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In my first year of high school, Australia converted to decimal currency and Simon and Garfunkel released the song, “I am a rock”. While everyone in Australia was working together to adjust to the new currency the song spoke of going it alone. “I am a rock. I am an island.”
It’s a sad song about being hurt and withdrawing into isolation in order to avoid any more pain.
We’ve had some experiences of isolation this year and depending on our nature we’ve either enjoyed or hated those times.
Our God is into community. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a divine community of love and because we’re made in the image of God we’re also made for community.
The Christian faith in particular and life in general aren’t meant to be solo adventures. Even those with an introverted nature need others. We all need community.
Paul describes the community in terms of a body with many different and varied parts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. The different parts of the body need each other and when they work together the body functions properly.
The beauty of this image and situation is found in the love and support we give and receive in the community. There are times when we desperately need the support of a loving community and there are times when we provide the support to members of the community.
This ‘strange’ year has highlighted the need for community. We need to care for each other and look out for each other.
It’s great to know God is always doing his best for us. It’s also clear our sisters and brothers are gifts from God. God often helps us through the community. God bless you with all the help you need and with all the strength you need to help others.
Psalm 119
The devotions for the coming week are taken from Lutheran Tract Mission’s 2026 Lenten devotional, ‘Hope for Our Future’. Written by Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer, the devotions focus on how our futures and hopes are assured in Jesus Christ. The Lenten devotional is available here. It can be downloaded, printed or used as a digital flipbook.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word (Psalm 119:81).
Read Psalm 119:41–48,81
So, what do you know about Psalm 119? It is the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. Did you know that Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem written in eight-verse stanzas, and each stanza is named after a letter of the Hebrew alphabet?
It is not known who wrote this chapter – some say King David, others Ezra and others Daniel. What we do know is that the author has a profound love and desire to obey all of God’s words, which are a source of life, hope and wisdom. The overall theme of this chapter is that through obeying God’s word, we will be blessed with happiness, guidance and security.
The word ‘hope’ appears only five times in this chapter, but each time it is mentioned, the hope is related to God’s word. God’s word, the Bible, has power. The laws, testimonies, commandments, judgements, promises and words are all written to guide, comfort and give security, life and hope.
God’s word is described as ‘sweeter than honey’ (verse 103), ‘a lamp to my feet’ (verse 105), ‘more precious than thousands of pieces of silver and gold’ (verse 72) and ‘a refuge and shield’ (verse 114). The writer faces persecution and opposition because of their devotion to God; however, they find security and comfort in all of God’s promises.
The Bible is not just an old piece of history written about people from ancient times, but it is God’s living word. Every time it is opened and read, something new about God’s love and faithfulness is discovered. God’s word is a ‘light for my path’ (verse 105), and ‘All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal’ (verse 160). It is in God’s word that our answers can be found, and our lives have purpose. In our God, we find strength for each day, comfort in pain and hope for a blessed future with a loving God.
Read the Bible – it will give your life purpose and hope for the future!
It is in your word, Lord, that I find direction and peace for my life. Your Bible is living and active. Help me to read it regularly and apply the messages to my life. Amen.
Anne Hansen has worked as the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer for almost 20 years. She lives in Noosa, Queensland, with her husband Mark (a pastor). She enjoys leading Know Your Bible (KYB) and Mainly Music. For relaxation, she loves walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
Castles fall
The devotions for the coming week are taken from Lutheran Tract Mission’s 2026 Lenten devotional, ‘Hope for Our Future’. Written by Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission’s Tract Development Officer, the devotions focus on how our futures and hopes are assured in Jesus Christ. The Lenten devotional is available here. It can be downloaded, printed or used as a digital flipbook.
by Anne Hansen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken (Psalm 62:5,6).
Read Psalm 62:1,2,5–8
The United Kingdom is home to many amazing castles, each with a unique story and incredible history. While nannying in England in 1991, I was asked to take the children to visit their grandparents in Perth, Scotland. A short plane trip later, we were in Scotland. On one of my days off, I borrowed a car and drove to St Andrews (the birthplace of golf), but I didn’t stop there. I went further to St Andrews Castle, built on the shore and cliffs overlooking the North Sea.
The first castle on this site was built from 1189 to 1202. It housed the wealthy and powerful lairds of that time. During various Scottish wars, it was destroyed and rebuilt as it changed hands from the Scots to the English over the next couple of centuries. It was rebuilt around 1400, and while the ruins visible today date from that period, their foundations reach back hundreds of years earlier.
St Andrews Castle has a colourful history and, at one stage in the 1500s, it was the centre of religious persecution and controversy. The ‘bottle dungeon’ can still be seen, and many Christians were imprisoned there. Visiting such a historic site enables the imagination to run riot with all that could and would have happened within the grounds of the walls. Castles were built as a fortification against enemies. A place where the ruling government could be secure, rest and find safety. But really, could they? There was always an enemy plotting their overthrow and wanting to take over the castle.
When King David wrote some of the psalms, I am sure he was relating God’s strength to the castles and fortresses of the time. It would have felt so secure and invincible living in them, but we know through history that castles do fall. But that was the closest King David could come to describing the security he felt when in God’s presence. We know that earthly buildings and structures will decay and fall away, but to have our hope built on the rock that is Christ Jesus, we have a foundation for life and beyond.
Place your hope and life on the rock of Jesus!
My Loving Father, help me not put my trust in earthly things, but to build my life on the rock of Jesus. He is the only one who can give me security and safety, and in him, I find hope for my future. Amen.
Anne Hansen has worked as the Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer for almost 20 years. She lives in Noosa, Queensland, with her husband Mark (a pastor). She enjoys leading Know Your Bible (KYB) and Mainly Music. For relaxation, she loves walking, reading, gardening and playing pickleball.
The joy of being found out
by Noel Due
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psalm 32:1).
Read Psalm 32
Psalm 32 opens not with instruction but with blessing. Before David describes confession, discipline or repentance, he announces the outcome: forgiveness. This order matters. Grace is not the reward at the end of repentance; it is the ground that makes repentance possible at all.
David speaks from experience. When sin was hidden, not denied but concealed, it hollowed him out. Silence before God did not preserve dignity; it consumed him. ‘My bones wasted away … day and night your hand was heavy upon me.’ This is the law doing its proper work – not to destroy, but to expose. God’s hand presses in until self-justification collapses. The sinner learns that secrecy before God is not safety but bondage.
Then comes the turn: ‘I acknowledged my sin to you … and you forgave.’ No bargaining. No improvement plan. No delay. Confession is not performance; it is truth spoken into mercy. Here, the Lutheran distinction between law and gospel is unmistakable. The law uncovers sin; the gospel covers it. What David could not hide, God chooses to cover – not by ignoring sin, but by forgiving it through its destruction on the cross.
The psalm then widens from personal testimony to communal instruction. ‘Let everyone who is godly offer prayer.’ Forgiveness is not a private spiritual technique; it is the pattern of life for the whole people of God. Those who trust this mercy are freed from panic and self-defence. Importantly, Psalm 32 does not end in introspection but guidance. The forgiven are taught a new way to live, no longer driven by fear like a horse or mule, but led by trust. Obedience follows forgiveness; it does not precede it.
Thus, Psalm 32 teaches the rhythm of the Christian life. Sin confessed. Forgiveness given. Joy restored. The blessedness David proclaims is not moral success but absolution. To be forgiven is to be released – from silence, from self-accusation, from the crushing labour of pretending. This is why the psalm ends with rejoicing. The righteous are not those without sin, but those who live from forgiveness.
Dear Father, you have given us all in giving us Christ. In him is our forgiveness, righteousness, life and love. In him is hope and true faith. Let us this day cease to hide from you, but to open our hearts to your gaze, so that our experience may be like David’s: ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. Amen.
Noel is a semi-retired Lutheran pastor, writer, teacher and professional supervisor. He is married to Kirsten, a medical doctor, and they have three children and nine grandchildren. They also have two cats.