Deus Misereatur

  I spoke on Psalm 73 on 1 January 2023. You can watch and listen here , and you can follow along with the manuscript below. New Year 2023 Psalm 73 (2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1, Titus 2:1-10) O God, who is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart; bring us, this day to see that you are continually with us, you hold our right hand, and you guide us with your counsel. Amen .   I quoted this statement last Sunday, and it is worth more thought: “Anything that erodes the fear of God will intensify the fear of man” (Edward T. Welch, “When People are Big and God is Small,” 79). And this is true in the other direction, anything that intensifies the fear of man will erode the fear of God. For a new year, I think this is a rock-solid subject to ponder. And you see Welch’s point played out in Psalm 73. And it begins with the slip.   The Slip (1-3): Asaph was a Levite, one of those from the priestly clan who were to exemplify the difference between the clean and unclean...

  Almighty God, though a man’s heart plans his ways, it is you who directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9). Therefore, we pray for this world, your church, and ourselves for this new year. Lord God, as we plan our ways and means for this year, guide us step-by-step. May our confidence in you increase throughout 2023. May we come to know you more than ever before, love you more deeply than we have in the past, and serve you with greater enjoyment and enthusiasm. May we have eyes to see you doing great things – even in the modest and mundane moments. May we have hearts and voices ready to rejoice in your great goodness, even if the wind gets kicked out of us. May we be known as a people who enjoy making much of you! We ask you to alleviate the suffering, angst and fretfulness of those who are in dire need of your healing or help (…). For all of them we ask you to restore them by filling them with your unsurpassable peace to guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and give them rock-h...

  We thank you for your constant care for us personally and as a congregation, loving Father. We thank you for how you have been pleased to bring many people into this congregation’s life over the years; and we thank you for bringing us to a new year.   O God of Israel, we join with Jabez as we pray over this coming year. Bless us and make us a channel of blessing to others, especially your Abrahamic blessing that in Abraham’s offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And in that regard, do enlarge our sphere of influence giving us a bit more space in your world rescue operation. But, Lord, keep your hand on us, because (as Martin Luther prayed), “if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.” Yes, may your hand ever be on us. And do, please, liberate us from the hostage situation of the futile ways inherited from our forebears, keeping us from evil that we may not cause pain (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). May it be said of us that we are a most honorable p...

  He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.  He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.  He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?  He sends out his word, and melts them;  he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. (Psalm 147:15-18) Creator and provider, who lifts up our heads when we are weighed down with troubles and grief; who keeps count of our tears and pains; who sends forth fresh reminders of your grace, mercy, majesty and grandeur. We bring our past year to you, like children with tear-stained faces, holding their broken toy out to their daddy. But we also bring to you this new year, like little kids rushing to the window pane, spying the thrill of a new snowy day! May what we have experienced season us that we may be wiser, more appreciative of the gift of life, more thankful for this day with family and friends, more humble in our plans and achievements. And may the promise of the com...

Every month I gather with some Oklahoma City area pastors from different denominations: other kinds of Presbyterians, Nazarenes, Calvary Chapel guys, Baptists, Methodists and Disciples of Christ. We talk about what's going on in our particular worlds - family, church and community - and then we spend time praying for each other. Today (4 January 2017) our congregation hosted the monthly prayer gathering. And so I thought I'd take our prayer time in a slightly different direction, and I wrote out what's in the photo at the top on a whiteboard. Our answers to these questions were encouraging, personal and very much about the progression of Christ's Gospel. This got me to thinking about 2017, and how to pray forward into this year. Therefore, I've printed out a copy of this photo and have put my answers underneath it, and will use it as I pray all through 2017. This got me thinking about you. Here are some suggestions that might be a help for you: Print out t...

For The New Year: "Almighty and Everlasting God, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift; we give thee thanks for all thy benefits, temporal and spiritual, bestowed upon us in the year past, and we beseech thee of thy goodness, grant us a favorable and joyful year, defend us from all dangers and adversities, and send upon us the fullness of thy blessing; through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever One God, world without end. Amen" ("The Book of Worship: Approved by the General Synod of the Evangelical Reformed Church," 1947, p. 120).

"Almighty and Everlasting God, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift; we give thee thanks for all thy benefits, temporal and spiritual, bestowed upon us in the year past, and we beseech thee of thy goodness, grant us a favorable and joyful year, defend us from all dangers and adversities, and send upon us the fullness of thy blessing; through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever One God, world without end. Amen ."  From "The Book of Worship: Approved by the General Synod of the Evangelical Reformed Church," 1947, p. 120. Mike

{ Audio File can be heard here } --- [ Passage: Micah 6.1-8 ] New Year 2014: Micah 6.8 O Lord Jesus, you walked the way of the cross as the obedient Son of God, open our eyes and ears and hearts, and teach us by your Word and Spirit, that we may not rebel, but may walk in the obedience of disciples who have learned well from you. Amen. Of course New Years is a time of new potential, new resolves and new directions. It is also a time for healthy reflection. If we go blundering and smashing on through our days ahead of us without reflecting on the successes and catastrophes of the previous times, we are bound to repeat oft-committed bunglings. And if we plunge full-steam head-long into the new year without contemplating the past goodnesses of God in the previous months, we may find ourselves increasingly insensitive to His present kindnesses . Bring it Up (1-5). The opening scene has a back and forth-ness to it. God invites an increasingly compromised Judah (1.1) to air th...