"How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love, O God!" - 4 July 2021
“Transgression
speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his
eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found
out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to
act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a
way that is not good; he does not reject evil. Our hearts, O God, grieve
for those who have never repented of their sins, believed in Christ, and avowed
him as Lord (…). Save them, penetrating their resistance and draw them into
your family. But we also pray for those whose words are trouble and deceit, who
plot trouble on their beds, who set themselves in a way that is not good and
don’t reject evil. Vanquish their bloodlust and bring order and honor to fill
the void.
Your steadfast love, O
LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your
righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great
deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. Stand up, O God, be
present now with your church gathered here, world over, as well as our denomination. Protect her from persecutors and pursuers.
Fill her with resilient strength to be faithful and firm in her witness of your
Son, Jesus Christ. Bring your Spirit of Truth to guide her into all truth, and
to turn her away from syncretism with, and surrender to, the pressures of
godlessness and materialism.
How precious is your
steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of
your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink
from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your
light do we see light. We have feasted on the abundance
of your house, and have drunk from the river of your delights; for you are our
fountain of life, and in your light we see light. May we be a vital and valid channel
through which your Gospel and good will way may go forth into our city,
townships, and neighborhoods. And shower your goodness on our mission team and
work as we head to Carnegie Oklahoma soon.
Oh, continue your
steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of
heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked
drive me away. There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to
rise (from
Psalm 36). Continue your steadfast
love for those burdened by bleakness, loaded with lament, fraught with fear,
and encumbered with illness (...).
And Lord, as we think about the 4th of July, please be with this nation. First, we are grateful for our country, even with all of its faults and blemishes. We are grateful for the liberties affirmed from the beginning, mightily preserved, and that are being more consistently promoted. But we also implore you to guide and direct our steps, our actions, and our perceptions in good ways so that we may honestly be E pluribus unum – out of the many, one. That we would truly be a people known as one nation under God, from the White House to our house. That In God We Trust would move from our coins and bills to our hearts and lives. Since “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34), we yearn for this country to be righteous from our streets to our Senate, from our people to our politicians. Oh, may God bless America from sea to shining sea!
All we ask in union with Jesus Christ your Son, and our Lord and Savior, as we pray together what he taught us, saying; Our Father…
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