Psalm 75

We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks to you!
    We proclaim how great you are
    and tell of the wonderful things you have done.

“I have set a time for judgment,” says God,
    “and I will judge with fairness.
Though every living creature tremble
    and the earth itself be shaken,
    I will keep its foundations firm.
I tell the wicked not to be arrogant;
    I tell them to stop their boasting.”

Judgment does not come from the east or from the west,
    from the north or from the south;
it is God who is the judge,
    condemning some and acquitting others.
The Lord holds a cup in his hand,
    filled with the strong wine of his anger.
He pours it out, and all the wicked drink it;
    they drink it down to the last drop.

But I will never stop speaking of the God of Jacob
    or singing praises to him.
He will break the power of the wicked,
    but the power of the righteous will be increased.

Most of the time I hate waking up in the darkness before dawn. That is the time when I dream of bad things happening in my world and feel that I have to solve every problem.

            It is on such mornings that my daily practice of reading a bit of scripture and testimony in Upper Room brings me around to hope. It is as if I see God in a television drama standing above a wrong doer with a cup of anger in his hand. I watch God pour the anger down the throat of the wrong-doer and realize that the battle is not mine. I sigh with relief, praise God and face my day.           

Elly Biederman

Lay Speaker in Missouri River District

Prayer for Reflection

Job 38:1-7
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45