Thoughts for the Day

Give ear to my words, O Lord;
give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you......

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house,
I will bow down towards your holy temple
in awe of you.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me....

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover them with favour as with a shield.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Six years ago today on 24th March 2020, I sent out some Thoughts to a few people in the parishes of Manorbier, St Florence, and Penally in Pembrokeshire (Wales), on the first day of the Covid lockdown in the UK. I was stranded in Keele in Staffordshire and it was the only way I could think of to encourage Christians who's email addresses I happened to possess, in parishes where I had been working. The reading then was from Psalm 46 (God is our refuge and strength), and I reminded them that God doesn't promise an easy life, but He does say He is with us, in good and bad times. God saw His son crucified, paying the debt for our sin, and yet He holds out His hands in love to us.

On that first day of the lockdown few of us realised what we were facing, though we knew there were no vaccines immediately available. All we could do was to keep away from one another. As Christians, one of the most difficult things was the shutting and locking of our churches, particularly where they were normally open for private prayer. The weeks of producing online worship was never the same!

Today, our personal fear of death from a virus may not be as bad, but our world is in a pretty desperate plight. Today's message in Psalm 5 emphasises similar things to that said all those years ago:

• God's love is constant.
• God is with us.

So may we all be grateful that our churches are now open for worship, and may we encourage one another to keep on praying each day for peace and stability across our whole world.

Almighty God,
give ear to our pleas for peace this day: -
peace in our hearts;
peace in our speech;
peace in our actions;
and peace in our world.
May we play our part in fostering peace
wherever we can,
and draw strength from Your Holy Spirit.
Amen.