Week of March 27, 2011, Psalm 95

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is Psalm 95, a psalm about coming to God in worship, and a warning from God not to be hard headed or hard hearted, as the Israelite nation was in the 40 years of wandering in the desert:
1 O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’
11 Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’

Dear God, we come into Your presence with a glad heart, making a joyful noise, singing with joy to You, the Rock of our salvation. For You are the Lord, our great God, the great King above all gods. You made the heavens; Your hands made the depths of the earth; You made the heights of the mountains. You made the sea and the dry land. You made this fantastic creation, and it is good.

Dear God, we come to worship You and bow down, to kneel before You, the Lord, our Maker. For You are our God, and we are the people of Your pasture, the sheep of Your hand. You draw us to Yourself, offering rest beside green pastures, rest by still waters. And You, as our God, are always with us, whether we are in desert or wilderness times, or can clearly see Your path for our lives. Help us, dear Lord, not to harden our hearts, but to listen for Your voice, to listen to Your voice, which comes to us in Your Word, in Your creation, in others around us, and sometimes, that quiet, still voice that comes to our heart.

Jesus, thanks for Your love, Your peace, Your joy, Your presence with us always. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His strength and His great peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May we be more and more aware of God’s presence and working in our lives each day.