Deus Misereatur

(For salvation): As you mentioned in Ezekiel, LORD God, you do not take any pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would rather that they should turn from their way and live (Ezekiel 18.23); and as Paul announces that you, O God our Savior, desire all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2.3-4). Therefore we pray for unbelievers and those who have left the fold and wondered as sheep lost in the wildness and the wilderness…Through conversations with us, or because of the season with all of the Christmas carols and posted reminders recounting your Son’s saving work, grant them to become confident that there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, and may they call on the name of the Lord and so find salvation (1 Timothy 2.5-6). O Lord, hear our prayer. (For social plights): Great God, there are fires raging again in California, shootings in schools and throughout ...

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me” (Psalm 57.1-2). We look around our big world and see trouble on the right and turmoil on the left. We implore you, O God, for all the nations of the world, but especially the USA, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica and Cote d'Ivoire: to bring peace in our time, to preserve the downtrodden and demoralized; but also to raise up leaders who will seek good, and not evil, that life may flourish, who will hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; and who will let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (from Amos 4.14-15, 24). And preserve, prosper, promote and pilot your Church, our brothers and sisters in all places, to include this congregation; both Em...

A Political Companion to Flannery O’Connor Ed. Henry T. Edmondson III University Press of Kentucky ISBN: 978-0-8131-6940-8; $60.00; June 2017 While one of my daughters was sitting in her college literature class in Mississippi, the professor assigned a short story by Flannery O’Connor. She plaintively raised her hand and asked him if she had to read it. Her instructor stated pointedly, “yes,” and then inquired as to why she asked. “My dad made me read Flannery O’Connor during High School, and she gives me a headache!”  Her response impressed him, to say the least. Beyond giving High School students headaches, there is a deep value to reading the novellas and short stories of Flannery O’Connor, which is thoughtfully played out in a new work, “A Political Companion to Flannery O’Connor” edited by Henry T. Edmondson III, the Carl Vinson Endowed Chair of Political Science and Public Administration at Georgia College. This 398 page clothbound edition is a gold...

You who are the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, who has said: “ I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite ” (Isaiah 57.15): we rejoice and give you our great thanks that, as we heard this morning, in Jesus Christ your only Son our Lord, heaven and earth have come together; the high and lifted One has come to dwell among us! Now hear our grateful prayers offered in concert with Psalm 70: Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! Hear the groans and grief of those hurting through sickness, weakening bodies, sad hearts and desperate conditions…speedily deliver them and swiftly help them. Hear the cries and despair of those who are down and out, done in and destitute in our congregation, in our city, under our bridges, and around our neighborhoods, and make haste to help them. Let them be ...

(For thanksgiving): Through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy, the praises of my God shall still my heart and tongue employ. Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then have nothing else to fear; make you His service your delight; he’ll make your wants His care (Trinity Hymnal #624, v.1 and 6). As a congregation, we give thanks to you, O God, for all your care and sustaining mercies…. We ask you to awaken our hearts – hearts often numbed by the rush and rumble of our daily lives – awaken our hearts to be consistently thankful and grateful for the big and simple things we are given. Things like daily bread, children and grandchildren, friends, parents and grandparents, the ability to enjoy the taste of food and wine; and also a church family. Grant us the wisdom and will to promote peace with all people, as far as it depends on us. O Lord, hear our prayer.  (For troubles): We remember those who are thrown around by the stormy seas of emotional and physical ...

O God , before whom no god was formed, nor shall there be any after you; for you, you alone are the LORD, and besides you there is no savior (Isaiah 43.10-11): We implore you to show kindness and care to those who are facing critical times…, those who are hospitalized and weakening…, those who are recovering from sickness or surgery…, those swallowed up in sorrow and sadness… for exhausted caregivers...,  for those walking through darkness, depression, or disorder…; grant them relief,  replenishment, as well as faith and hope so as not to rely on themselves but on you, O God, who raises the dead. For you are he who delivers us from such deadly perils and will deliver us. And so, on you may we set our hope that you will deliver us again (2 Corinthians 1.9-10). O Father , from whom all fatherhood is named in heaven and on earth: we who have come to know you as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1.3), you who are over all and through all and in all (Ephe...

From 1996 to 2000 Dr. Dale Ralph Davis was one of my Old Testament professors at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. From 1998 to 2002 Dr. Davis became a dear friend as I served a small, rural Presbyterian church in Mississippi. He would always open the door of his study for me and allow me to "unload" my woes, and then he would spend time praying with me and for me. Even after we went to different parts of the country (he to Mississippi and South Carolina; and I to Texas and Oklahoma), we have remained in contact. I have always found Dr. Davis's commentaries and books solid in their scholarship, warm in their application, Gospel-focused in their direction and demeanor, and devotional in their observations. As he works his readers through Scripture, he always seems to have one eye on how to preach the Old Testament, and the other eye on how to minister to the preacher, and the preacher's congregation. I simply cannot recommend his books enough!...