Daily Devotion

This daily devotion is based on the Morning Office. It comes with selected readings from the appointed Psalm and another Scripture text, accompanied by reflections and prayers. It will be best to both read and listen. The link to the entire Morning Office today is provided at the end of each devotion. This project started on Ash Wednesday, 2025 and are offered daily except for Sundays. On Saturdays, it comes without any reflections. More info here.

4 Apr (Fri) – The Passhur in us

Audio

Prepare

Today is Friday, the 4^th of April. We are at the thirty-first day of Lent. Take a moment to be still before the Lord.

Psalm Reading

We begin by listening to Psalm 102, verses 18 to 22.

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:

¹⁹ that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,

²¹ that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,

²² when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

Scripture Reading

Our Scripture reading today comes from the Old Testament, Jeremiah 19:14-20:6. Here we listen to Jeremiah 20, verses 1 to 6.

¹ Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ² Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. ⁴ For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. ⁵ Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. ⁶ And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

Reflection

We like to see ourselves in the role of the prophet, Jeremiah.  It is easy for us to point out other people’s errors.  But what is our reaction if we are on the receiving end of a message like the one Jeremiah delivered?  Imagine being in the shoes of of Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, chief officer in the house of the Lord.  The one spoken to by the prophet.

From the start of chapter 19, Jeremiah was direct and pointed about what Judah had done wrong – “Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind…”   (Jeremiah 19:4-5). 

And then as if words were not enough, Jeremiah emphasized his message by physically enacting the coming judgment – “Thus says the Lord, ‘Go, buy a potter’s earthenware flask … [t]hen you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury.  Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city like Topheth.” (v.1, 10-12)

How would you respond if something this pointed and dramatic were directed at you? Especially if you hold high office in your community or organisation. Especially if the critique concerns some decisions you made, or had participated in making.  Especially when the critique is delivered in public, so everyone knows and you “lose face”?

Would you fight back?  Beat up the messenger, as Pashhur did?  If not with the fist, then with words, amplified by social media?

Would you try to hush up the messenger, as Pashhur did? If not by physical imprisonment, then by marginalising, even excluding him socially?  By isolating him from the working group, committees or other decision-making forums?   

Would you try to bend the messenger to your will, by demonstrating what power you can exercise over him, as Pashhur did when he released Jeremiah the next day? Even if this does not turn him from a detractor into a supporter, it might just be enough to keep him quiet.  

Dissent silenced. Order restored. Troublemaker gone away. And we shall have peace. Or so Pashhur thought? And perhaps we think also? Would you do what Passhur did?

(pause)

As we head towards the Holy Week, listening to what happened to Jesus in the days leading up to his cruxificion. See if you can trace a similar pattern. The beat-ups, hush-ups and the abuse of power. That dissent may be silenced, order restored and the troublemaker removed. This time, permanently, by putting him to death. Or so they thought.

Collect/Prayer

In the full Morning Office, there is a moment for song, or a Canticle.  This one is named Kyrie Pantokrator, also referred to as the Prayer of Manasseh.  It is a Song of Penitence that the Church sings in the season of Lent. 

The words of this Canticle (i.e. lyrics of this song) are set out below.  You may wish to let a sung version of this Prayer of Manasseh accompany you as we close our time of devotion today.

O Lord and Ruler of the hosts of heaven, *
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and of all their righteous offspring:
You made the heavens and the earth, *
with all their vast array.
All things quake with fear at your presence; *
they tremble because of your power.
But your merciful promise is beyond all measure; *
it surpasses all that our minds can fathom.

O Lord, you are full of compassion, *
long-suffering, and abounding in mercy.
You hold back your hand; *
you do not punish as we deserve.
In your great goodness, Lord,
you have promised forgiveness to sinners, *
that they may repent of their sin and be saved.
And now, O Lord, I bend the knee of my heart, *
and make my appeal, sure of your gracious goodness.

I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, *
and I know my wickedness only too well.
Therefore I make this prayer to you: *
Forgive me, Lord, forgive me.
Do not let me perish in my sin, *
nor condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent, *
and in me you will show forth your goodness.

Unworthy as I am, you will save me,
in accordance with your great mercy, *
and I will praise you without ceasing all the days of my life.
For all the powers of heaven sing your praises, *
and yours is the glory to ages of ages. Amen.

Source: Book of Common Prayer 2019, Supplementary Canticles, p. 81-82.

Link to full Morning Office