Good Morning, Lord!
I Am Baptized
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. (Gal. 3:27 ESV)
Make the sign of the cross as you say, “In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
A Morning Prayer
We give you thanks, and more than thanks!, O Lord our God,
for all your goodness at all times and in all places, because you have
shielded, rescued, helped, and guided us all the days of our lives, and brought
us to this moment. We pray and ask you, merciful God, to, by your goodness,
allow us to spend this day, and all the time of our lives, without sin, in joy,
holiness, and worship of you. But drive away from us, O Lord, all envy, all
fear, and all temptations. Bestow upon us what is good and beneficial. Whatever
sin we commit in thought, word, or deed, we pray that you would graciously
pardon because of your goodness and mercy. And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil, through the grace, mercy, and love of your only-begotten
Son. Amen.[1]
I Believe …
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the
virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
died and was buried. He
descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the
dead. He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From
thence He will come to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the
communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the
life everlasting. Amen.
Bible Reading – Psalm
6
To
the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith.[a] A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, rebuke me not
in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—how long?
nor discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my
life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
6 I am weary with
my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all
you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.[2]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.[2]
There
are six of these Penitential Psalms in the Psalter. Six. Out of
one-hundred-and-fifty. Six. I find this interesting. I would think that
repentance would be a major theme of these prayers.
In his
short commentary on Psalms, The Prayerbook of the Bible, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
also noticed this and commented: There
are fewer prayers for the forgiveness of sins in the Psalter than we expect.
Most psalms presuppose complete certainty of the forgiveness of sins. That may surprise
us. But even in the New Testament the same thing is true. Christian prayer is
diminished and endangered when it revolves exclusively around the forgiveness
of sins. There is such a thing as confidently leaving sin behind for the sake
of Jesus Christ.[3]
We need
the Penitential Psalms because sometimes our guilt and sorrow at our sin overwhelm
us. Sometimes we say or do things that shock, sadden, and embarrass us. We need
words to confess those sins. More recently I have found myself overwhelmed by
my participation in systemic sin – the sins of injustice that impact people I’ve
never met. For instance the battery in my iPhone has elements that were mined
by slaves. Was the shirt I am wearing sewn in a sweatshop? Why is it okay that
the coffee farmer lives in poverty, only getting pennies on the dollar for his
crop, so that I can sip this delicious beverage?
While
these are important matters which should not just be set aside, there is a
danger in our prayers revolve exclusively, as Bonhoeffer said, around the
forgiveness of sins. The danger is this, that having our eyes so intensely
focused on our sins and forgiveness that we end up only focusing on ourselves.
We are privileged and blessed to use this gift of prayer, not only for
ourselves, but also for our neighbors. What is more if we only focus on God’s
gift of forgiveness, we run the risk of missing the many other blessings God
has given us.
Bonhoeffer
says, “There is such a thing as confidently leaving sin behind for the sake of
Jesus Christ.” We live in peace and confidence that our sins are forgiven for
Jesus’ sake. We don’t have to cringe and try to enumerate every sin we’ve ever
committed. There is a time for our hearts to pray the Penitential Psalms and
for our lips to form these words of sorrow and confession, and when those times
come we are blessed to have God’s guidance in these Psalms. We are also free to
presuppose with complete certainty that we are forgiven, living and praying in
joy and peace because of Jesus’ cross and empty tomb.
Questions for Meditation
What does this reading teach you about Jesus, what He said
and did, or what He wants His followers to believe? What does it teach you
about God’s love and forgiveness?
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
The Second
Petition: “Thy kingdom come”
O God, everlasting Father, Your kingdom comes even without
our prayer, but, please, let it come to us, too! Please give us Your Holy
Spirit, so that by His grace we may believe Your Word, and live godly lives
here in time and there in eternity. Amen.
Prayer
Pray for God to
help you to understand and believe His Word.
Pray for
increased faith, hope, and love.
Benediction
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all
that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21 ESV)
[1] Liturgy of St. Mark
(175-254?) – accessed in Tileston, Mary Wilder, Prayers Ancient and Modern,
Grosset Dunlap, New York, 1897
[2] English
Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good
News Publishers.
[3] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, The
Prayerbook of the Bible, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol 5, First Fortress
Press, 2005, p. 171
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