The Bible is full of greetings, and our worship leader greets us in God’s name.
2 Peter 1:1-2
To you who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
We begin our worship with a silent meditation on our Psalm of the Day during the Prelude. Use this time to focus your hearts and minds on God as he speaks to us through his Word.
Psalm 34
Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Little Prelude Nr. 8 in B flat Major BWV 560
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ruth Pfister, organ
Our Call to Worship draws us into conversation with our God, and is usually taken from our Psalm of the Day. We address one another and enter God’s presence together.
From Psalm 34:1-4
Leader: Extol the LORD at all times! Let his praises always be on your lips!
People: We will glory in the LORD! Though we are afflicted, we will hear and rejoice!
Leader: Glorify the LORD with me! Let us exalt his name together!
People: We will seek the LORD, and he will answer us. It is the LORD who delivers us from all our fears.
Leader: Let us worship God!
Having called one another to God’s praise, we turn to God and ask for his presence and power.
From Psalm 34
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, though it is our duty and our delight to extol your name at all times, we have gathered together today to exalt your name together. We come together in your presence with all our imperfections, bearing all our sorrows and afflictions, struggling with our sins and temptations, and feeling our fears in our minds and bodies. But we have come to taste and to see that you, the LORD, are good. We’ve come to take refuge in you. Help us to think and speak good and glorious things about you in these moments together. Give us a sense of our mission to bear your name everywhere we go, and with our thoughts, words, and deeds to live lives that tell the truth about who you are. So, LORD: overwhelm us with your majesty and comfort us with your grace, that our lives might radiate with your glory, that your name might be honored among the nations. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
With our Song of Praise, we begin our worship by exalting God for who he is and what he has done.
Sing, All Souls, With Joy and Wonder (The Ten Commandments)
Text: Andy Stager (2020)
Tune: BEECHER by John Zundel (1870).
Ewa Soluch (piano), Ellie Stager (vocals), and Andy Stager (various).
(Musical Notation for the tune BEECHER [PDF])
Sing, all souls, with joy and wonder
Sing your Father’s very heart
Echo back his love and thunder
Never from his words depart
Sing! Your Lord for freedom saved you
From the Pharaoh of your sin
Sing! A way his grace has paved you
His own Promised Land to win
Sing the song of none but Jesus
He’s the Father’s chosen King
No one like our Lord has freed us
To no other praises bring
Sing! And serve no graven idol
Deaf and dumb: how can they save?
Sing! And serve alone your Sovereign
You’re his child and not a slave!
Sing his name with holy reverence
On your tongues its sweetness taste
Taste and savor all his goodness
Not a honeyed morsel waste
Sing each day as dawn is breaking
Sing from morn to eventide
Sing, the Sabbath not forsaking
In his house all day abide
Sing, all souls, with joy and wonder
Sing your Father’s very heart
Echo back his love and thunder
Never from his words depart
Sing! Your Lord for freedom saved you
From the Pharaoh of your sin
Sing! A way his grace has paved you
His own Promised Land to win