“God’s peace breaks into our brokenness in each and every age.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 21, 2026
Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers; protect me from the violent, who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day. Psalm 140:1-2, NIV
In my church, we have a portion of our service in which we pray an ancient set of prayers known as The Litany of Peace. As the name implies, it is a prayer for the peace that can only come from above, that God would bring peace to the whole world and that we would be delivered “from all affliction, wrath, danger, and distress.” This prayer does not change from year to year, but instead has been prayed weekly around the world for over 1,000 years.
Let the truth of that reality sink in. It wasn’t a prayer that a local pastor spun up in light of this week’s news headlines, though of course there’s a place for that as well! Instead, it is a prayer that reminds us that peace is elusive because we, as humans, are sick with the disease of sin, and therefore conflict haunts us in every time and place. Yet, thanks be to God, his peace breaks into our brokenness in each and every age.
For most of us, we are not personally responsible for “stirring up war,” as the psalmist puts it. At least, I should say, not the kinds of wars that we read about in the news. However, I can’t help but wonder if there are still ways in which we “stir up war every day?” Perhaps it is the unseen wars of our interior lives and the wars between friend and family that we must seek to replace with the peace from above?
When framed this way, I realize the sobering truth that I have stirred up war in my home, for example, more times than I can possibly count. I’ve woken up with anger and self-righteousness in my heart, and I enter the day “hot,” ready to snap at my wife or children. I stir up war when I escalate an offense rather than turning the other cheek. And I stir up war when I believe lies about myself and who I am, forgetting the love and acceptance that is offered through the cross and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Today, let us take the words of this ancient psalm to heart, and refuse to stir up war in any way, shape, or form, instead looking and longing for the perfect peace that comes from above. “Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and protect us, O God, by Your grace” (closing line of The Litany of Peace).
Prayer
Father, by your grace, make us people of peace, and keep us from stirring up war in any form, we pray through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
What wars are you guilty of stirring up? How can the Lord help you today to become a person of peace?
Related Reading
Proverbs 15:1; Romans 12:18; Ephesians 4:31-32
Worship Resource
The Porter’s Gate: Instrument of Peace
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