Our Rescuer, Rock, and Refuge

Tuesdays are important corporate days of Prayer and Fasting for the Kansas City Underground. As we continue in 2023, we invite everyone to focus on a Psalm on the first Tuesday of each month. The chosen Psalm for this special Tuesday during Holy Week leading up to Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday will be one that our sisters and brothers in Jesus’s global Church around the world are focusing on today. We want to join with them in anchoring in this Psalm because “though we have wandered into dangerous lands, where evil surrounds; trouble follows; have had our share of sorrows, struggles, afflictions — God has been faithful to find us, lift us, resurrect us” (Ryan Whitaker Smith & Dan Wilt).

This week, we engage with Psalm 71, focusing on verses 1-14, to be our song this Tuesday during Holy Week.

Theme: God Is Your Rescuer, Rock, and Refuge to Which You Can Always Go

Today’s scriptures: Psalm 71, NIV & The Message (MSG)

Read: Psalm 71:1-4, NIV & MSG

NIV:
In You, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never
be put to shame. In Your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me; turn Your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

MSG:
I run for dear life to God, I’ll never live to regret it. Do what You do so well: get me out of this mess and up on my feet. Put Your ear to the ground and listen, give me space for salvation. Be a guest room where I can retreat; You said Your door was always open! You’re my salvation—my vast, granite fortress. My God, free me ...

Reflect:

Refuge. Righteousness. Rock. Retreat. Which do you need God to be today? For others this Holy Week?

Pray:

Remind God of who you need Him to be. Run to Him. Ask Him to be the Master in the mess with you.

Read: Psalm 71:5-8, NIV & MSG

NIV:
For You have been my hope, Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. From birth, I have relied on You; You brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise You. I have become a sign to many; You are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with Your praise, declaring Your splendor all day long.

MSG:
You keep me going when times are tough—my bedrock, God, since my childhood. I’ve hung on You from the day of my birth, the day You took me from the cradle; I’ll never run out of praise. Many gasp in alarm when they see me, but You take me in stride. Just as each day brims with Your beauty, my mouth brims with praise.

Reflect:

Remember when God showed up for you. When has He been your hope? When has He kept you going?

Pray:

Hang on God again today. Ask to see His glory right now. What beauty of Jesus do you behold? Tell Him.

Read: Psalm 71:9-13, NIV & MSG

NIV:
Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together. They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” Do not be far from me, my God; come quickly, God, to help me. May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace.

MSG:
Don’t turn me out to pasture when I’m old or put me on the shelf when I can’t pull my weight. My enemies are talking behind my back, watching for their chance to knife me. The gossip is: “God has abandoned him. Pounce on him now; no one will help him.” God, don’t just watch from the sidelines. Come on! Run to my side!

Reflect:

What are the lies of abandonment you are hearing right now? When have you felt most alone recently?

Pray:

Tell God your fears. Ask Him, “My God, have you forsaken me?” Cry out, “Reveal You are with me now ... “

Closing Praise:

The God who defeats evil with death-defying love for us comes when we need Him most to rescue and resurrect us. Remembering what Jesus did during Holy Week, beginning w/ Psalm 71:14, NIV & MSG, praise the One who says, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”:

As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise You more and more. I’ll write the book on Your righteousness, talk up Your salvation all the day long ...