Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 68

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 68: Praise and Thanksgiving

Of David. A Psalm. A Song.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to God’s name;

    lift up a song to God who rides upon the clouds—

God’s name is the Lord—

    be exultant before God.

5 Father of orphans and protector of widows

    is God in God’s holy habitation.

6 God gives the desolate a home to live in;

    God leads out the prisoners to prosperity,

    but the rebellious live in a parched land.

7 O God, when you went out before your people,

    when you marched through the wilderness,Selah

8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain

    at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,

    at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;

    you restored your heritage when it languished;

10 your flock found a dwelling in it;

    in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 65

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 65: Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty

A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion;

and to you shall vows be performed,

2  O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come.

3 When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,

    you forgive our transgressions.

4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near

    to live in your courts.

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

    your holy temple.

5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,

    O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.

6 By your strength you established the mountains;

    you are girded with might.

7 You silence the roaring of the seas,

    the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.

8 Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;  you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

9 You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.

10 You water its furrows abundantly,

    settling its ridges, softening it with showers,

    and blessing its growth.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 57

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 57: Praise and Assurance under Persecution

Of David, when David fled from Saul, in the cave.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

    for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

    until the destroying storms pass by.

2 I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills God’s purpose for me.

3 God will send from heaven and save me,

    God will put to shame those who trample on me.

God will send forth God’s steadfast love and God’s faithfulness.

4 I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey;

their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.

    Let your glory be over all the earth.

6 They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down.

They dug a pit in my path,

    but they have fallen into it themselves.Selah

7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.

I will sing and make melody.

8     Awake, my soul!  Awake, O harp and lyre!

    I will awake the dawn.

9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

    I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10 For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;

    your faithfulness extends to the clouds.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.

    Let your glory be over all the earth.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 40

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 40: Thanksgiving for Deliverance 

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;

    God inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 God drew me up from the desolate pit,

    out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

    making my steps secure.

3 God put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

    and put their trust in the Lord.

4 Happy are those who make

    the Lord their trust,

who do not turn to the proud,

    to those who go astray after false gods.

5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

    none can compare with you.

Were I to proclaim and tell of them,

    they would be more than can be counted.

6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,

    but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

    you have not required.

7 Then I said, “Here I am;

    in the scroll of the book it is written of me.

8 I delight to do your will, O my God;

    your law is within my heart.”

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 30

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 30: Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness

A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.

1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,

    and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,

    and you have healed me.

3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you God’s faithful ones,

    and give thanks to God’s holy name.

5 For God’s anger is but for a moment;

    God’s favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may linger for the night,

    but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

7 By your favor, O Lord,

    you had established me as a strong mountain;

you hid your face; I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cried,

    and to the Lord I made supplication:

9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit?

Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!

    O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;

    you have taken off my sackcloth

    and clothed me with joy,

12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.

    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 9

Last night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 9: God’s Power and Justice.  A Psalm of David.

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

    I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and exult in you;

    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turned back,

    they stumbled and perished before you.

4 For you have maintained my just cause;

    you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

5 You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;

    you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;

    their cities you have rooted out;

    the very memory of them has perished.

7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever,

    God has established God’s throne for judgment.

8 God judges the world with righteousness;

    God judges the peoples with equity.

9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

    a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,

    for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you

The Dancing Saints

Yesterday in the sermon time we talked together about an amazing piece of art--The Dancing Saints icon present in the St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Many of you wanted to explore more of the saints represented in this art and the story behind it, so I wanted to share with you the link to the church's excellent website: https://www.saintgregorys.org/the-dancing-saints.html. I'm also uploading a video version of the PowerPoint I shared yesterday using art and quotes from saints represented in the mural. It moves REALLY quick so you'll have to hit pause to read the quotes--but if you missed worship, or wanted to remember a particular saint's name to learn more about them, maybe this will offer you a starting point!