Deus Misereatur

(Physical and Emotional Infirmities) : O LORD, you who are near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34.18): we recall before you folks we know who are dealing with – and not always dealing well with – physical and emotional infirmities… First, we ask you to support them through the raging tempest as it churns up the mire of doubt or despair . We also cry out to you to restore to them some normalcy and order. Bring them to the right place where they can come to rejoice in their sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5.3-4). Finally, show us how we can best serve them and bear their burdens with them. O Lord, hear our prayer. (Guests of Heritage) : Please lift up Heritage as a city on the hill, to whose light the nations will go, saying “Come, let us go up to the LORD and hear his Word that he may teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths!” And then may they go fo...

Almighty God, Heavenly Father, you have summoned us to pray for the Church and the world, that your grace and salvation might become known to all. And you have promised that as we pray in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, you hear us and answer us. And so we pray in the name of Christ, hear in heaven our prayer and our plea, and maintain our cause (1 Kings 8.45). For those in need…; the poor and the hungry…; the homeless and unemployed…; those hit by the wildfires and those helping to rebuild…; the sick and lonely…; may they receive the right help at the right time in their distress, and find real relief. And so we pray, hear in heaven our prayer and our plea, and maintain our cause (1 Kings 8.45). For those who have not yet believed…; all in spiritual need…; and those who have stumbled and fallen…; bring them faith, hope and comfort in Jesus Christ. And so we pray, hear in heaven our prayer and our plea, and maintain our cause (1 Kings 8.45). For the peace and secu...

Over the past three months I’ve been working on memorizing Habakkuk 3.17-19a. I’m not there yet, but one of the benefits of weekly working on this passage is that it gives me generous times of reflection. Below are some of my ruminations that have come from working on these verses. To begin with, two of Habakkuk’s three chapters are deliberations between Yahweh and the prophet. In chapter one Habakkuk is fed up with the immorality among his people and he tells God so. The LORD responds by saying he’s bringing judgment and the instrument of his justice will be brutal, blasphemous Babylon. Habakkuk swallows hard, and then in vexation sputters out, “How can you do that?! How can you use a thoroughly immoral and god-hating nation like Babylon to inflict justice on your people who are still more righteous than those pagans?” God responds in chapter two with two sets of answers. The final (and longest answer) is that Babylon will be brought down in judgment one day as well. But his ...

Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present Ed. by Jonathan Gibson and Mark Earngey New Growth Press 1301 Carolina St., Suite L-101 Greensboro, NC 27401 ISBN: 978-1-948130-21-9; 23 April 2018; $69.99 Many American Presbyterian and Reformed believers are either out of touch with their Reformation roots, or have only snippets of information. One area where this is glaringly clear is in regard to worship, and specifically liturgy. Jonathan Gibson, assistant professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary,   and Mark Earngey, doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, have accomplish a yoeman’s job in their new 736 page hardback “Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the past for the Present”.   This weighty tome is ideal for liturgists, worship leaders, pastors, seminary professors, and highly interested parties. It is a reference work that “aims to recover and reaffirm the significant part that worship played in the Magisteria...

“ O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger ” (Psalm 8.1-2). We pray for our foes, some of whom are even in some of our own families. Change their ways and outlooks. If there are actions and attitudes we need to repent of and ask forgiveness for, help us to swallow our pride and take the plunge. Bring those who are presently antagonistic toward us to the place where they will be affable, and draw them and us together at your feet to adore you and acclaim your amazing grace. “ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him ” (Psalm 8.3-4)? Sometimes, Lord, we citizens of the United States and our leaders, as well as the heads of other nations and thei...

Remembrance, Communion, and Hope: Rediscovering the Gospel at the Lord's Table by J. Todd Billings My rating: 5 of 5 stars There’s only so much you can say about J. Todd Billings, Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, and accomplished author. You either like him, or you like him. It’s just that plain and simple. And recently Billings gave us one more reason to like him with his newest 237 page softback, “Remembrance, Communion, and Hope: Rediscovering the Gospel at the Lord's Table”. This fine treatise on the Lord’s Supper is written to attract the attention and affections of professors, pastors and parishioners. And it is composed to present readers and leaders with a wager: “that a renewed theology and practice of the Lord’s Supper can be an instrument for congregations to develop a deeper, more multifaceted sense of the gospel itself…the Supper is ...

(Our Children) : Father, who delights to call us your children and has blessed our families and church with many children – teeny ones, tween, teens and grown ones. We pray for them that in their particular stages of maturation and growth, you would preserve them from harm and harmful people. Further, we ask you to cultivate their attractions, their affections, their thoughts, and their discretions that they would not be swept up and away by treacheries or twisted allurements. We want them to be successful in their academic studies and vocations, yet we ultimately long for them to always walk in your ways, to know that they are yours and you are theirs, and to love you with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. O Lord, hear our prayer. (North American Church): We plead with you especially and expressly for your church in North America. Preserve us from ourselves; preserve us from amputating ourselves from the essential, directive, life-supporting connection to your Word;...