Renewed to love God’s Word
O God, our refuge and strength, true source of all godliness: Graciously hear the devout prayers of your Church, and grant that those things which we ask faithfully, we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen. (Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, Proper 23)
Jeremiah 31:27-34 NRSV
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
DAYS OF RESTORATION
Based on Jeremiah 31:27-34
Hymn tune: Bringing in the Sheaves
Days are surely coming, days of restoration,
All that once had been destroyed and overthrown;
Soon, the Lord will turn and look on us with pity,
Giving us the strength to grow and build again.
Written on our hearts, sealed into our soul,
God has put his law within to make us whole.
Now we know the Lord, live by love and grace;
Sin no longer holds us; there remains no trace.
Days are surely coming, days of restoration,
God will call to mind his precious promises;
Though our hearts were hardened in our disobedience,
God will live within us, bringing peace and rest.
Psalm 119:97-104 NRSV
Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your decrees are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn away from your ordinances, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way.
I LOVE YOUR LAW
Based on Psalm 119:97-104
Hymn tune: Search Me, O God
I love your law, my Father and my God!
It fills my mind as through the day I trod.
There is no limit to your precious Word;
It shows the way to live. I love you, Lord!
As I submit my life to your commands,
I find that evil in me cannot stand.
Your precepts are a disciplining rod.
I love your law, my Father and my God!
Set us free, loving Father, from the bondage of our sins, and in your goodness and mercy give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, Proper 24)
I Am Not My Own
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
