Monday, November 25, 2024

Tuesday prior to Advent 1

Psalm25:1-10; key verse, verse 6— Remember, O Lord, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. The Advent season is a time spent in reflection. We remember the Savior’s prophecies and we see how He fulfilled them. We remember His promises to restore and forgive us and we see how He worked everything out according to the Father’s plan. As we prepare for the beginning of the Advent season, spend some time thinking of the many gifts and blessings the Savior has given you. How ought we respond with thankful and grateful hearts? How can thanksgiving be translated into thanks living?

A plea for help from the humble and reverent

Like several other psalms, Psalm 25 is an acrostic, or nearly so; there are a few irregularities in the acrostic pattern. James Montgomery Boice suggested three reasons why there are nine acrostic psalms (9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145).

First, the acrostic pattern is a literary device used to add beauty and form to the psalm. Second, it gives the sense that the subject is being covered completely, as if from A to Z. Third, the acrostic pattern may be a device used to encourage learning and memorization.

This psalm is merely titled A Psalm of David. We do not know the precise time period it came from; David was so often in trouble that it could have been from several different points. It is a wonderful display of the heart of a well-taught believer in a season of crisis.

Troubled by enemies David lifts up his soul casting his trust upon the LORD.[2]

Collect for Psalm 25: Lord God, you show us your ways of compassion and love and you spare sinners. Remember not our sins; relieve our misery; satisfy the longing of your people; and fulfill all our hopes for eternal peace through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. [3]


[1] Advent, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things

[3] Collect for Psalm 25, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Vol. I © 1994 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY


 

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