Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us!
Psalm 130 (VOICE)
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 From the depths of disaster I appeal to You, O Eternal One:
2 Lord, hear my cry!
Attune Your ears to my humble prayer!
3 If You, Eternal One, recorded each offense,
Lord, who on earth could stand innocent?
4 But with You forgiveness exists;
that’s why true respect of You might flow.
5 So I wait for the Eternal—my soul awaits rescue—
and I put my hope in His transforming word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord to break into the world
more than night watchmen expect the break of day,
even more than night watchmen expect the break of day.
7 O Israel, ground your hope in the Eternal.
For in the Eternal lives the most loyal love,
and with Him comes the most abundant redemption.
8 He will ransom Israel
from all the sinful acts that stole you away
Psalm 130 (NRSV)
Waiting for Divine Redemption
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Occasionally someone will ask me which bible I recommend. I usually say start with a good study bible based on a scholarly translation (an NRSV, NIV) etc. Yet, if I am reading Psalm 23, I yearn for the King James Version and when I am struggling with a text I might read several translations, including more modern “looser” translations (what scholars call dynamic equivalents) such as The Message or The VOICE. Sometimes I just yearn to hear familiar afresh. I love the Psalms of Ascent such as Psalm 130 with the familiar “Out of the depths I cry to you…”in the NRSV. It becomes “From the depths of disaster, I appeal to you” in a rendering (dynamic equivalent) from the VOICE. We as the church, and as humans individually find comfort in the familiar and yearn to hear God’s word and to pray afresh that we might continue to grow our faith and understanding. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us!
The Prayer of Thanksgiving on the top of page 877 in the Hymnal reads:
New every morning is your love great God of Light and all day long you are working for good in the world.
Stir up in us desire to serve you ,
To live peacefully with our neighbors (and all your creation) -added in new versions
and to devote each day to you Son,
Our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today I pray, and invite you to pray afresh with me:
New every morning is your love and your Word in our hearts and minds.
Fill us with the love of Jesus that all day long we might work with you for good in the world.
Put us in touch with our most inner desire to live peacefully with our neighbors and care for your creation,
And dedicate every moment of this day to living as disciples of Jesus, learners, lovers and doers, of Your Word.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
2 Lord, hear my cry!
Attune Your ears to my humble prayer!
3 If You, Eternal One, recorded each offense,
Lord, who on earth could stand innocent?
4 But with You forgiveness exists;
that’s why true respect of You might flow.
5 So I wait for the Eternal—my soul awaits rescue—
and I put my hope in His transforming word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord to break into the world
more than night watchmen expect the break of day,
even more than night watchmen expect the break of day.
7 O Israel, ground your hope in the Eternal.
For in the Eternal lives the most loyal love,
and with Him comes the most abundant redemption.
8 He will ransom Israel
from all the sinful acts that stole you away
Psalm 130 (NRSV)
Waiting for Divine Redemption
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Occasionally someone will ask me which bible I recommend. I usually say start with a good study bible based on a scholarly translation (an NRSV, NIV) etc. Yet, if I am reading Psalm 23, I yearn for the King James Version and when I am struggling with a text I might read several translations, including more modern “looser” translations (what scholars call dynamic equivalents) such as The Message or The VOICE. Sometimes I just yearn to hear familiar afresh. I love the Psalms of Ascent such as Psalm 130 with the familiar “Out of the depths I cry to you…”in the NRSV. It becomes “From the depths of disaster, I appeal to you” in a rendering (dynamic equivalent) from the VOICE. We as the church, and as humans individually find comfort in the familiar and yearn to hear God’s word and to pray afresh that we might continue to grow our faith and understanding. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us!
The Prayer of Thanksgiving on the top of page 877 in the Hymnal reads:
New every morning is your love great God of Light and all day long you are working for good in the world.
Stir up in us desire to serve you ,
To live peacefully with our neighbors (and all your creation) -added in new versions
and to devote each day to you Son,
Our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today I pray, and invite you to pray afresh with me:
New every morning is your love and your Word in our hearts and minds.
Fill us with the love of Jesus that all day long we might work with you for good in the world.
Put us in touch with our most inner desire to live peacefully with our neighbors and care for your creation,
And dedicate every moment of this day to living as disciples of Jesus, learners, lovers and doers, of Your Word.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.