must deny him the very thing he craves. They must stay firm in the face of tears and wails and the child’s refusal to be comforted in any other way. Meanwhile, Baby, feeling unloved and insecure, panics and cries for the discomfort of hunger, or for fear of the parent’s absence or simply for the lack of instant gratification. But weaning is an important process in growing up. The child must learn that she will be fed by other means, that mother and father are never far away and that her needs will be met in ways she couldn’t even imagine before. Eventually the tempest subsides as maturity grows. The toddler no longer demands to be treated like an infant. The child can now begin to enjoy the intimacy of simply leaning on Mama’s lap and enjoying the closeness of her presence.

We begin our Christian journey as spiritual infants, wanting and expecting that God will grant us whatever we want as soon as we run to Him. After all, He is the Provider. Our relationship to our Heavenly Father is all about “Me.” But then there comes a time when God doesn’t seem quite so close, when our prayers are not being answered quite so quickly or not in the way that we wanted. We may even wonder where God is and why He is not giving us what we have asked for. That is when God is weaning us. He is growing us toward spiritual maturity.

(We struggle with the same barriers to God’s presence with which David struggled: pride (the deep hidden belief that the world revolves around “Me”), haughty eyes (thinking too much of myself and too little of every-one else), and ambition (concerning myself with great matters that are out of my control or none of my business). It takes effort and self-discipline to break our inclination toward these attitudes, but when we allow God to wean us from their grip, our focus shifts. We begin to mature spiritually. No longer are we consumed by the self-centered desires of human nature. Our focus becomes God-centered. We can enjoy the closeness of His presence without worry or fear. We can rest secure in God, knowing that every need and every circumstance will be met in His way and in His time.

Someday soon James will be completely weaned. He will begin to develop a new attitude toward his mother, loving her not only for the needs she meets, but also for who she is. But for now, as James’s Grandmother and caregiver, I delight that the most precious moments of every day are the moments when James runs to me and climbs up into my lap, not wanting anything other than just to feel close and be loved. I am sure that God feels the same sense of delight and intimacy in us when we come to Him not wanting anything other than to spend time and be content in His presence. We come like a weaned child. What better way to worship? What better way to glorify our Heavenly Father? Psalm 147:11 tells us “The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.” God takes His greatest pleasure in us when we find our greatest pleasure in Him, when we love Him for His own sake.

Here I am again God, like a little child needing to find comfort. Help me to remember that more than all those things that I ask for, what I really need is You. Let me climb into Your lap and know that You are holding me close. Help me to quiet myself, remembering that even when I cannot feel Your Presence, You are still near. You are still faithful. Just as surely as a nursing mother would not forget her child, You have not forgotten me (Isaiah 49:15). Only in You is my soul at rest.

- Janice Newhard

Click Here for Psalm 131

Today pray for:
Community Baptist Church, Plainfield, NH, and their interim pastor Robert Fisher
First Baptist Church, Plaistow and their pastor Aaron Goodro
Middle Street Baptist Church, Portsmouth and their pastor Christopher Dunaway

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April 11 - Psalm 130

4/11/2015

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For years the television has brought the evening news broadcasts to our home at dinner time. As I write this in October 2014, nightly reports are about Ebola, flu and other diseases, war, bombings, terrorist attacks and racial tensions. In addition we hear news of natural disasters and climate change that are wreaking havoc with the natural world. This is an election year, so we are also bombarded with political arguments, not about issues but about individuals of the opposite party. This news is frightening and scary!

The many bad things happening around the world, and even here at home, seem to interfere with my digestive system and my emotional well-being. Too many times lately I’ve sensed that watching and listening to the news have become dangerous to my health. Maybe I should just stop knowing what is happening in the world.
It is all too easy to become discouraged, depressed, fearful and grouchy. I find myself uttering the cry of the writer who wrote the first verse of this Psalm. “I cry out to you from the depths – Lord, listen to my voice.”
The psalmist does not share the reasons for his desperate cry, but he recognized that if the Lord kept track of sins, no one would “stand a chance.” Perhaps he was aware of something which was disturbing his sense of peace, or maybe he had become aware of something that disturbed his relationship to God. Verse 4 sug-gests that he honored the Lord’s ability to forgive sin.

These verses remind me that forgiveness is dependent upon my willingness to confess the reality of sin in my own life.

There are no quick, simple or easy solutions for the problems which contribute to our cries for help these days. However, I don’t think running away from newspaper headlines or television reports will solve anything.
What then? The constant bombardment of bad news has made me aware that I need GOD’S GOOD NEWS of the Gospel. Words of faith, hope and love are needed more than the news from a world that seems to have gone crazy.

As I read Psalm 130 in the Common English Study Bible, it is necessary to turn the page to find the next verse (verse 5). “I hope, Lord, my whole being hopes, and I wait for God’s promise.” (Emphasis added.)
I mention turning the page on purpose because it emphasizes, for me, the fact that I and anyone who call upon the Lord’s name need to turn down the volume of the newscaster’s words in order to seek and listen for the voice of God. Spending more time communicating with the Eternal God sounds like a much more helpful way to respond to all the disturbing news of our day.

The Almighty God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of All is the only One who has the power and ability to renew and restore all things.

The psalmist says, “Wait for the Lord!” Why? Because faithful love is with the Lord; because great redemp-tion is with our God! God redeemed Israel. God’s promises are eternally true for us as well.

The psalmist urges us to wait “more than the night watch waits for morning!” We need to pray for the strength to obey those words of counsel. We want instant solutions. Nights can be very long in these troublesome and dangerous times. It has probably never been easy to WAIT for morning. I find myself asking God, in my pray-er time, to help me do the waiting these days.

- Cathleen Narowitz

Click Here for Psalm 130

Today pray for:
Penacook United Church and their pastor Jerry McCann
Community Christian Fellowship, Plainfield, CT, and their pastor Linda Hirtle
ABC/VNH Institute for Learning: staff, board members and students

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