Come Learn Rest Ministries

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
~Psalm 86:1-6 (ESV)

In Psalm 86, David includes a prayer in this song of worship. This reminds me of how important it is to not only pray but to worship our good and forgiving God also. As Easter people our “alleluias” are said prayerfully and worshipfully each new day. David’s prayer provides an understanding of happens when God’s servants cry out for grace in their time of need.

When God’s servants pray and worship:
Their faith is preserved.
Their service is entrusted to God.
Their souls rejoice in God’s steadfast love.
Their pleas are graciously answered.

May you and I be God’s servants praying and worshiping and blessing God daily!

Blessed are You, O Lord, who is good and forgiving.

The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
~Psalm 118:14-16 (ESV)

WE ARE AN EASTER PEOPLE AND ‘ALLELUIA’ IS OUR SONG. ~St. Augustine

May our ALLELUIA’s be heard on Easter day and every day as the sun rises to invite us to sing glad songs of salvation.

Blessed are You, O Lord, who is our strength and our song.

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
~John 12:12-13

On the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem the people recited the words from their prayer book.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
~Psalm 118:26

They blessed the one some had seen perform many signs and wonders. They blessed the one some believed was the Messiah. They blessed the one some wanted to overthrow Rome. Like the crowd we all have our reasons for blessing the Lord. But the one thing they all had in common that day is that the Lord was right before their eyes, and they could bless the one who comes into our world bringing hope.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday when we practice rejoicing along with the crowd and hoping against hope that Jesus is who he says he is, the King of Israel. But even as we celebrate we know what our Lord will endure on our behalf. Like other days, Palm Sunday holds that tension between joy and sorrow when we long to see Jesus right before our eyes.

As you and I go through Holy Week, may we take time to bless the Lord who comes with hope in the midst of both suffering and rejoicing.

Blessed are you, O Lord, who comes in the name of the Lord.