A Year of Prayer: Season One Weekday DevotionalsSample

‘Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.’

What a strange phrase, this ‘land of the living’! Perhaps it is to contrast with being delivered from death. Land of the living - what does this poetry conjure up for you? What smells are ‘land of the living’ coded? What colours?

What is there? Perhaps more importantly, what isn’t there? What artwork would hang or not be out of place amongst the ‘land of the living’?

Sometimes, thinking differently about scripture gives us fresh insight into God and the message lying beneath. Approaching it with fresh eyes can also allow other aspects of our lives that Jesus is attempting to breathe into to come to light.

Exploring the root words of scripture can also provide a new context for approaching God’s word.

The word for ‘living’ here is the Hebrew word ḥay, which is outlined as meaning some of the following things: green (of vegetation), flowing and fresh (of water), lively and active (of humanity), and reviving (of the springtime).

It also has meanings in the ideas of life, appetite, revival, renewal, and community.

Surely, these are words of hope for the future and the present! These are the words of a God who brings good things into bloom and blossoms every season.

‘Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of green, in the land of flowing and fresh, in the land of the lively and active, and in the land of reviving.

May all vegetation, water, humanity, and springtime be filled with loving reminders and living testament to God’s ‘land of the living’ that you have cause to rejoice in.

Prayer: Jesus, help me rest in your loving promise, your loving kindness, and the hope of your land of the living. Help me fully embrace, embody, and capture your Gospel story in my body, testimony, my community's world, and my hands' work.

Action: Pray and discern: What areas do you most need to ‘rest' in today?