Daily Devotion – July 9, 2020 – Lana Gilster

“My Life Flows On in Endless Song” (ELW 763)

1 My life flows on in endless song;
above earth’s lamentation,
I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.

Refrain
No storm can shake my inmost calm
while to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
how can I keep from singing?

2 Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?

Refrain

3 What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.

Refrain

4 The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am his!
How can I keep from singing?

Refrain

Devotion

In my own stormy times of anxiety and fear I have turned to a book called Take It to the Lord: Prayer Laments for the Afflicted, by the late Dr. Frerichs of Luther Seminary. Speaking from his own experience of depression, he found hope and healing in reading the laments of the Psalms, Job, and Lamentations.

Dr. Frerichs writes, “Perhaps the one we know best is Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted to express his agony on the cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus was reciting words written in someone else’s crisis and used countless times by others both before his crucifixion and since.”

In times of distress we too can cry out to God, using our own words or those of others. Pray, believing that when there is no human solution, God can act. “Above earth’s lamentation” (stanza 1) comes hope in God’s promises, repeated for all generations. God’s creating, saving, sanctifying “fountain ever springing” (stanza 4) is for you today!

Prayer

We need you desperately, Lord Jesus! As we cling to you, our rock, come and give us a new song to sing. How can we keep from singing? Amen.