Praise and Prayer

       I will tell of the kindness of THE LORD,
          the deeds for which HE is to be praised,
          according to all THE LORD has done for us--
       yes, the many good things HE has done
          for the house of Israel,
          according to HIS compassion and many kindnesses.
       HE said, "Surely they are MY people,
          sons who will not be false to ME";
          and so HE became their SAVIOR.
       In all their distress HE too was distressed,
          and the angel of HIS presence saved them.
       In HIS love and mercy HE redeemed them;
          HE lifted them up and carried them
          all the days of old.
       Yet they rebelled
          and grieved HIS HOLY SPIRIT.
       So HE turned and became their enemy
          and HE HIMSELF fought against them.

       Then HIS people recalled the days of old,
          the days of Moses and HIS people--
       where is HE who brought them through the sea,
          with the shepherd of HIS flock?
       Where is HE who set
          HIS HOLY SPIRIT among them,
       who sent HIS glorious arm of power
          to be at Moses' right hand,
       who divided the waters before them,
          to gain for HIMSELF everlasting renown,
       who led them through the depths?
       Like a horse in open country,
          they did not stumble;
       like cattle that go down to the plain,
          they were given rest by THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD.
       This is how you guided YOUR people
          to make for YOURSELF a glorious name.

       Look down from heaven and see
          from YOUR lofty throne, holy and glorious.
       Where are YOUR zeal and YOUR might?
          YOUR tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.
       But YOU are our FATHER,
          though Abraham does not know us
          or Israel acknowledge us;
       YOU, O LORD, are our FATHER,
          our REDEEMER from of old is YOUR name.
       Why, O LORD, do YOU make us wander from YOUR ways
          and harden our hearts so we do not revere YOU?
       Return for the sake of YOUR servants,
          the tribes that are YOUR inheritance.
       For a little while YOUR people possessed YOUR holy place,
          but now our enemies have trampled down YOUR sanctuary.
       We are YOURS from of old;
          but YOU have not ruled over them,
          they have not been called by YOUR name.

       Oh, that YOU would rend the heavens and come down,
          that the mountains would tremble before YOU!
       As when fire sets twigs ablaze
          and causes water to boil,
       come down to make YOUR name known to YOUR enemies
          and cause the nations to quake before YOU!
       For when YOU did awesome things that we did not expect,
          YOU came down, and the mountains trembled before YOU.
       Since ancient times no one has heard,
          no ear has perceived,
       no eye has seen any god besides YOU,
          who acts on behalf of those who wait for HIM.
       YOU come to the help of those who gladly do right,
          who remember YOUR ways.
       But when we continued to sin against them,
          YOU were angry.
          How then can we be saved?
       All of us have become like one who is unclean,
          and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
       we all shrivel up like a leaf,
          and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
       No one calls on YOUR name
          or strives to lay hold of YOU;
       for YOU have hidden YOUR face from us
          and made us waste away because of our sins.

       Yet, O LORD, YOU are our FATHER.
          We are the clay, YOU are the potter;
          we are all the work of YOUR hand.
       Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD;
          do not remember our sins forever.
       Oh, look upon us, we pray,
          for we are all YOUR people.
       YOUR sacred cities have become a desert;
          even Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.
       Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised YOU,
          has been burned with fire,
          and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
       After all this, O LORD, will YOU hold YOURSELF back?
          Will YOU keep silent and punish us beyond measure?


The Book of Isaiah: chapter 63, verses 7 - 19 & chapter 64