April 29, 2022 8:00 pm
It’s 3 a.m. at an acute-care hospital. A worried patient presses the call button for the fourth time in an hour. The night-shift nurse answers without complaint. Soon another patient is screaming, crying for attention. The nurse isn’t surprised. She requested the night shift five years ago to avoid her hospital’s daytime frenzy. Then the reality hit. Night work often means taking on extra tasks, such as lifting and turning patients by herself. It also means closely monitoring patients’ conditions so physicians can be notified in emergencies.
Buoyed by close friendships with her nighttime co-workers, this nurse still struggles to get adequate sleep. Often, she asks her church for prayer, seeing her work as vital. “Praise God, their prayers make a difference.”
Her praise is good and right for a night worker—as well as for all of us. The psalmists wrote, “Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord” (Psalm 134:1–2).
This psalm, written for the Levites who served as temple watchmen, acknowledged their vital work—protecting the temple by day and night. In our nonstop world, it feels proper to share this psalm especially for nighttime workers, yet every one of us can praise God in the night. As the psalm adds, “May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the Maker of heaven and earth” (v. 3).
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.
Our reading, titled Servants of the Night, was written by Patricia Rabin. It's 3 a.m. at an acute care hospital. A worried patient presses the call button for the fourth time in an hour. The night shift nurse answers without complaint. Soon another patient is screaming, crying for attention. The nurse isn't surprised. She requested the night shift five years ago to avoid her hospital's daytime frenzy.
Then the reality hit. Night work often meant taking on extra tasks, such as lifting and turning patients by herself. It also meant closely monitoring patients' conditions so physicians could be notified in emergencies. Buoyed by close friendships with her nighttime co-workers, this nurse still struggles to get adequate sleep. Often she asks her church for prayer, seeing her work as vital. She said, praise God, their prayers make a difference.
Her praise is good and right for a night worker as well as for all of us. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 134, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. This psalm, written for the Levites, who served as temple watchmen, acknowledged their vital work, protecting the temple by day and night. In our nonstop world, it feels proper to share this psalm, especially for nighttime workers, yet every one of us can praise God in the night. As the psalm adds, may the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the maker of heaven and earth.
Today's Our Daily Bread scripture reading is Psalm 134. Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the maker of heaven and earth. Let's pray. Dear God, in the early morning hours while we safely sleep, send your blessings to nighttime workers doing vital work in our community. Please renew their strength with every shift and fill them with a kind of hope and peace that can only come from you. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Joyce Dinkins, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-04-24 20:41:16 / 2023-04-24 20:42:44 / 1
