26th. June. 2020. Daily Devotion.

Simply praise God today

1Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
5praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.” (Psalm 150:1-6)

This psalm in Hebrew begins and ends with “Hallelujah.” But what does Hallelujah mean? It is a command, an imperative, made up of three parts: hālal (praise) lu (you) Yah (the Lord)

The verb hālal means ” to praise.” It means being sincerely and deeply thankful for and/or satisfied by lauding a superior quality or a great act by someone. It can mean, “to brag,” and be used to praise a man or woman. But its primary use in the Old Testament is directed toward God. But the psalm doesn’t just begin and end with praise. It has praise through and through, using hālal a full thirteen times. Of course, it was not composed just for us to analyse. Rather it is designed to catch us up in its wonderful emotion of praise. Find your unique words of praise today for all that God means to you.

Prayers

Almighty God,

You hold all things together,
From the smallest seed to the largest tree,
From each microscopic species to the fiercest lion,
From the depths of the oceans to the great expanse of the universe.

Thank you for the beauty around us,
Thank you for the complexity of life within us,
Thank you for growth, for renewal, for breath.

You sustain the whole earth, bringing food and nourishment from the soil.
You have showered the land with streams of water.
You have warmed our lives with the heat of the sun
And blessed our dwellings with rain.

Thank you for all this abundant, incredible beauty and intricate life
And more than this, you have paid the price for the sins of man.
You have laid out a path straight into your heart.
You have adopted us as your children in Jesus Christ and invited us to call you Abba Father.
Thank you. I lift your name on high, I sing your praises, I love you, Amen.

Prayer to Dedicate This Day to God

Holy God, as I face another day, I know I am going to face many challenges: to my faith, to my patience, to my love for others. I am going to have constant temptations to lapse into sin. Come to me now, Lord, and stay with me all day. Let your Spirit encompass my mind. Let me know your presence. Steer my hand, direct my words, guide my thoughts in everything I think and say and do. I resolve to live this day as a beacon of your glory, the best I can, with your help. I commit myself to give this day to you. In the name of Christ, be with me and help me, Amen.

Loving, ever living and compassionate God,

You understand the pain of loss, the heartache of bereavement,
May we hold in our hearts all those whose families or friends have died.

You are a light that shines in the darkest times,
Guide us and heal us in our sickness and sorrow.

You comfort us in times of fear,
May we comfort each other, even as we keep apart.

You console and lead us in times of doubt and confusion,
May we follow the light of your love and spread hope.

You move our hearts to acts of generosity,
May we be led to share what we have with those in need.

God of life, we thank you for the signs of your light amid our darkness,
May we be signs of your compassion in the heart of your world, Amen.
Linda Jones/CAFOD

Congregational Message

As we are now in phase two of the lockdown, in Inverkeithing we are considering opening the Church for private prayer. We tried this in the weeks prior to the lockdown, but only two or three people availed themselves of the opportunity.

We will require volunteers to be present on open days, possibly for two hours on certain weekday mornings. We need to be assured that we can cover the opening hours both in terms of volunteers who can be present to supervise the distancing and cleaning requirements involved, and a worthwhile number of persons wishing to use this facility.

To help the Kirk Session make the decision, if you would be willing to use this facility regularly, say once or twice a week, or to volunteer, please indicate to me or Moira Lamont by email by Saturday this week. calston@churchofscotland.org.uk; moiralamont@aol.com