377. Saturday after Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Psalm 116, 1-9. I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
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If Israel must love the Lord, because he had delivered them out of their Babylonian captivity, and guided them back to their own country; should not we love him, we whom he “hath delivered from the power of darkness, and hath translated into the kingdom of his dear Son”? If they must shew forth his praises, his grace and righteousness and grace and mercy, and thank him for deliverance out of great trouble; how much more should we do it! God has shown you, dear Christian, so much mercy, that you must feel impelled to prostrate yourself before him with praises and thanksgiving forever. You deserved death and hell forevermore; and now you have received as your portion a heritage in heaven, and have already begun to taste the sweetness of eternal life, love, peace, and joy in God. You walked in darkness and spiritual death, and did not want to come out into the light; but the Lord called you so long and so urgently that you awoke; and he led you in before his face in the land of the living. How faithfully does he not follow you with his Spirit, and from how many temptations and dangers has he not delivered you! He hears your voice, and inclines his ear to your cry; he keeps you, and helps you, and shall fulfill his good work in you. You may lean with confidence on his mercy and faithfulness. — We will, then, love the Lord always, and call upon him with thanks and praise as long as we live. Who is like unto thee, Lord Jesus; to deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper? Who is like thee, strong, and faithful, and kind, and loving; beautiful, and a joy to the soul? “Grace is poured into thy lips”; and “thy name is as ointment poured forth.” Nothing in heaven and on earth is so sweet. I was needy; thou didst save me. I am needy; thou dost save me. What shall I render unto thee for all thy benefits toward me? I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds. Of my heart I love thee, precious God; but I earnestly beseech thee to quicken my love. Let all that is within me love thee, and praise thy holy name; let “my bowels sound like an harp” to thy glory. In the Savior’s name. Amen.*
Thou art my hiding-place, O Lord!
On thee I fix my trust,
Encouraged by thy holy word,
A feeble child of dust.
I have no argument beside,
I urge no other plea;
And ’tis enough the Savior died,
The Savior died for me.
[Common Service Book 396; listen below]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.