Only one name
Day 468, Saturday, Nov. 22
Zechariah Chapters 10 – 14
Among the prophesies of punishment are powerful promises that in the end, God will protect his people.
“He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.”
The anger and punishment is for those who have been unfaithful—especially against the leaders who should have been protecting their flock. “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.”
In chapter 12 there is a passage foreshadowing Jesus: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”
Zechariah, like most of the prophets, ends with reassurance that God will have the final victory. In 14:9 we read, “The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.”
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Saturday meditation
Psalms 31:9-18
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends—those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. Let me not be put to shame, Lord, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and be silent in the realm of the dead. Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
Prayer focus
Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.