The voice of God calls for justice and expects that we will diligently strive for it.
READING
Psalm 50 (from the St Helena Psalter)
1 The God of gods has spoken; *
God has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, *
God is revealed in glory.
3 O God, you will come and will not keep silence; *
before you there is a consuming flame,
and round about you a raging storm.
4 You call the heavens and the earth from above *
to witness the judgment of your people.
5 “Gather before me my loyal followers, *
those who have made a covenant with me
and sealed it with sacrifice.”
6 Let the heavens declare the rightness of your cause, *
for you alone are judge.
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
O Israel, I will bear witness against you, *
for I am God, your God.
8 I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; *
your offerings are always before me.
9 I will take no bull-calf from your stalls, *
nor he-goats out of your pens;
10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine, *
the herds in their thousands upon the hills
11 I know every bird in the sky, *
and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, *
for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and make good your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon me in the day of trouble; *
I will deliver you, and you shall honor me.”
16 But to the wicked God says: *
“Why do you recite my statutes
and take my covenant upon your lips,
17 Since you refuse discipline *
and toss my words behind your back?
18 When you see thieves, you make them your friends, *
and you cast in your lot with adulterers.
19 You have loosed your lips for evil *
and harnessed your tongue to a lie.
20 You are always speaking evil of your family *
and slandering your own mother’s child.
21 These things you have done, and I kept still, *
and you thought that I am like you.”
22 “I have made my accusation; *
I have put my case in order before your eyes.
23 Consider this well, you who forget God, *
lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.
24 Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me; *
but to those who keep in my way will I show the salvation of God.”
PRAYER
The word of God calls us to see that all the places and occasions of the world, even places of sorrow and death, are transfigured by the presence of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Let us now call to mind all who are in any need and commend them to God’s transforming care.
For those who are have lost someone they love,
For the imprisoned, for those whose only home is the streets, and for those caught by addiction,
For the hungry for the unemployed and under-employed,
For refugees, for the victims of war, and for those trapped in poverty,
For the people of our nation, our state, and our local communities,
For artists and writers who inspire and challenge us to see,
For preachers and teachers of the light-bearing word of Christ,
For the church and its leaders, formed by the life-giving word of Christ,
For those who have sought our prayer or whose need rests in our hearts
For all of us, hungering to feed on the word of Christ,
With Moses and Elijah and all the people of God, with the church throughout the ages bearing witness to the great light of God shining in dark places, we commend to you all for whom we pray, O merciful God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
MUSIC
Seek, Seek, Swan Silvertones
Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult, St George Winyah Episcopal Church
Be Though my Vision, Norton Hall Band
Je M Sou Ou, Rodlin Pierre & CDP Unplugged feat. Stanley Pierre
