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Good Evening, Lord!
Words of Comfort
May the
LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
(Ps. 29:11 ESV)
Prayer of Confession
Batter my
heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but
knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may
rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force
to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an
usurp'd town to another due,
Labor to
admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason,
your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is
captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly
I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am
betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me,
untie or break that knot again,
Take me to
you, imprison me, for I,
Except you
enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever
chaste, except you ravish me.[1]
Catechism Reflections
The Ninth Commandment: You shall
not covet your neighbor’s house.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God
so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it
in a way that only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping
it.
Questions for Meditation
What does
this reading teach you?
What does
this reading lead you to be thankful for?
What
behavior, thought, or attitude does this reading challenge? What sin does it
lead you to confess?
How might
you pray for God to have a richer impact on your life through this reading?
Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
“And
forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Heavenly
Father, do not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are
neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but
we ask that You would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and
surely deserve nothing but punishment. But you have given Your Son, our Savior,
Jesus to bear our sins in His body on the cross and given us forgiveness for
His sake. For Jesus’ sake help us to sincerely forgive and gladly do good to
those who sin against us. Amen.
Verse of Benediction
To the King
of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. (1 Tim. 1:17 ESV)
[1]
Donne, John (1572-1631), Holy Sonnet 14 – “The speaker asks God to
intensify the effort to restore the speaker’s soul. Knocking at the door is not
enough; God should overthrow him like a besieged town. His own reason has not
been enough either, and he has engaged himself to God’s enemy. He asks God to
break the knots holding him back, imprisoning him in order to free him, and
taking him by force in order to purify him.” http://www.gradesaver.com/donne-poems/study-guide/summary-holy-sonnet-14-batter-my-heart
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