Psalm 21:1 O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! 2 You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah 3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. 4 He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. 5 His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. 6 For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. 7 For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. 8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9 You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. 10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man. 11 Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed. 12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows. 13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power. Looking directly into the face of an enemy can cause fear, especially when the enemy has so many unknowns. Where is this virus, who has it, and will it actually harm me? These questions come to my mind often. When will it really show its face in our county? It is all around us, but we cannot see it. We talked on Sunday of people we know who have this virus. We mentioned many of our loved ones and friends who are in the middle of the battle as first responders, police, fire fighters, nurses and doctors. We prayed for the virus to stop in its tracks, much the same as David reminds God of His power to find the evil (verse 8) and destroy them as a blazing oven destroys the food that is left inside it for too long. We would want God to consume this virus and not the people who have it. But our hope and strength lie not in our words of condemnation but in our God who we know loves us and cares for us in the midst of these kinds of tragedies. I do not lose hope in God to be faithful. As David says in the beginning of this Psalm, God brings to us our heart's desire and answers our prayers. He pours out blessings upon us. He gives us life and hope and joy even in the midst of our enemies. In the news today, our lock down might be longer than we thought. It might take us through the month of April or longer. That seems like a long time from now. However, I remember the last month of my high school years. I thought the day of graduation would never arrive. And then I couldn't wait until college started. And then the last quarter of college was agonizing, as was the month before Seminary and the last month of Seminary. You get the point. All of those months make up less than a year of my life compared to the 72 years I have lived without the anxiety of waiting. One month will be over before we know it, but we will think about it often during that time. The news this morning is not good in some parts of the United States. The expectation is for that bad news to grow in the coming days. Continue to pray for God's help and support in these times. When you begin to wonder what will happen in the next month, turn back to God. Don't let the anxiety overcome you. Turn to prayer, singing, and reading the word. Join with us on Sunday mornings for our Zoom meetings (see details at the bottom of this email message) where we can see one another face to face. Keep in touch with one another by phone, email, text, or writing. Support each other as we walk through this difficult time. Spread the love of Jesus toward you family and friends. Have faith that this will be over. "Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power."
- Pastor Edd | 
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