Psalms

on the day of my distress

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Photo by Javier Balseiro via Pexels
 

O Lord, I cry out to you on the day of my distress.
It is a day that is full of challenges and limitations.
On this day, I discover that I cannot handle all of my problems.
My resources and experience are not enough.  I have tried.
I decided to change things, but I did not prevail.
I truly need a saviour.  

There is no saviour better than you.
You are the greatest and most compassionate saviour.
Therefore, I will not invest my efforts and energy
    in recruiting the resources that people use to address their problems.
Instead, I will start with something unique and come to you.
Some trust in guns and tanks, but we trust in the name of the Lord.
In my distress, my life will be different;
    my thoughts, feelings, and decisions will be different;
    for I shall come to you and trust in you.
I shall trust from the bottom of my heart that the outcome with you is very different.

You alone are God and we are the children of the blessing.
Our King is not deaf or harsh or impotent.
I thank you because you have entered into the day of distress
    and turned it into a day of supplication.
You have blessed me in the midst of my distress
    and consequently my inner soul has recognized that you are trustworthy.
I surrender my life into the hands of the one who can calm waves and dry tears.

Yohanna Katanacho, 1967 – , Palestinian Israeli evangelical theologian

_______________________

Psalm 20:1-9

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
    may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
    and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart
    and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
    and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now this I know:
    The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
    with the victorious power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
    but we rise up and stand firm.
Lord, give victory to the king!
    Answer us when we call!

Continue reading →

for those suffering the anguish of inner darkness

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

photo via pixabay CC0

 
Lord Jesus, 
as you bowed your head and died,
a great darkness covered the land.
 
We lay before you
the despair of all
who find life
without meaning or purpose,
who suffer the anguish
of inner darkness
that can only lead them 
to self-destruction and death.
 
Lord,
in your passion, you too
felt abandoned, isolated, derelict.
 
You are one
with all who suffer
pain and torment
of body and mind.
 
Be to them the light
that has never been mastered.
Pierce the darkness
which surrounds and engulfs them,
so that they may know
within themselves
acceptance, forgiveness, and peace.
 
We pray for those who,
through the suicide
of one close to them,
suffer the emptiness of loss
and the burden of untold guilt.
May they know
your gift of acceptance,
so that they may be freed
from self-reproach
and mutual recrimination,
and find in the pattern
of your dying and rising,
new understanding, and purpose
for their lives.
 
Neville Smith, retired Anglican priest and hospital chaplain
 
______________________
 
 
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all

open my hand

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
photo by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash
 
 
You have called me to open my hand
    so that you can fill it.
 
But I would not open my hand.
I held the world tightly 
    and kept my hand shut.
I would not let it go.
 
But please God,
    open my hand for me.
And do not only open my hand, 
    but also open my mouth –
  and not only my mouth,
    but my heart also.
 
Grant that I may know nothing but you,
    that I may count everything as loss compared to you,
    and that I may strive to be conformed to you.
 
Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667, English cleric, imprisoned during the Protectorate
 
__________________________
 
 
I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Continue reading →

love for the Eternal Trinity

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena, Giovanni di Paolo, via Wikimedia Commons

 
O Eternal God! O Eternal Trinity!
Through the union of your divine nature you have made so precious
    the blood of your only begotten Son!
O eternal Trinity, you are as deep a mystery as the sea,
    in whom the more I seek, the more I find;
    and the more I find, the more I seek.
For even immersed in the depths of you,
    my soul is never satisfied, always famished and hungering for you,
    eternal Trinity, wishing and desiring to see you, the true light.
 
O eternal Trinity, with the light of understanding
    I have tasted and seen the depths of your mystery
                         and the beauty of your creation.
In seeing myself in you, I have seen that I will become like you.
 
O eternal Father, from your power and your wisdom
    clearly you have given me a share of that wisdom
    which belongs to your only begotten Son.
And truly the Holy Spirit,
    who proceeds from You, Father and Son,
    has given to me the desire to love You.
 
Catherine of Siena, 1347 – 1380, Italian Dominican mystic
 
____________________________
 
 
Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
    Be merciful and answer me!
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
    And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

Continue reading →

to sweep out the corners

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image by Louis Henri de Fontenay
 
 
God, we come
with hesitant steps
and uncertain motives
to sweep out the corners
where sin has accumulated,
and uncover the ways
we have strayed from Your truth.
 
Expose the empty and barren places
where we don’t allow you to enter.
Reveal our half-hearted struggles
where we have been indifferent
to the suffering of others.
 
Nurture the faint stirrings of new life,
where your spirit has begun to grow.
Let your healing light transform us
into the image of Your Son.
For You alone can bring new life
and make us whole.
 
Christine Sine, Australian physician and contemplative activist
 
_______________________________
 
 
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Continue reading →

Open unto me

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
Open unto me, light for my darkness
Open unto me, courage for my fear
Open unto me, hope for my despair
Open unto me, peace for my turmoil
Open unto me, joy for my sorrow
Open unto me, strength for my weakness
Open unto me, wisdom for my confusion
Open unto me, forgiveness for my sins
Open unto me, tenderness for my toughness
Open unto me, love for my hates
Open unto me, Thy Self for myself
Lord, Lord, open unto me!

Howard Thurman, 1899-1981, American author, educator and civil rights leader
___________________________________
 
 
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
   the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
 

Continue reading →

Why is there so little prayer?

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Why is there so little urgency
    to get time to pray?
Why is there so little forethought 
    in the laying out of time and schedule
  so as to secure a large portion 
    of each day for prayer?
Why is there so much talking,
    yet so little prayer?
Why is there so much running to and fro,
    yet so little prayer?
Why so much bustle and business,
    yet so little prayer?
Why so many meetings with our fellow men.
    yet so few meetings with You?
Why so little being alone,
    so little thirsting of the soul 
        for the calm. sweet, hours of unbroken solitude,
    where You and your child hold fellowship 
        as if they could never part?
It is the scarcity of these solitary hours 
    that not only injures my own growth in grace
    but also makes me such an unprofitable member of Your church,
         and renders my life useless.
 
Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889, Scottish Preacher and Hymnist
Celtic Daily Prayer, freely modified
 
_________________________
 
 
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
    for you answer me.
 

Continue reading →

Blessings of Time for the New Year

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image by geralt via pixabay
 
Lord, You who live outside of time,
  and reside in the imperishable moment,
  we ask Your blessing this New Year’s Day 
  upon Your gift to us of time

Bless our clocks and watches,
You who kindly direct us to observe the
  passing of minutes and hours.
May they make us aware of the miracle
  of each second of life we experience.

May these, our ticking servants
  help us not to miss that which is important,
  while You keep us from machine-like routine.
May we ever be free from being clock watchers
  and instead become those who journey through time.

Bless our calendars,
  these ordered lists of days, weeks and
  months, of holidays, holydays, fasts and feasts—
  all our special days of remembering.
May these servants, our calendars, 
  once reserved for the royal few,
  for magi and pyramid priests, 
  now grace our homes and our lives.

May they remind us of birthdays and other gift-days,
  as they teach us the secret that all life is meant
  for celebration and contemplation.

Bless, Lord, this new year, each of its 365 days and nights.
Bless us with new moons and full moons.
Bless us with happy seasons and a long life.

Grant to us, Lord, the new year’s gift of a year of love.  Amen.
 
Patmos Abbey—The Order of Saint Columba
__________________________
 
 
Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
    Remind me that my days are numbered—
    how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
    My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
    at best, each of us is but a breath.
We are merely moving shadows,
    and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
    not knowing who will spend it.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
    My only hope is in you.

Continue reading →

my neighbor has injured me

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Photo by Rana via Pexels
My Lord Jesus Christ, 
    my neighbor has injured me,
    hurt my honor by talking about me,
    and interfered with my rights.
O God, hear my complaint.
    I would gladly feel kindly toward my neighbor,
        but I cannot.
    How totally cold and insensible I am.
 
O Lord, 
    I am helpless and forsaken.
    If you change me, I will be sincere.
O dear God, 
    change me by your grace,
        or I must remain as I am.
Amen.
 
Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German Reformer
 
________________
 
 
Even my close friend,
    someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
    has turned against me.

Continue reading →

Draw our hearts to trust

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
image by  via Flickr    CC BY-SA 2.0
 
 
O Lord God, in whom we live and move and have our being,
    Open our eyes that we may behold your fatherly presence ever with us.
    Draw our hearts to you with the power of your love.
    Teach us to not be anxious about anything,
        and when we have done what you have given us to do
        help us, O God our Savior, to leave the issue to your wisdom.
    Take from us all doubt and mistrust.
    Lift our hearts up to yourself in heaven,
        and make us to know that all things are possible to us 
through your Son our Redeemer.
 
Brooke Foss Westcott, 1825-1901, British bishop and Biblical scholar
 
_______________________
 
 
Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Continue reading →