A word for the day: As the deer, so my soul

As the deer longs for the water-brooks...

Psalm 42

As the deer longs for the water-brooks,

so longs my soul for you, O God.

My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God;

when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

My tears have been my food day and night,

while all day long they say to me,

'Where now is your God?'

I pour out my soul when I think on these things:

how I went with the multitude

and led them into the house of God,

With the voice of praise and thanksgiving,

among those who keep holy-day.

Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?

and why are you so disquieted within me?

Put your trust in God;

for I will yet give thanks to him,

who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

My soul is heavy within me;

therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,

and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.

One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts;

all your rapids and floods have gone over me.

The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime;

in the night season his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to the God of my strength,

'Why have you forgotten me?

and why do I go so heavily

while the enemy oppresses me?'

While my bones are being broken,

my enemies mock me to my face;

All day long they mock me

say to me, 'Where now is your God?'

Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?

and why are you so disquieted within me?

Put your trust in God;

for I will yet give thanks to him,

who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Selah.

A prayer of heart

The stars declare His glory

Words: Timothy Dudley-Smith
Tune: Aldine

The stars declare His glory;
the vault of heaven springs,
mute witness of the Master's hand
in all created things,
and through the silences of space
their soundless music sings.

The dawn returns in splendor,
the heavens burn and blaze,
the rising sun renews the race
that measures all our days,
and writes in fire across the skies
God's majesty and praise.

So shine the Lord's commandments
to make the simple wise;
more sweet than honey to the taste,
more rich than any prize,
a law of love within our hearts,
a light before our eyes.

So order too this life of mine,
direct it all my days;
the meditations of my heart
be innocence and praise,
my rock, and my redeeming Lord,
in all my words and ways!

Selah.

Accept the worship & the song my Savior & my God

Behold, the morning sun

Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748), 1719 in The Psalms of David
Tune: Thatcher

Behold, the morning sun
begins his glorious way;
his beams through all the nations run,
and life and light convey.

But where the Gospel comes
it spreads diviner light;
it calls dead sinners from their tombs,
and gives the blind their sight.

How perfect is thy word!
And all thy judgments just!
For ever sure thy promise, Lord,
and men securely trust.

My gracious God, how plain
are thy directions given!
O may I never read in vain,
but find the path to heaven!

I hear thy word with love,
and I would fain obey:
send thy good Spirit from above
to guide me, lest I stray.

O who can ever find
the errors of his ways?
Yet with a bold, presumptuous mind
I would not dare transgress.

Warn me of every sin,
forgive my secret faults,
and cleanse this guilty soul of mine,
whose crimes exceed my thoughts.

While with my heart and tongue
I spread thy praise abroad,
accept the worship and the song,
my Savior and my God!

Selah.