Daily Worship

Always in Your Presence

April 28, 2013 0 0

Psalm 139 : 7 - 12

Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, 
for darkness is as light to you.

Lord I confess that there are some moments when I wish I was out of your presence,
those moments when my lower instincts have taken over
and the memory of my actions brings a sense of shame.

There are some things I would wish to keep from, but I know that I can’t,
and when I experience your healing grace, I thank you that I can’t.

Lord I confess that there are some moments when I fear that I may be out of your presence,
those moments when life brings it shocks
and I feel deeply alone.

There are some things which make me feel as is you are nowhere to be found,
and I struggle to hold on to my faith that you are still near.

So I offer my thanks for your presence which will remain no matter where I find myself,
no matter who I am with,
no matter what I have to cope with.

I offer my thanks for your presence which is truly universal,
throughout this world and beyond it,
through all time and beyond it.

May my faith in your presence continue to grow,
bringing me the confidence to serve you
and rejoice with you in every place
and in every circumstance.

-

Ian Manson
Church of Scotland Geneva