The Secret of Our Strength--August 18, 2018

God, you are our shield and our strength;

you take pleasure in your people

and adorn the humble

with victory.

When we yearn for pleasures of the past,

when in our hearts we turn away,

unwilling to obey, and turn

our backs on you,

then we forget the secret of our strength;

but when we open our hearts to you

and do your work, then you

will be working in us.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 104; 149; 138; 98

Judges 16:1-14

Acts 7:30-43

John 5:1-18

Selected Verses

Ps. 104:4

 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
          he adorns the humble with victory. 

Judges 16:9

While men were lying in wait in an inner chamber, [Delilah] said to [Samson], "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!"  But he snapped the bowstrings, as a strand of fiber snaps when it touches the fire.  So the secret of his strength was not known.

Acts 7:39

"…Our ancestors were unwilling to obey [Moses]; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt…"

John 5:17

But Jesus answered [those who criticized him for working on the Sabbath], "My Father is still working, and I also am working."