September 12: Of the Day After

Isaiah 10:1-11:16

2 Corinthians 12:1-21

Psalm 56:1-13

Proverbs 23:6-8

Nineteen years and one day ago, an acquaintance of mine died in the collapse of the South Tower, where he worked on the 98th floor if memory serves.  Today, the day after we remembered the tragedy, I remembered his wife, whom he had recently married.  When he died, she was carrying their first child.  I looked up the September 12 print edition of the Wall Street Journal, and thought every single story on the front page had been written about them.  

Today's OT reading and psalm may have well been written for them as well.  Footnotes in the NIV Study Bible say Psalm 56 was a prayer for help "when the psalmist is attacked by enemies and his very life is threatened."  And it is true - for my friend and his family, the enemies were in hot pursuit and they did not know it; they conspired, they lurked, hoping to take their lives.  My friend's widow had misery to record, tears for the Lord's scroll.  

But more than just despair, there is also hope.  One thing I learned today - in 2007, first the Governor of Arkansas, then President George W Bush recognized September 12 as the National Day of Encouragement.  And in Isaiah we read of how the remnant "will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel".  The psalmist speaks of calling for help from God, whom he trusts and is therefore unafraid of what man might do to him.  

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred over 19 years ago, but today there is still so much we deal with that is cause for despair.  Let's remember that today is the National Day of Encouragement, and let us go out and offer encouragement to all those who need it - not encouragement borne of man, but that which comes from God Who, per Isaiah, promises us of days when beast and prey will lie peacefully together, and even children will have no need to fear. 

Father, in times of fear, may we bring all those we encounter Your hope and peace.