Scripture Focus: Psalm 75.1-3
We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds.
You say, “I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge with equity.
When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm.
Reflection: Battered with Love—Worldwide Prayer
By John Tillman
Christ’s love is the power working within us, to change not only our lives, but to manifest his kingdom of love in our dark and loveless world.
We first need to understand his great love for us before we can show that love to others. Sometimes his powerful love has to batter its way through our defenses and self-hatred to invade our hearts. Only when we allow these walls to fall can we fearlessly love our neighbors and our enemies as we are called to do.
Battered with Love
A psalm acknowledging God’s intervention from the USA
Oh Lord
You battered me with love, you assaulted me with mercy,
You pierced me through with compassion
and turned my sorrows into peace;
you gave meaning to my calamities and
my heartbreaks you repaired with your presence.
And still I could not love like you loved,
nor could I see myself in the beauty you found
with your searching eye.
For I was shackled with depression,
and my hand was against my own neck,
my thoughts against my own heart.
But you would not let go until you saw
the dawning of my liberation.
Then you turned my eyes towards you
and you let me see the face of God,
the wondrous smile of the Son of the living God,
in the glory of Love.
And so I was changed, and I believed,
and I was never more the same.
And where there was darkness, you birthed light,
where there was wickedness you painted in the colors
of righteousness and peace.
And upon my brow, the forehead of my temple,
you carved a new name, one secret and holy,
known only to you, a gift to be revealed
in the fullness of time to your eager, watchful servant.
*Prayer from Hallowed be Your Name: A collection of prayers from around the world, Dr. Tony Cupit, Editor.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for His Presence
For God alone my soul in silence waits; truly, my hope is in him — Psalm 62.6
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle
Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 27 (Listen – 5:15)
Psalm 75-76 (Listen – 2:33)
Read more about In Praise of God’s Mercy :: Worldwide Prayer
How can it be that you condescend to love me, to save me, to lift me, to envelop me, to calm my fearful heart?
Read more about Praise from a Stump :: A Guided Prayer
We are a ground down, burning stump of a fruitless tree!
In ashes, we repent.
