Thoughts for the Day

I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall laud your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendour of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate....

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is just in all his ways,
and kind in all his doings.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.....

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all flesh will bless his holy name for ever and ever.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

SPCK once published a book of mine called 'Bible sentences for Common worship'. It was simply a book of sentences from the bible for all occasions, so a minister taking Morning Prayer or say, a Funeral, at any time of the year could choose an appropriate sentence to start the service. To create the book I first bought a new bible, and read the whole book once more, marking all texts with vertical lines that could possibly be of use. It's the bible I predominantly use today, now falling apart! So when I turned up Psalm 145 to prepare this 'Thought for the Day' I was surprised to note not the pencil lines, after all I'm used to them, but the fact that it was covered with them, almost more than any other psalm. These were verses, remember, that I had thought were important enough to be included in the book.

You will see what I mean when you look again at the words above. I've missed a couple of lines out as it would make it a little long, but notice all the bold type that describes God and his actions: how He is merciful and kind to us; He offers us justice; He holds up the fallen; He raises up those who are bowed down; His Kingdom is everlasting; and He gives us food in due season! (Though we have done much to destroy this and our beautiful world, causing floods, drought and fire by changing our climate!).

Perhaps it's time for prayers of thanks and penitence, and then a resolve to do our bit to make positive changes to our world.

Almighty God,
we praise and honour You.
May we never forget to thank You
for the world and the Kingdom
of Your creation.
Forgive us for our part
in destroying our planet,
and show us how to change
the way we live
that Your people may
play their part in rescuing
our world and restoring
its stability.
Amen.