Evening Prayer Thursday, 1 October 2020
A reading from Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from wilful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19: 1–2, 7–14 NIV®
Dear Lord, we praise you for all the wonders of the natural world.
When we look up on a starry night, we get a glimmer of the magnificence of your creation.
We have, indeed, much to learn from the world about us.
We are but tiny specks in your enormous universe, and yet you care for every one of us.
Teach us humility, to recognise how we fit in with the natural world around us,
that we are but stewards, not masters, of the world in which you have placed us.
As the current pandemic is forcibly showing us, we are all affected world-wide,
and we can only recover if we all work together, pooling our knowledge and resources,
and not ignoring anyone, anywhere in the world, who may be vulnerable.
We know that the poor – poor people in this country, poor communities, and poor nations –
are most affected by the covid-19 virus, yet none of us will be truly safe
until testing, vaccines and other measures are available to everyone, whether rich or poor.
We thank you for your holy scripture, and the teaching of your prophets in all ages.
We rejoice in your laws, and give thanks for the wisdom contained in your statutes.
We pray that we may always walk in the light of your commands.
Grant us, through your teaching, the wisdom to recognise our own errors,
and to admit to ourselves, to you and to those whom our actions, attitudes and words affect,
when our behaviour has fallen short of what you ask of us.
Above all, may we learn from our mistakes, and change our ways,
so that we may serve you and the people about us in the way you ask us to,
and may we follow the way Jesus shows us ever more closely.
At the end of another day, we reflect on all that we have experienced.
Help us to recognise and be grateful for the many blessings we have received.
We place into your hands the situations that cause us and others problems.
We pray that you will show us how your teachings can overcome these difficulties.
And help us to see that difficult situations may, in fact, be blessings in disguise.
With your help there is nothing that can stand in the way, when we follow the path you set us.
We close our prayers this evening by saying the Grace together:
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all, evermore.
Amen
