February 15/Thursday after Ash Wednesday Blessed are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. ~ Ps 1.1-2 “When will we get there?” On the annual summer…
Category: Songs for Lent
Song 1: True Love
February 14/Ash Wednesday Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;in the greatness of your compassion, wipe out my offenses. ~ Ps 51.3 It is February 14: Valentine’s Day. It is February 14: Ash Wednesday. A day for love, certainly, but not the kind expressed by winged cupids, red roses, and sugary candy hearts that say “LUV YA” and “U…
Song 40: Thresholds
April 8/Holy Saturday I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence.You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. ~ Ps 16. 8, 9,…
Song 39: Words to Live By
April 7/Good Friday Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6 To put our bodies into the skilled hands of a surgeon or a physical therapist is an act of trust, and an admission that we do not possess the knowledge, the experience, the power to heal ourselves on our own. …
Song 38: My Cup Runneth Over
April 6/Holy Thursday I will take up the cup of salvation, and will call on the name of the LORD. ~ Ps 116.13 On the eve of Christ’s gruesome, awful death upon the cross, we are invited, paradoxically, to lift up the cup of salvation. Given the events that will unfold this night — the Last Supper with the disciples’…
Song 37: Crying It Out
April 5/Wednesday of Holy Week Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none; for consolers, not one could I find. But I am lowly and in pain; let your salvation, O God, protect me.I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. ~ Ps 69.21,…
Song 35: All the Light We Can See
April 3/Monday of Holy Week The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war be waged upon me, even then will I trust. ~ Ps 27.1, 3 For the past several weeks, ever since the scaffolding was removed, my gaze (and, I believe, the gaze…
Song 34: Weal and Woe
April 1/Fifth Saturday of Lent They shall come and sing aloud for joy on the height of Zion,and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,over the grain, the wine, and the oil, the young of the flock and the herd;their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. ~ Jer. 31.12 When…
Song 33: SOS
March 31/Fifth Friday of Lent Ropes of death encircled me; torrents of wickedness assailed me;Ropes of Sheol entangled me; snares of death confronted me.In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. ~ Ps 18.4-6 When my children were young,…
Song 32: 24/7
March 30/Fifth Thursday of Lent Seek the LORD and his strength; Search for his presence continually. ~ Ps 105.4 It’s the “continually” that causes difficulties, isn’t it? We might manage to engage occasionally, perhaps seeking the LORD and his strength on Sundays when we go to church, or even a few times a week when we scratch out a few…