This week as we enter Passiontide we meditate on the psalms. We pray them with the people of Ukraine and with all people of good will across the world.
Saturday 9 April
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul longs after You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
My tears have been my food
both day and night,
while people ask all day long,
“Where is your God?”
I say to God my Rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I walk in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”
Like the crushing of my bones,
my enemies taunt me,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why the unease within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise Him,
my Saviour and my God.
Psalm 42
Friday 8 April
Drowning.
Your hand rescued me.
Wounded.
Your balm soothed me.
Terrified.
Your peace encompassed me.
Lost.
You found me.
Your healing love weaves
the tattered pieces of my life
into a garment of joy.
You gave me life.
How may I repay you but to live it
– joyfully, gratefully,
sharing the love that has made me whole,
singing of your goodness
in the land of the living,
and dying in peace when my time comes
– the Shema on my lips?
You are my God, you alone!
Psalm 116, Carla A. Grosch-Miller
Thursday 7 April
In the echoing abyss I call out:
No God of compassion hears my voice.
Yet still I pray, Open your heart,
For my tears well up within me.
The litany of lament grows loud and long:
The pulse of faith grows weak.
Suspended between one world and the next,
I waited for you, my God.
Apprehension and hope struggled within me,
I waited, I longed for your word.
The litany of lament grows loud and long:
The pulse of faith grows weak.
As the night watch waits for the morning,
Through the darkest and coldest of seasons,
More even than those who peer through the gloom
I hope for the dawn, I yearn for the light.
The litany of lament grows loud and long:
The pulse of faith grows stronger once more.
Psalm 130, Jim Cotter
Wednesday 6 April
Praise be to the Lord,
for he showed me the wonders of his love
when I was in a city under siege.
In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.
Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord
Psalm 31.21–24
Tuesday 5 April
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.
My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
and my bones grow weak.
I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
Psalm 31.7–15
Monday 4 April
In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
Psalm 31.1–5
Sunday 3 April
Passion Sunday
Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Church of England Collect for Passion Sunday
This sequence of daily readings or prayers for the fifth week of Lent was compiled by Rev Dr Michael Paterson using materials written by him and drawn from a variety of sources. You can download a printable version of the week’s sequence at this link.
