Devotion 10.13.26

Psalm 96

"11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

  let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

12  let the field exult, and everything in it!

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

13  before the Lord, for he comes,

  for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness,

  and the peoples in his faithfulness."

Sing to the Lord a new song, that of Jesus Christ, the salvation provided by God!

A weekend full of great activities included football. In my amateur viewer's eyes, the best game was Nebraska v Indiana University. A close second was in the NFL, San Francisco v Seattle, two completely smashmouth games if there ever were. In spite of all the great games, the biggest news in football this past weekend was the loss of Mike "Iron Mike" Ditka, the very definition of smashmouth. 

Ditka was part of a team I loved as a child, The Chicago Bears, the team who defined old school, hard-hitting football. Ditka was a beast, on and off the field. I saw him in Vegas in the 1980's when he was in a celebrity roast - from the back mind you - as he waited to get on an elevator. He was tall and his shoulders were broad. His massive frame covered the view of the elevator doors as he waited to step in.

Ditka was part of the Halas Bears, who featured names like Butkus, Sayers, and others. I got caught up in their resurgence in the 1980's as part of Ditka's reviving their legend and thoroughly enjoyed the ride as an observer of a great season when they won their only Super Bowl victory. Of course, SNL did as well as they wrote a great skit of the Swerski brothers et al as classic Bear fans in "Bill Swerski's Superfans," which commonly used the phrase "Da Bearsss." I've enjoyed viewing the reels of those and Ditka interviews. For me, it is reminiscent of an old school time in life that is refreshing.

The writer of the psalm is talking about a "new song" today. This new song points us to an old familiar song in The Psalms, the covenant love of God, the promise put forth in Genesis to Abraham and restated throughout scripture. This new song, sung after victories celebrated in the holy temple, and sung after the altar of the Lord was rebuilt after exile ended from Babylonian captivity, point us to Christ. The full psalm (vv 1 - 13) points to salvation won through God's covenant love delivered by Christ, who will "come to judge the living and the dead."

Our fear of God and our baptismal faith in Christ help overcome the fear of judgement and to sing this new song of joy and salvation given as a free gift from God through his Spirit.

Pray with me: Gracious God, Thank you for Christ and giving me my faith in Christ. Help me to sing a new song to the lost, of Christ and your grace and mercy, extended to me and to those who have yet to know you. In Christ's name, Amen.

Hope Men's Ministry is a ministry in service to Hope Lutheran Church and School. Our purpose is to grow, unite, and share God's Word to all men through meaningful activities. These activities center on fellowship, service, conversation, prayer, study and devotion as we seek to become men of God as He created us to be.