#DailyDevotion Be Blessed. The LORD Jesus Is Your Strength
Introit (Psalm 84:1-4; Antiphon: Psalm 84:5)
Blessed are those whose strength | is in you,* who have set their hearts on | pilgrimage.
How lovely is your | dwelling place,* O LORD Al- | mighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts | of the LORD;* my heart and my flesh cry out for the | living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may | have her young–*a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King | and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell | in your house;* they are ever | praising you.
Glory be to the Father and | to the Son* and to the Holy | Spirit;
as it was in the be- | ginning,* is now, and will be forever. | Amen.
Blessed are those whose strength | is in you,* who have set their hearts on | pilgrimage.
Don’t normally post a devotion for Sunday because you should be in Church and receive nourishment from the hand God has provided you, but today I can’t be that hand so here you go.
The Antiphon for this 3rd Sunday in Lent is “Blessed are those whose strength| is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. How lovely is your | dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!” The Antiphon is your first clue on Sunday morning what the theme of the day is going to be. Today’s antiphon tells us about who is blessed and why. So who is blessed? Those whose strength is in the LORD. So is your strength in the LORD? Who or what are you turning to for every good? In the day of trouble what or who do you turn to for strength to face it and get through it? If is it isn’t the LORD Jesus Christ, then you will not be blessed.
Yet the LORD Jesus Christ is the place, the person you should find your strength. He promises he will never leave or forsake you. He promises he is with you to the very end of the age. Ascended to the right hand of the Father, he exercises all power and dominion over all creation on your behalf. Why would you turn to anything or anyone else? We should set our hearts on pilgrimage to the LORD’s dwelling place, the right hand of God. Setting our hearts there means we trust Jesus exercising his power and dominion in a grace mannered way, i.e. on our behalf. We trust that the LORD is leading us home to his residence, his dwelling. Indeed even now, St. Paul tells us we are seating with Christ in the heavenly places.
Today, on Sunday, in particular, we can relate to the Psalmist who yearns and faints for the courts of the LORD. Perhaps that might be even more exacerbated if you cannot go to Church today to gather with the rest of the Temple the Body of Christ. Yet that hunger and yearning is a good thing. It shows our hearts are directed where they should be, Jesus Christ. Trust in the strength he will give you.
O LORD, our God, be our strength today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.