A spacious place, free from restriction
Bless our God, you peoples;
make the voice of his praise to be heard;
Who holds our souls in life,
and will not allow our feet to slip.
For you, O God, have proved us;
you have tried us just as silver is tried.
You brought us into the snare;
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water;
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
I will enter your house with burnt offerings
and will pay you my vows,
which I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.
I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts
with the smoke of rams;
I will give you oxen and goats.
Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
I called out to him with my mouth,
and his praise was on my tongue.
If I had found evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have heard me;
But in truth God has heard me;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer,
nor withheld his love from me.
Lift up your voice, fear not!
Go up to a high mountain,
herald of good tidings to Zion;
lift up your voice with strength,
herald of good tidings to Jerusalem.
Lift up your voice, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him.
Behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
God will feed his flock like a shepherd,
and gather the lambs in his arms;
He will carry them in his breast,
and gently lead those that are with young.
Selah.
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The unity of true prayer
Praying selflessly
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The psalms teach us to pray as a fellowship. The Body of Christ is praying, and as an individual one acknowledges that his prayer is only a minute fragment of the whole prayer of the Church. He learns to pray the prayer of the Body of Christ. And that lifts him above his personal concerns and allows him to pray selflessly.
Selah.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The psalms teach us to pray as a fellowship. The Body of Christ is praying, and as an individual one acknowledges that his prayer is only a minute fragment of the whole prayer of the Church. He learns to pray the prayer of the Body of Christ. And that lifts him above his personal concerns and allows him to pray selflessly.
Selah.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Approach, my soul, the mercy-seat
Approach, my soul, the mercy-seat
Words: John Newton (1725-1807)
Tune: Tallis' Ordinal
Approach, my soul, the mercy-seat
where Jesus answers prayer;
there humbly fall before his feet,
for none can perish there.
Thy promise is my only plea;
with this I venture nigh:
thou callest burdened souls to thee,
and such, O Lord, am I.
Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
by Satan sorely pressed,
by war without and fears within,
I come to thee for rest.
Be thou my shield and hiding-place,
that, sheltered near thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
and tell him thou hast died.
O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
to bear the Cross and shame,
that guilty sinners, such as I,
might plead thy gracious name!
Selah.
Words: John Newton (1725-1807)
Tune: Tallis' Ordinal
Approach, my soul, the mercy-seat
where Jesus answers prayer;
there humbly fall before his feet,
for none can perish there.
Thy promise is my only plea;
with this I venture nigh:
thou callest burdened souls to thee,
and such, O Lord, am I.
Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
by Satan sorely pressed,
by war without and fears within,
I come to thee for rest.
Be thou my shield and hiding-place,
that, sheltered near thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
and tell him thou hast died.
O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
to bear the Cross and shame,
that guilty sinners, such as I,
might plead thy gracious name!
Selah.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
New every morning is the love
New every morning is the love
Words: John Keble, 1822
Music: Kedron
New every morning is the love
our wakening and uprising prove;
through sleep and darkness safely brought,
restored to life and power and thought.
New mercies, each returning day,
hover around us while we pray;
new perils past, new sins forgiven,
new thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.
If on our daily course our mind
be set to hallow all we find,
new treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.
Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be,
as more of heaven in each we see;
some softening gleam of love and prayer
shall dawn on every cross and care.
The trivial round, the common task,
will furnish all we ought to ask:
room to deny ourselves; a road
to bring us daily nearer God.
Only, O Lord, in thy dear love,
fit us for perfect rest above;
and help us, this and every day,
to live more nearly as we pray!
Selah.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
A place God waits for us to sit awhile with Him
Then they heard the sound of the LORD God as He walked in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees...
But the LORD God called, "Where are you?"
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
“For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.
“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the one against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Gen. 3:8, 9; Isa. 38:17; Mic. 7:18, 19; Isa. 54:7, 8; Jer. 31:34; Ps. 32:1, 2; 1 John 1:7