Neither silver nor gold
Day 464, Tuesday, Nov. 18
Zephaniah (all)
We look to the wrong things to save us.
Wealth. Status. Military might. All of those are ways that people and nations seek to protect themselves from calamity, but none of them will save us in the end. Zephaniah says in chapter 1:
“I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”
No, protection comes from another direction entirely. Instead, Zephaniah says in chapter 2, “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”
Most of us would like to be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger, but our ways of seeking that aren’t usually God’s ways. Zephaniah says in these verses to seek three things: the Lord, righteousness and humility. He also says to “do what he commands.”
Is this really different from the command we read in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”?
Twice in the verses saying what may shelter us from the day of the Lord’s anger Zephaniah uses a form of the word “humility.” That isn’t something we usually seek out; gaining humility can be a matter of humiliation, somethiing most of us fear above almost all else.
Notice how often the prophets (and Jesus) codemn pride. Humility is the opposite of pride, and is the way to God’s heart.

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Tuesday meditation

Psalms 28:1-9
To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit. Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts. Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them what they deserve.
Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord and what his hands have done, he will tear them down and never build them up again.
Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Prayer focus
Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.