Midweek Communion 18th August 2021
Welcome
Hymn STF 6- Father we love you
Opening Prayers
Reading. Psalm 34:15-20 New International Version
Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Reflection :
Psalm 34 was written by David at a time of crises in his life. It came about at a time when King Saul, had become jealous of all the favourable publicity the people of Israel had heaped upon David for his military exploits. Saul, in jealousy, pursued David, and threatened to take his life. This pursuit forced David to live on the run in what was to become one of the loneliest times of his life. At one point, David sought refuge with the Philistines and all was going well until they realised who he actually was. When they realized they had the Israelite hero, David, in their midst, things could have gone badly for David but he feigned insanity to protect himself, and he escaped with his life, writing Psalm 34 on the way.
The words “I will “bless the Lord at all times” comes easily on the day of prosperity when all is going well with the world. But David sang his song in the night of adversity setting an example that many have followed ever since. “When God’s people are afraid, they should worship. When they are filled with panic, it is time to praise. When worry overwhelms, the time for worship has arrived”.
Eph. 5:20 puts it like this “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Notice that we are to praise God “in” everything and not “for” everything. That, I suspect, might prove too difficult for us.
Psalm 34:15 also leaves us with two lovely promises; the first that, "The eyes of the LORD [are] upon the righteous, and his ears [are open] unto their cry."
There is an old chorus that is based upon this verse. In fact, it’s so Old, it is not even on YouTube. “He’s got his eyes on me up there”.
There is nowhere where we can go where God is not with us. He assures us that he has his eyes on us.
The second is in v18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”.
The events and difficulties of life can pile up and become oppressive and crushing but here is God’s assurance that he will bring us through to the other side of the experience. As verse 22 puts it “The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned”.
May we take heart in these assurances as we serve him in this place. Amen.
Communion Prayer- read together STF 601. We do not presume. Paul Field
Minister: We praise you Father, that on the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread and gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat. This is my body, given for you. After supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying, “This cup is the new covenant of my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this in remembrance of me”.
Receive this holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ and feed on the Lamb of God with reverence and with faith. Do this in remembrance of me”.
Come all is prepared. Draw near with faith.
Minister: We eat the bread together remembering that Christ died for us so that we might have eternal life in Him.
All: Amen
Minister: We share the cup as Jesus did. May the blood of Christ keep us all in eternal life.
All: Amen.
Minister: Let us Pray
All: We thank you, Lord, that you have fed us in this sacrament, United us with Christ, and given us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet prepared for all people.
Amen
Prayers for Others
Silence
In Jesus Name.
Amen
Hymn: STF345. And Can it be
Closing prayer
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.