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October 12, 2021

The Limits of Human Power

Diana L. Hynson   |   Read Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35

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Lectionary Week
October 11–17, 2021
Scripture Overview

At this point in Job’s story, God has heard questions from Job and long-winded moralizing by three of Job’s friends, who have pronounced that his misfortunes are divine judgment. Now God has heard enough and declares that God’s perspective is superior to theirs. God has been there from the beginning, as the psalmist reiterates, so no one should claim to know God’s mind or speak on God’s behalf. Even Jesus, the divine Son of God, yields to his heavenly Father. Hebrews tells us that Jesus made appeals to God as the ultimate high priest and thereby became the source of salvation for those who obey him. In the Gospel reading, Jesus specifies that his approaching act of submission and service will allow him to become a ransom for us.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Job 38:1-7, 34-41. How do you continue to hold on to belief in God’s goodness when you are in a period of anguish?
Read Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c. How do you share in the creativity of God?
Read Hebrews 5:1-10. In what ways does the understanding of Jesus’ willing vulnerability while serving as high priest affect the way you interact with others?
Read Mark 10:35-45. Where do you see genuine examples of servant leadership in your community?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35

1 Let my whole being bless the LORD! LORD my God, how fantastic you are! You are clothed in glory and grandeur! 2 You wear light like a robe; you open the skies like a curtain. 3 You build your lofty house on the waters; you make the clouds your chariot, going around on the wings of the wind. 4 You make the winds your messengers; you make fire and flame your ministers. 5 You established the earth on its foundations so that it will never ever fall. 6 You covered it with the watery deep like a piece of clothing; the waters were higher than the mountains! 7 But at your rebuke they ran away; they fled in fear at the sound of your thunder. 8 They flowed over the mountains, streaming down the valleys to the place you established for them. 9 You set a boundary they cannot cross so they’ll never again cover the earth. 24 LORD, you have done so many things! You made them all so wisely! The earth is full of your creations! 35 Let sinners be wiped clean from the earth; let the wicked be no more. But let my whole being bless the LORD! Praise the LORD!

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

The psalmist almost sounds as if he is in love! What grandeur there is in the lofty images describing the height and depth and width of God’s magnificent creation: the vast stretch of the heavens, fire and flame as messengers, boundaries so broad that neither mountain nor valley can cross....

O Creator God, how wonderful and manifold are all your works! Draw me so into love with you that I give you my all in service and devotion. Amen.


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