Excerpted from 2023 Lenten Guide: A Season of Renewal, a Lenten Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches.
Psalm 95
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.O come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.O that today you would listen to his voice!
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways.”
Therefore in my anger I swore,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
Times of great joy and sorrow have often defined my faith. But in the sweet moments of silent reflection and in the heat of powerful spiritual gatherings, I have been able to open up my heart and see God in all things. As recorded by Psalm 95, God is present in all of the world, much as I imagine it was when God “created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Psalm 95 reminds us we are called to cherish our relationship with God. I would add this extends to cherishing the beautiful world God has created.
Lent is typically a time of reflection and self-giving. During Lent we turn to God in repentance and seek forgiveness for the ways we have fallen short of what God has willed for our lives. In this season of confession and repentance, we are preparing for the Easter celebration and the resurrection of Jesus. Each Sunday provides a little Easter, a time of joy in the midst of Lenten reflection.
In our joy, we hear God’s call on our lives and give thanks for the strength to live into that call. In our reflection we resolve to change our behavior and participate with God in making the world a better place. When we worship the One who Created the world that sustains us, we open up our hearts and embrace salvation. There is no better time than Lent to reflect upon our relationship with God and care for God’s creation. The Earth is from God’s hands and with God we must work to protect it. Will we answer the call?
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