“Bow down and hear me O Lord, for I am poor and needy.”  Psalm 86:1

Yes, Lord, I in myself and we in ourselves are poor and weak.

 Without you we are powerless, directionless, in the dark. Our tendencies are all in the wrong direction: we are naturally proud, judgmental, divisive, lazy, selfish and unbelieving, fighting each other, wanting control.

We are hopeless without you, Lord; alone we can do nothing right. This is one side of the picture. Help us in the church to recognize this.

“Preserve my soul, for I am holy…” (verses from Ps. 86:1-3). The other side is that you have made us holy: you called, cleansed and transformed us; you claimed us as your children; you commissioned and equipped us for special service to you.

Now we stand before you dearly loved, decisively accepted, delighted in, deeply cared for, doted on, and doubly blessed in being your children–when what we actually deserve is Hell.

We are given over and dedicated to you, Lord. We praise you for the great grace, the immense grace, the unfathomable grace you show us in this.

You are the God who deserves worship and praise, love and obedience. May we give that to you today!

Picture: worship followed by obedience