Old Testament | Nehemiah 9:16-21 (with Nick Locke)

Opening Song:
Steadfast Love by Robbie Seay and Shane Barnard

Lyrics:
When fear's so overwhelming
I can feel it in my skin
And the bitterness of losing faith
Like poison on my lips
When life feels like a never ending
Weight upon my soul
Oh I need You oh Lord

Your steadfast love never ceases
Your goodness God
Calling me to rest
Your mercy just when I need it
How great is Your faithfulness

The weight of every sin
Is closing in on human bones
As the Son of God was dreaming about
What tomorrow holds
The night so overwhelming
Blood and water start to flow
Not my will oh but Yours

I'll sing the song
Of the wounded One
Oh not my will
Father Yours be done
In Your mercy
You have wounded me
And by Your wounds
Jesus I am healed
Oh by Your wounds
Jesus I am healed

How great is Your faithfulness
How great is Your faithfulness

Passage:
16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.[a] But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden[b] calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

Musical Reflection:
“Breathe on Me, Breath of God” by Robert Jackson

Reflection Notes:
TRENTHAM is a tune by Robert Jackson, an English composer during the nineteenth century. It fits perfectly with the text for “Breath On Me, Breath of God,” by Edwin Hatch; each phrase is allotted ample space for reflection.

Prayer:
This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.