A Reading from Psalm 99
1 The Lord reigns,
let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
let the earth shake.
2 Great is the Lord in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name—
he is holy.
4 The King is mighty, he loves justice—
you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
what is just and right.
5 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his footstool;
he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel was among those who called on his name;
they called on the Lord
and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
8 Lord our God,
you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,
though you punished their misdeeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.
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Meditation
The Lord is king. A mighty king who loves justice, establishes equity, and executes righteousness. This king hears his people, answers, and forgives them.
It seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? Yet, this is how the psalmist describes our Lord. God is not a passive and disinterested ruler, but God is a king who listens, answers, and responds. A king who willingly leaves his throne to dwell among his people and rescue them.
God’s attentiveness and eagerness to hear our prayers is highlighted in the following collect:
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
What a comfort it is to worship a God who eagerly waits for our prayers. What a joy it is to ask for God to pour upon us the abundance of God’s mercy, trusting that it is freely lavished upon us. What a grace it is to receive forgiveness through the work of Jesus, our advocate and guide.
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Steven McCain is a seminarian living in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife, Elizabeth, and two sons, Benjamin and James.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Rorya – The Anglican Church of Tanzania
Christ Church, Cooperstown, New York
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