Log In Sign Up
Shop
  • Buy Subscriptions
  • The Upper Room Store
  • eCourses
Donate
Upper Room logo
  • Daily
    • Daily Devotional
    • Disciplines
    • Sight Psalms
    • New Every Morning
  • Prayer
    • Request Prayer
    • Prayer Wall
    • Books on Prayer
    • Articles on Prayer
  • Community
    • Walk to Emmaus
    • Chrysalis
    • Face to Face
    • Journey to the Table
    • Academy for Spiritual Formation
    • Discovery Weekend
    • eLearning
    • The Upper Room Chapel
    • International Partners
  • Engage
    • Write
    • Donors
    • Volunteer
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Upper Room Books
    • Articles
  • Our Story
    • About
    • History
    • The Upper Room Chapel
    • Upper Room Ministries Blog
    • Help & Support
    • Contact

Disciplines

  • Archives
  • About
  • Submit
  • Subscribe
  • Disciplines
    • Disciplines
    • Archives
    • About
    • Submit
    • Subscribe
July 20, 2017

Unexpected Grace

ELMER LAVASTIDA ALFONSO   |   Read Psalm 139:13-18, 23-24

(Image by: Pixabay)
  • Text Size
  • Comment
  • Share

Share on Socials

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
Lectionary Week
July 17–23, 2017
Scripture Overview

This week’s texts depict a broad span of settings of God’s activity, from Jacob’s encounter in solitude to the broader context of creation itself in Romans. The texts also tell of God’s commission of human agents, weak and inadequate, to carry out divine tasks. Jacob may not be totally aware of God’s plans for him, but the reader knows. Paul declares that the people in whom the Spirit of God dwells are very much in tune with the pain of creation. They also long for God’s nal deliverance. Just at the point of the reluctance of God’s agents to carry out the tasks, the parable from Matthew about the wheat and weeds gives hope. God will take care of the weeds in God’s own time. Psalm 139 is a moving statement on the ubiquitous nature of God’s presence.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Genesis 28:10-19a. When have you “wakened” to acknowledge that you were in a holy place? What did you do to memorialize the place?
• Read Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24. Do you regularly take time in a set-aside place for an intimate relationship with God? If not, what steps could you take to ensure that relationship?
• Read Romans 8:12-25. Do you feel close enough to God to call God “Abba”? Why or why not?
• Read Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. What are you doing to discourage the growth of evil in your life? How does your garden grow?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Psalm 139:13-18, 23-24

13 You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb. 14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful—I know that very well. 15 My bones weren’t hidden from you when I was being put together in a secret place, when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my embryo, and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me, before any one of them had yet happened. 17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me! Their total number is countless! 18 If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand! If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you. 23 Examine me, God! Look at my heart! Put me to the test! Know my anxious thoughts! 24 Look to see if there is any idolatrous way in me, then lead me on the eternal path!

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

Eighty-six years ago today my parents married in the city of Havana. Every time I look at their wedding picture, I think of the psalmist’s words in verse 16: “Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.” One day while in my teens, my mother confessed that I had not been a...

Dear Father, may I find the way everlasting through total openness to you. Amen.


0 Comments
  • Share:

Save as Bookmark

Log In to leave a comment

Loading more

Citizenship in the Kingdom of God

Citizenship in the Kingdom of God

I have been involved in justice ministry since 1958. During that time, I have known dozens Read More

Related Resources

A Guide for Small Groups

View

Tips for Leaders of Small Groups

View

A Guide to Daily Prayer

View

How to Have a Daily Devotional Time

View

The Upper Room
1908 Grand Avenue
Nashville, TN 37212

Customer support:

800-972-0433

Contact The Upper Room

  • The Upper Room daily devotional
  • Store & Resource Library
  • Upper Room Books
  • Disciplines
  • The Prayer Wall
  • The Academy for Spiritual Formation
  • eLearning
  • The Walk to Emmaus
  • Face to Face
  • Chrysalis
  • Journey to the Table
  • Discovery Weekend
  • Sight Psalms
  • New Every Morning
  • About Us
  • Upper Room Ministries Blog
  • The Upper Room Chapel
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
© Copyright 2025 The Upper Room
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Help & Support

Log In to The Upper Room

Sign in with The Upper Room

or

Sign in with Facebook

Sign in with Apple

Don't have an account? Click here to create an account and sign in.