Prayer for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity - 2013

The 1662 and 1928 Book of Common Prayer record the following for this Sunday:

O GOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This is, again, one of my more favorite prayers, and I committed it to memory long, long ago. Its substantive simplicity is its brilliance. It breaks down into two segments, with the second opening out in two parts.

Ascription:
The declaration that God’s providence “ordereth all things” is inclusive of “heaven and earth.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q & A 11) succinctly defines God’s works of providence in this way: “God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions.” The Collect goes further in announcing that God’s providence is “never-failing,” it can’t be thwarted by conspiracies, governments, catastrophes, or human schemes.

Petition:
The first portion of the petition is stated somewhat in the negative. That God, by his never-failing-ordering-all-things-providence would put away from us “all hurtful things.” Here is the prayer of every Christian, especially as they face disease, frailty, combat, business disasters, etc. This part of the petition recognizes that God knows what’s hurtful for us, something that we don’t always comprehend.

The second portion is stated in a more positive way. That this God, by his never-failing-ordering-all-things-providence, would give us “those things which be profitable for us.” Again, this is the prayer of every Christian looking to move into the “happy issue out of all their afflictions” and on into better days and better ways. This part of the prayer also recognizes that God knows what is genuinely profitable for us, which we might not.

In both parts of this petition the supplicant is surrendering to God’s judgment about what is harmful, and what is profitable. This is a good and safe place to be. It seems to me that the Collect is wisely drawing from James 1.2-4, which I will close with: 
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [trials-NKJV, etc]; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
Mike

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?" (Rev. Ed.) by John Fea. A Review

Image
  John Fea is a professor of history at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, PA. A university founded in 1909 by the Brethren in Christ Church. He originally published "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction" in 2011, and it was revised in 2016. This 328-page paperback is packed full with Colonial and American history, drawing from original sources to answer that question. It is a book written "for the historically minded and thoughtful reader who is looking for help in sorting" out this question, avoiding polemics (xix). Since we live in a sound-bite culture, Fea recognizes that it is difficult to have a sustained dialogue on this topic, but he makes a valiant effort toward having that sustained dialogue. The book reads fairly straightforward, and doesn't seem to get bogged down in the contentious mudpuddles or bogs. In the end, Fea seems to get his point across. To answer the reigning question if America was founded as a Christian...
Read more

Union with Christ - An Application

Image
  (This was my weekly letter to my congregation on Wednesday, 21 February 2024) This morning in my devotional reading, I was working through 1 Corinthians 8. Though I’ve read these words a huge number of times over the years, today one verse caused me to stop and take stock.  Paul wrote, “ Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ ” (1 Corinthians 8:12). What struck me is a couple of things. First, in God’s saving work, we are – by grace alone – united (hitched, bonded, ingrafted) to Christ so much so, that what happens to us happens to him, and what is his becomes ours (think of Galatians 2:20, for example). As Sinclair Ferguson put it, “through union with Christ all that is his by incarnation becomes ours through faith” (“The Christian Life,” 110). Let that percolate in your heart for a while. Your fear, anxiety, tears, and so forth, he feels. And his “ Peace, be still ” is yours. Second, the way we treat one an...
Read more

"Ah, Lord! We are Animated by Anger and Anxiety, Fear and Fury..."

Image
I hesitate to put this out there because of the combative environment we are in at present. But I think some souls will take courage from this, and some will also join with me as we get to the end of this little composition. I am struck by the words of God in Zechariah 8. As he rehearses the waywardness and faithlessness of his people in the past, he clearly declares that he " set every man against his neighbor " (8:10). That got me thinking long ago. I started putting the pieces together and realized that one of God's acts of judgment is division, setting a man against his neighbor. That's what happened when he divided his people into the northern tribes and southern tribes (see 1 Kings 11:26-40). Because of Solomon's turning aside, allowing his wives to turn his heart away from the God of his father, David, the Lord brings about a rift in God's people. And this pattern of divisive judgment runs throughout Scripture. On the other hand, truthful unity is the g...
Read more