Good morning, beloved beloved of God. Let us praise the Lord in whom we place our trust.
PSALM 55:13-15,17-24
If this had been done by an enemy
I could bear his taunts.
If a rival had risen against me,
I could hide from him.
But it is you, my own companion,
my intimate friend!
How close was the friendship between us.
We walked together in harmony
in the house of God.
As for me, I will cry to God
and the Lord will save me.
Evening, morning and at noon
I will cry and lament.
He will deliver my soul in peace
in the attack against me;
for those who fight me are many,
but he hears my voice.
God will hear and will humble them,
the eternal judge:
for they will not amend their ways.
They have no fear of God.
The traitor has turned against his friends;
he has broken his word.
His speech is softer than butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are smoother than oil,
but they are naked swords.
Entrust your cares to the Lord
and he will support you.
He will never allow
the just man to stumble.
But you, O God, will bring them down
to the pit of death.
Deceitful and bloodthirsty men
shall not live half their days.
O Lord, I will trust in you.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
WORD BITE: In an intense environment with the crowd of thousands gathered, so large they were trampling one another, Jesus speaking first to his disciples, issues a stark warning: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1-7).
Hypocrisy is the leaven that puffs us up, creating a false, impressive self to present to the world. It is the sin of the divided life, where our public persona contradicts our private reality. But Jesus immediately gives the reason we can, and must, abandon this exhausting performance: it will be eventually revealed. We play to an audience of One whose gaze already penetrates every hidden corner of our hearts.
This truth should be a comfort, not a fear, for those who strive to live justly. While hypocrites fear exposure, true disciples are set free by the transparency of God’s sight. Jesus urges us to fear not those who can kill the body, but to fear God, who has the power to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Rather than this causing fear, it is a call to reverence, to hold in reverent awe the God who has authority over our eternal soul.
And then, in a breathtaking turn, this awesome God is revealed as a loving Father. His sovereignty is not distant and cold but intimately concerned with the most minor details of His creation. Not a single sparrow, sold for pennies, is forgotten by God. So, we are worth more than many sparrows. Every hair on our head is counted.
We can therefore let go of human fear because we are infinitely valued and so, we are freed to live a life of integrity, not for the approval of the crowd, but in the loving, unshakeable sight of the God who knows us by name.
DAILY DEDICATION: Father, you know every secret of our hearts and value us beyond all measure. Free us from the leaven of hypocrisy and the fear of human judgment, that we may live in the liberating truth of your perfect love.