Lent Devotional

My name is Kendall Bergman, and I've been at Fellowship Dallas since 2020 — just in time for the pandemic. In those months of isolating and waiting, my sister and I attended worship services online, and I participated in a Life Group over Zoom. Through the intervening years, I've jumped in and become involved in various ways, including as a Life Group Leader, a Life Group Coach, and a member of the Women's Bible Study Cohort. In addition, I help out here and there by serving communion or volunteering with the kids' ministry. Over time, I've realized that Fellowship is my church home; it's really the people who've walked with me and stuck by my side through the ups and downs who are my church family. I'm grateful for this place. I'm grateful for these people. Most of all, I'm grateful that Jesus is our head and bridegroom — and we, His bride.

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When I consider how I see Jesus in Psalm 2 and the ways it impacts my heart's desire to repent and worship Him, I know a couple of things. First, my heart is prone to wander, and still, I long to be faithful. Second, I don't want to be one of the people described in verses 1–3, where there is rage, arrogance, self-reliance, and opposition to the Lord. Consider verses 10–11: "Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."

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What does that stir up in you? For me, it is a rallying cry and a wakeup call! God always provides the way to turn back to Him. He is always coming after us, and even in our bluster and conceit, He will receive our repentant and contrite hearts. Every time I read Psalm 2, I am reminded of the Rich Mullins song "While the Nations Rage." Part of the chorus says, "He is risen and He reigns in the hearts of the children rising up in His name." Those of us who profess Jesus as the Son of God and Savior — crucified, buried, and resurrected — we are those children rising up in His name.

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Acts 4:25 ascribes Psalm 2 to King David. As David makes his way through the psalm, he ends with a hopeful and straightforward benediction in verse 12: "Blessed are all who take refuge in Him." Did you catch that? It's not just "some" or "the select and popular," it's all who take refuge in Him. I want to be blessed — not #blessed, but really, deeply, truly blessed by the God of All Creation. When I surrender to Him, He becomes my fortress, my protector, and my redeemer, and He calls me blessed. I see Jesus throughout this psalm as the ultimate Anointed and the final King. He is the beginning and the end. When the nations are raging and rejecting God, they are rejecting Him. He is calling each of us to wake up, repent, and take refuge in Him.

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Our flesh so often wants us to forsake God and join in the raging and plotting. Let's listen instead to the Holy Spirit, who is ministering and speaking to our spirits. He is reminding us that He has the ultimate victory and authority. It's in His hands. So take heart and be encouraged. We are His hands and feet, after all — stewards and missionaries living in these outposts we call home, neighborhood, and city. He is entrusting us to be His light in this dark world. He has equipped us sufficiently, and His grace fuels us.

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So, here's my encouragement during this season of Lent: Slow down... just slow down. Look to Jesus. Sit in the scriptures — maybe even Psalm 2 — and don't rush through it. Listen to "While the Nations Rage" and remember that Jesus is, now and forever, King of kings, Prince of peace, and Lord of lords. Colossians 1:17 says, "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."