the song, day 3

Come to Stillness:

Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

O Lord, as we spend time with you and your Word this day, let us hear the words of your Ancient Song; and let us listen closely for the Song of God that rises in our hearts. In Christ. Amen. (JLB)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 100

Scripture for the Day: Zephaniah 3:14-20

Reading for Reflection:

I have been greatly instructed by the story of Ulysses, when he was sailing past the islands of the Sirens.  These Sirens had the power of charming by their songs all who listened to them, and of inducing them to leap into the sea.  To avert this danger, Ulysses filled the ears of his crew with wax, that they might not hear the fatal music, and bound himself to the mast with knotted cords; and thus they passed the isle in safety.  But when Orpheus was obliged to sail by the same island, he gained a better victory, for he himself made sweeter music than that of the Sirens, and enchanted his crew with more alluring songs; so that they passed the dangerous charmers not only with safety, but with disdain.  Wax and knotted cords kept Ulysses and his crew from making the fatal leap; but inward delights enabled Orpheus and his crew to reign triumphant over the very source of temptation itself.  And just so is it with the Kingdom of which we speak.  It needs no outward law to bind it, but reigns by right of its inward life.  So that it is said of those who have entered it, “Against such there is no law.” (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)


Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Thy Mercy, My God

Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart. and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin would reduce me to utter despair;
But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.

Closing Prayer

Everything in all of creation, O Lord, is a unique song of yours. And when we sing our song—that song that is buried deeply within each of us—we are indeed being who we were made to be. We are in harmony (shalom) with the voice of our Maker. Help us to sing our song (Your song) clearly and fully this day. In the name of Jesus. Amen. (JLB)