“Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Many Troubles,” is the title for Psalm 107 in the NRSV translation of the Bible. The Psalm lists a variety of troubles (which you can read and empathize with, if you choose). Following each trouble, the Psalm says “Then the people cried in their troubles” and the Psalm continues with ways that God was with the people. The Psalm begins, “O give thanks to the Lord, who is good; for God’s steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those God redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” Thanksgiving even in the midst of troubles.
Prayer: Redeeming God, we are in a wilderness time of many troubles. Life is changing faster than we can manage and our hearts are distressed and grieving. Loved ones are sick and some have died from this virus. Others have lost income and don’t know how they will survive financially. Our daily lives are disrupted, we are practicing social distancing, we are trying to stay connected with one another and with you. We cry to you in our troubles. Thank you for the ways you are with us through all the medical people who continue to serve and care for all who are suffering, through the many, many service workers who continue to keep vital services open for our community, through the neighbors and our congregations who reach out in care for one another, through your Spirit so alive in this world. You raise us up as we open ourselves in faithful gratitude to the many ways you are present in and among us. We praise you for your steadfast love in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.