Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!  I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:  You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!  For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

How can I not tell others of Your grace and mercy? Of Your love and compassion? Of Your overwhelming kindness and comfort? Of Your righteousness and holiness? Of Your peace and justice? Of Your love for me that knows no bounds? You are the Awesome One, the Alpha and Omega, the Lamb of God, the Risen One. my Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord and my Master. To You, I owe all.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 24

Mid-day: 119:25-32

Evening: Psalm 99

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! (20) Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!

Yes, Lord, You are not far off, You are always at my side, standing between me and the Evil One, but I forget, I seek my own solution and am determined to be my own sword and buckler. Help me, Lord, to seek You first, to always release my fears to you rather than my own weak and ineffectual attempts to be my defense.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 23

Mid-day: 119:17-24

Evening: Psalm 98

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet--I can count all my bones-- they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Lord, here it is, Holy Saturday, a day of Sabbath in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, Your body has been laid in the tomb, that triumphant cry, "It is finished" has resounded throughout all eternity, all creation awaits the proof to be on display the following morning. Your humiliation, rejection by man and God, the lifting of the burden of man's sin onto Your bruised and beaten shoulders is complete. It is finished.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 22

Mid-day: 119:9-16

Evening: Psalm 97

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.

Lord, back into the prison today; will it be another day of surprise and attack by the forces of the Evil One? As we start another initiative to open the Kingdom of Heaven to the eyes of man, will there be another attempt by the Devil to hide the Good News? Guide us, Lord, that we are true and faithful to our calling.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 21

Mid-day: 119:1-8

Evening: Psalm 96

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Note from John:  My apologies to you faithful readers that an error on my part caused Voices Together for Saturday, the Lord's Day and Monday the wrong meditation and then repeated twice.  You can get what should have been sent at the website of the Fellowship of Ailbe.

Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

Lord, I have a fear that this affair in the prison is not finished, that there are other shoes to drop. Yet the knowing that You are near, that You have always been near, always demonstrating that You had a plan for me even though I refused to acknowledge it, is now the sustaining power in my innermost being. You have ordered my day and all within it for my good and Your honor. May You be glorified in my life.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 20

Mid-day: 119:169-176

Evening: Psalm 95

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"

Yes, Lord, the world thinks I am foolish to trust in You for all my protection and sustenance but they are wrong. The world without You, lacks the hope and surety that in all things, You are working for my good. Trials and tribulations abound, but Your Shalom sustains me, Your love covers me and I know that I will be brought into that glorious light where all the saints will be gathered to praise You.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 10

Mid-day: 119:161-168

Evening: Psalm 94

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

May my heart be blameless in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame!

It is not shame in the usual sense, Lord, but the shame and disappointment that comes form the realization that my disobedience has come between me and the sheer enjoyment of living fully in the Kingdom, here and now, while I profit from the then and there. Help me, Lord, to bring this understanding more fully into my way of life.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 18

Mid-day: 119:153-160

Evening: Psalm 93

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

Psalm 22:3-5

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. (4) In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. (5) To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

Yet if I open my eyes and take them off my despair, You in Your mercy, have given me that great cloud of witnesses to declare Your faithfulness and to provide evidence of Your love. All I need is to look to those who have gone before to see that You never, ever leave me nor forsake me.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 17

Mid-day: 119:145-125

Evening: Psalm 92

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

There are times, Lord, when I do not hear Your gentle voice; when it seems that I am alone and abandoned. These are the times when my weak faith cries, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" Times when I seem to be cast into a vast wasteland, bleak and devoid of any redeeming beauty, where there is no sweetness to life, but all is shame, guilt and failure.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 16

Mid-day: 119:137-144

Evening: Psalm 91

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (22) He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. (23) When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (24) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

How timely, Lord, after yesterday's accusations of carrying information wrongly to an inmate. You are the royal example, we am not to reply in kind, but to respond in love for our accuser, acknowledging the basis for her hurt, fear and terror of her oppressor.

Therefore LORD, we entrust our well-being and safety to You, fully aware that You are in control of all things and are working through this circumstance for our good and for the good of our brother in prison.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 15

Mid-day: 119:129-136

Evening: Psalm 90

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

But there is purpose, there is hope; there is the knowledge that the resurrection is. You will come again for Your own and restore Shalom. Praise to You, Lord Jesus. King Jesus reigns.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 14

Mid-day: 119:121-128

Evening: Psalm 89

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

O, yes, Lord, without the hope of the resurrection, without the knowledge that there is new life, that I will be a new man in You, I am nothing but a bit of ephemera, flotsam and jetsam tossed about by every wind and wave of a purposeless storm. All of creation is without significance and consequence without the resurrection; entropy wins.

Today's readings in the Psalms:

Morning: Psalm 13

Mid-day: 119:113-120

Evening: Psalm 88

Voices Together is available as an annual daily devotional and can be purchased at the Fellowship Of Ailbe bookstore.