A TIME TO STOP . . . A TIME TO PRAY

Please pause with me at 12 noon today to continue to reflect on the current situation but also the love and mercy of God.

You can watch it by logging onto the church website -

                                 www.newwellwynd.org.uk

You can also now watch it live via the church's official facebook page -

                           The New Wellwynd Parish Church, Airdrie

 

READING -

Psalm 31

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Turn your ear to me,

   come quickly to my rescue;

   be my rock of refuge,

   a strong fortress to save me.

3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,

   for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,

   for you are my refuge.

5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;

   deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;

   as for me, I trust in the Lord.

7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,

   for you saw my affliction

   and knew the anguish of my soul.

8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy

   but have set my feet in a spacious place.

9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;

   my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

   my soul and body with grief.

10 My life is consumed by anguish

     and my years by groaning;

     my strength fails because of my affliction,

     and my bones grow weak.

11 Because of all my enemies,

     I am the utter contempt of my neighbors

     and an object of dread to my closest friends—

     those who see me on the street flee from me.

12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;

     I have become like broken pottery.

13 For I hear many whispering,

     “Terror on every side!”

     They conspire against me

     and plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, Lord;

     I say, “You are my God.”

15 My times are in your hands;

     deliver me from the hands of my enemies,

     from those who pursue me.

16 Let your face shine on your servant;

     save me in your unfailing love.

17 Let me not be put to shame, Lord,

     for I have cried out to you;

     but let the wicked be put to shame

     and be silent in the realm of the dead.

18 Let their lying lips be silenced,

     for with pride and contempt

     they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

19 How abundant are the good things

     that you have stored up for those who fear you,

     that you bestow in the sight of all,

     on those who take refuge in you.

20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them

     from all human intrigues;

     you keep them safe in your dwelling

     from accusing tongues.

21 Praise be to the Lord,

     for he showed me the wonders of his love

     when I was in a city under siege.

22 In my alarm I said,

     “I am cut off from your sight!”

     Yet you heard my cry for mercy

     when I called to you for help.

23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people!

     The Lord preserves those who are true to him,

     but the proud he pays back in full.

24 Be strong and take heart,

     all you who hope in the Lord.

 

A SONG -

It's me, it's me, O Lord,

Standin' in the need of prayer.

Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord,

Standin' in the need of prayer;

Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord,

Standin' in the need of prayer.

Refrain:

It's me, it's me, O Lord,

Standin' in the need of prayer;

It's me, it's me, O Lord,

Standin' in the need of prayer.

 

COLLECT -

Ever present God,

this day enfolds us and surrounds us:

be in our speaking and in our thinking;

be in our life and on our lips;

be in our hearts and in our souls;

today and for ever. Amen.