Deus Misereatur

  (From my letter to my congregation today - 30 March 2022) I want to tell you about the God of the “Nevertheless”. First, some background, then the point.   Last Sunday evening we were walking our way through Nehemiah 9. After God’s people longingly hear the Law of God (9:1-5) it brings them to a long confession of sin (9:6-37). In that confession of sin God’s people are fueled with hope and recount and confess: (1) God’s story from God’s own being, through creation to Abram and all the way to their moment. (2) God’s right to judge them and their forebearers for their faith-breaking. Thus they have no room for blame-shifting. And (3) God’s faithfulness , his faithfulness to justice AND mercy. You might want to listen to the sermon so you can have this outline filled in. If you have the ability to listen online you can find it here: https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/heritagepca/sermons/32822153703708/   And in this long confession of sin we come to the highpoint of v.31. After ack

  A Prayer Shaped by Psalm 63 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. There is nowhere else we can go to find our deepest satisfaction, but to you. When times are tough, your tender care lifts our hearts. When loved ones betray us, you are utterly trustworthy! May we always seek you when walking in plenty or dragging ourselves along through dry and weary lands where there is no water. We pray now for our own or others’ present situations (…). O Lord, hear our prayer. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. We regularly find ourselves distracted and driven to distraction by our immediate frets and fears, catastrophes and calamities. But your steadfast love is better than life! O God who is even