The Daily Prayer: Psalm 121
The Morning Devotional: Psalm 121
Prayer: Our God, we are your servants whom you rescued from the misery of sin and placed on a narrow path to our heavenly rest, where you dwell and reign. We are pilgrims in this world, and we are subjected to many trials and pitfalls as we walk towards the place of your heavenly abode. As we do, we look around and recognize that our help cannot come from anyone or anything other than you. Though this world offers many supposed solutions, we know that it is you, and you alone, who are our help and guide. You are the God who keeps us, never allowing us to be moved from the truth of your Word. It is you who never sleeps, daily watching over us and helping us as you have promised. It is you, our God, who provides us with the help we need to resist the efforts of the Evil One – indeed, our whole life is in your hands.
Too often, our Father, we look for help elsewhere. Too often we lift up our eyes and desire things that can never satisfy. Forgive us and help us, our God. Please help us as we journey through this life. Please remember your promises to us and help us remember that you are for us. WE do lift our eyes for help, and we believe that our only hope and help is in you. Grant us an abundance of your Spirit and protect us from all evil. We ask and pray these things through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scripture Meditation: Psalm 121
Prayer: Our God, we are instructed by your Word to give you thanks because you are good and you do good to your redeemed people. Your love is great; it is beyond our comprehension because you demonstrated your love by crushing your only Son for our sake. Your Son suffered for us. He came to this earth and took to himself flesh. He suffered in all ways that we do. He was mocked and maligned by men, yet he continued to entrust himself to you. In you alone he took refuge and taught us to do the same. He was surrounded by evil people, yet he never wavered in his zeal to rescue us. He was the stone the builder rejected, and, in so doing, he built his church by creating living stones who trust him. Through all he suffered, he endured. Through all he experienced, he trusted you. He did this for our sake. We do not deserve the least of his mercies. Yet, he saved us by his blood, and you accepted him as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. 
Prayer: Our God in heaven, you have appointed the day of our death, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. You have determined the very minute we will pass from this life into that which awaits us as your redeemed people. Although we know it is appointed unto us once to die and, after that, the judgment, we know that we do not have to fear because you have rescued us from this last enemy and, therefore, it has no power over us. For we, as your people, are not only kept by your love and care in this life; you will, after we die, keep our bodies united to the Savior until he comes again to gather his people to himself. Therefore, Father, we can come to you today and declare our love for you. We can plead with you for our very existence, knowing that it is you who guides us and leads us. Whatever comes to us, we are confident that you will remember us and, in faithfulness, deliver us either in this life or that which is to come. You are gracious, and you preserve us. You deliver us from the pains of death and the fearful thought of the grave. Indeed, you go so far as to tell us that it is precious in your eyes when your people die. Therefore, we can praise you and thank you. We can trust you in life and death. We can place our entire being in your hands, knowing that you will never let us go. We praise you, our God, for this comfort given in your Word. 
Prayer: Our great God in heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we give you thanks for revealing yourself to poor and miserable creatures of dust. You made us. We belong to you. You fashioned us after your image to enjoy you. Yet, we sinned and brought shame and dishonor to that image you gave us. Yet, in your Word you tell us who you are: a God who delights to save a people for his own possession. You did that in rescuing our fathers of old from that place of misery and bondage. From Egypt you brought them to the place of worship at Sinai. You gave them your law. You promised to be with them as they journeyed to the land of promise. You overturned the normal order oc things by parting the river and bringing your redeemed people safely home. All of it, we know, is a picture of our journey. Due to our sin, you had to rescue us. You gave us the Passover Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world. You brought us to yourself and changed us so we can worship you. You promised to help us as we trust you for all things.
Prayer: Who is like you, our God? Who is so kind and tender, full of loving compassion and mercy? It is you alone that we look to and serve, and it is you alone that we seek to worship. It is good, our God, for us to praise your Name because you do great things for us. You have made us to honor you. You have redeemed us so that we would live our lives as living sacrifices before you. You have helped us in our times of need, and as our Father, you treat us with care as a parent treats their children. You give to us the riches of your presence and the blessings of the good things of this life. You have demonstrated your love in giving us the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgive us, Father, for the many times we fall short of honoring you. Forgive us for failing to praise you with our lips, mind, and behavior. Forgive us for our self-centered way. Please guide and direct us and help us because we are pitiful creatures of dust. We need your grace if we are to praise you as you command us. We thank you for giving us all we need in this world. Please cause us to remember you and lift our voices in praise to you as we ask through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
