“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” Psalm 95:1-7
On Facebook yesterday, Pastor Daniel Paul posted a video the choir at First Evangelical Lutheran in Ouanaminthe singing a hymn. It was heart-warming to see them in their Sunday best, hear them sing in Creole and feel the warmth of their bright smiles; they are under His care. Yesterday afternoon it appeared that Irma was slowly beginning to shuffle to the North a few smidgens and for Hispaniola that is good news and perhaps the Dominican Republic, Haiti and these kids from the Lutheran school in Cap Haitian will be spared from the fierceness of Hurricane Irma tonight. Please continue to keep all in the path of this storm in your daily prayers in the coming days. I close today with the words from the hymn ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now’ that were written by an unknown author in 1651 and later translated by Catherine Winkworth in 1863.
“Lord Jesus Christ, be present now, our hearts in true devotion bow, Thy Spirit send with grace divine, and let Thy truth within us shine. Unseal our lips to sing Thy praise, our souls to Thee in worship raise, make strong our faith, increase our light that we may know Thy name aright; until we join the hosts that cry, "Holy art Thou, O Lord, most high!" And in the light of that blest place fore'er behold Thee face to face. Glory to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Three in One! To Thee, O blessed Trinity, be praise throughout eternity!”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay