God Carries Us
Friday’s Verse:
From Psalm 37:25 ESV
“I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.”
Affordability crisis. You might think it’s a buzzword in the latest economic report. But for so many these days, it’s an increase in utility bills, rent hikes, grocery price hikes, and the creeping dread that no matter how hard you work and how much you save and budget, it’s still not enough. It’s the mounting stress that has eroded your confidence, frayed your patience, and left you wondering, Where is God in all this?
The Bible does not shy away from situations like these. In fact, a large portion of the Bible was written during seasons of scarcity, displacement, anxiety and economic stress. God’s promises are promises that were written into the Word during real, messy, hard times.
Psalm 37 is a psalm for anxious hearts. David is no fool. He knows what hardship and struggle look like. But here, he is confessing a truth that is rooted in God’s character: the righteous do not not fall to pieces.
Not because the righteous are righteous in their own strength, in their own power, in their own wisdom. But because they are God’s people, belonging to a God who has promised to sustain His people.
For Lutherans, this promise is found in Christ alone.
Jesus came into a world that was in the midst of a poverty crisis. He was born in a stable, grew up in a modest home and spent his days living among and ministering to people who were living paycheck to paycheck, fearing that they might not have enough. He knows that fear. He knows that anxiety. He fed the hungry. He comforted the anxious and said to His disciples, “Do not be anxious about your life” (Matthew 6:25). He reminded them that their Father knows what they need. (Matthew 6:32)
God’s promise to us is not that He will make our lives easy. It’s not that He will take away all our financial stress. It’s that He will never, ever leave or forsake His children. He invites us to cast our cares (including financial cares) upon Him. He places us in community with one another so that we don’t have to bear one another’s burdens alone. And He gives us the cross, where Christ took every fear, every uncertainty, every anxiety and fear and rose again to show us that nothing—not this world, not our struggles, not anything—can separate us from His care.
So when we see the signs of an affordability crisis, we pray not just for relief, but for renewed trust. We remember that God has carried His people through famines and exiles and depressions and storms—and He will carry us through now.
Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, You know our needs before we speak them. In this season of rising costs and financial burdens, strengthen our trust in Your daily provision. Quiet our anxious hearts. Provide for all who struggle, and let Your Church be a place of generosity, compassion, and hope. Keep our eyes fixed on You, our unchanging Savior. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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