Daily Office Reflection — Monday, August 10, 2026
Psalm 89 | 2 Samuel 13:23–39 | Acts 20:17–38 | Mark 9:42–50
As we begin another week with the Daily Office readings, Psalm 89 gives us a foundation upon which to stand:
God is righteous.
God is just.
God’s love is eternal.
God is faithful.
Those are comforting words. But the other readings remind us that the faithfulness of God does not mean that we are protected from every painful consequence of our choices—or even from suffering when we have made the right choice.
The story from 2 Samuel is painful.
David’s family continues to experience the consequences of broken relationships and terrible choices. Amnon has raped his half-sister Tamar. Her brother Absalom is furious about what has happened to her. Eventually, Absalom holds a feast and orders his servants to kill Amnon.
One terrible act leads to another.
Tamar has been violated.
Amnon is murdered.
Absalom runs away.
David grieves.
Nobody wins.
Absalom’s anger over what happened to his sister is understandable. Tamar suffered a terrible injustice. But vengeance does not restore what was taken from her. Murder does not heal the family. It only adds another wound.
Sin has a way of doing that.
One broken relationship leads to another. Hurt produces anger. Anger can become vengeance. Vengeance produces more hurt.
God’s grace does not mean that our choices have no consequences.
Then we hear Paul saying farewell to the elders of the church at Ephesus.
Paul knows that trouble awaits him. He believes that imprisonment and hardship are ahead as he continues toward Jerusalem. Yet Paul keeps going.
His suffering is different from Absalom’s.
Absalom suffers partly because of the choices he makes. Paul expects suffering because he has chosen to remain faithful to his calling.
Sometimes we suffer because of our choices.
Sometimes we suffer because of the choices of others.
Sometimes we suffer even when we are doing exactly what we believe God has called us to do.
Jesus then uses some of the strongest language in the Gospels:
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.
If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off.
If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out.
I don’t believe Jesus is commanding us to mutilate our bodies. I believe Jesus is telling us to take seriously anything within our lives that destroys our relationship with God, with other people, with creation, or even with ourselves.
Don’t play with the things that destroy life.
Don’t nurture bitterness.
Don’t feed vengeance.
Don’t cling to something simply because giving it up would be painful.
Then Jesus says something beautiful:
“Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Imagine how different David’s family might have been if peace, justice, truth, and reconciliation had replaced silence, anger, and vengeance.
And imagine how different our own relationships might become.
We cannot undo every choice we have made.
We cannot erase every consequence.
We cannot prevent every hardship.
But we can trust the God described in Psalm 89.
The God who is righteous.
The God who is just.
The God whose steadfast love endures.
The God who remains faithful.
And that brings me to something I have learned along this pilgrimage:
God’s grace does not always spare us from the consequences of our choices, but God’s faithful love meets us within them.
Grace does not pretend the wound never happened.
Grace does not call evil good.
Grace does not erase responsibility.
Grace enters the brokenness and begins the work of restoration.
Absalom reminds us what can happen when hurt becomes vengeance.
Paul reminds us that faithfulness sometimes has a cost.
Jesus reminds us to remove whatever destroys life and to become people of peace.
And Psalm 89 reminds us that through all of it—
God remains faithful.
That is enough for this pilgrim today.
God’s grace is sufficient.
The Curious Pilgrim 
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