Call to worship
God, you search me and know me.
Before I sit, you know when I will rise.
God, you search me and know me.
Before I speak, you know what I will say.
God, you search me and know me,
in my joy and despair,
in my breathing in and breathing out.
God, you search me and know me.
Your knowledge is too deep to reach,
too vast to comprehend.
God, you search me and know me.
Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Prayer
(inspired by Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18)
Glorious God, you are utterly beyond us in every way, yet you involve your holy self with our very human existence and commitments, and we give thanks and praise to you for your unending love for each one of us. You have nurtured and blessed each of us as we grew in the womb of your love and compassion over many years; and we give thanks for the trust in you that has grown in us as we have developed and reached maturity.
We praise you for the way you have placed your hand on us in blessing, and that you have communicated to us in wordless ways, the depths of your love for us, so that we can understand and know that we are your beloved child.
We give thanks and praise to you that you trust us enough to share some of your thoughts with our limited minds and hearts; and that deep within us, there is that spark of your holy life to enrich and bless us; so that we always have an inner yearning to be near you and to be blessed by you.
Bearer of all creation, in your power, majesty and infinite love, you have ordained that your eternal presence is with each of us at all times, so that in the morning, you are there with us; and during the evening and night you are still with us. Trustworthy God, you honour us always with your presence. Amen.
Psalm 139 celebrates God’s intimate and ongoing interest in the divine masterpiece that is Creation – including ourselves. We are made to be a blessing for life on Earth. To believe and trust in this God is to know both our human responsibility, human insignificance (outside of God’s care) and yet our very great value, when underwritten by God’s appreciative attentiveness.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
those who speak of you maliciously,
and lift themselves up against you for evil!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Prayers of the People
You, O God, love us from the moment of our conception,
You know us and you love us in the womb,
You love us and you call us from before the moment of our first breath,
and you love us when we first see the light of day.
As a mother/father loves her/his child before she/he ever sees it,
and then embraces it gently from the moment of its birth,
so you love us—and we thank you.
Help us dear God to love one another in this way….
Lord hear our prayer.
You love us, O God from the time of our naming
You love us in our growing and hold us as we take our first steps.
You love us and walk beside us
as we explore the world with eager hands and eyes
As a mother/father loves her/his child as she/he sees it grow and develop
so you love us—and we thank you.
Help us dear God to love one another in this way….
Lord hear our prayer…
You love us, O God, as we mature and seek our way,
You love as we become aware of the world around us,
You love us as we smile and play,
you even love us when we say no and when we begin to stray.
As a mother/father loves her/his child as she/he sees it become proud and tall,
so you love us even when we sin and fall..
Help us dear God to love one another in this way….
Lord hear our prayer…
We thank you God for loving us when we are unloving
for caring for us when we are uncaring,
and for calling to us when we go far away….
Help us dear God to love one another in this way…
Lord hear our prayer…
Lord hear our prayers of love this day for those around us,
for those we have held before you in our time of sharing,
and for those we have thought of in our moments of caring:
(add your own prayers)
Lord hear our prayer….
We ask all these things in the name of Christ Jesus,
who is our Lord and our brother. Amen
Blessing
As we leave this space, we know
God will be with us wherever we go.
At work or play, at home or on vacation, we know
God will be with us wherever we go.
Whether we’re happy or sad,
on our own, or with our friends, we know
God will be with us wherever we go.
So let’s go with joy,
because God goes with us!
AMEN.
BELLSHILL: CENTRAL PARISH CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 