Daily Devotion – September 10, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison

Psalm 34:9-14
34:9 O fear the LORD, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.
34:10 The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
34:11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
34:12 Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good?
34:13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.
34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

Look at Verse 10: “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” This is a destiny most people would want: lacking no good thing. As we age, especially we look around us and can say pretty truly whether we have lacked good things. It is a happy person who can claim at their death, “I really have lacked nothing.”

As a funeral celebrant, I get to know folks after they have died. I actually try to get to know as much about them as I can in order to weave their stories together into a service that can help their family grieve and celebrate. Time and time again I am told stories by loved ones about what the person did to upbuild others, to do good. Time and time again I learn about the tiny ways the person sought peace and pursued it. Time and time again I hear about their zest for fun and meaning, whether their life was very long or very short.

What we want for our loved ones and what they surely want for us is what this psalm is advertising: a life that is as long as it needs to be, a life full of seeking peace and pursuing it, a life that does not embrace evil or deceit but instead is holy in whatever way we can find holiness.

Believers in God have perhaps an easier time pursing such a life because we know who the source of our life is: God. And we know our destination: God. So the more we pay attention to God along the path of our life, the easier it is to have a fulfilling life, partnered with the source and the destination as much as we can. Sometimes we wander off, and sometimes we run into obstacles, but we know we’ll be helped because we know God loves us like children and wants us to lack no good thing.

If you know anyone who might be wandering or blocked by obstacles, how might you just live your life next to them to give them hope? That is the work of God, to help those who are searching or blocked by obstacles. Just by living your hope-filled life near them, you bring the Kingdom of God nearby.  And we can afford such generosity, which we receive from God. We lack no good thing.

Gracious God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us abundance in our lives. Thank you for helping us pursue peace. Help us to live our full lives seeking others who are blocked or wandering. Let our lives show them your kingdom coming near to them, where people lack no good thing.  Amen.