the song, day 4

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: Isaiah 12:1-6

Reading for Reflection:

One day a friend of mine was walking through a shopping mall with his two-year-old son.  The child was in a particularly cantankerous mood, fussing and fuming.  The frustrated father tried everything to quiet his son, but nothing seemed to help.  The child simply would not obey.  Then, under some special inspiration, the father scooped up his son and, holding him close to his chest, began signing an impromptu love song.  None of the words rhymed.  He sang off key.  And yet, as best he could, this father began sharing his heart.  “I love you,” he sang.  “I’m so glad you’re my boy.  You make me happy.  I like the way you laugh.”  On they went from one store to the next.  Quietly the father continued singing off key and making up words that did not rhyme.  The child relaxed and became still, listening to this strange and wonderful song.  Finally, they finished shopping and went to the car.  As the father opened the door and prepared to buckle his son into his carseat, the child lifted his head and said simply, “Sing it to me again, Daddy!  Sing it to me again!”

     Prayer is a little like that.  With simplicity of heart we allow ourselves to be gathered up into the arms of the Father and let him sing his love song over us. (Prayer by Richard J. Foster)

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 divineSeals 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)