The Service in PDF format is at: 03-20-2019 - Service
MIDWEEK LENTEN VESPERS
MARCH 20, 2019 – A LENT TO REMEMBER
Pastor Eric Bohlmann
AS WE GATHER…As people get older, they sometimes find themselves writing lists of important things that need to be remembered. Throughout the Scriptures, God’s people are told many times how important it is for them to remember—to remember His wonderful works on their behalf and to recall all that He has done for previous generations. In the liturgy we speak and the hymns we sing, we are using treasures entrusted to us by former generations. They contain words and ways that God’s people in the past used to help them remember all that God has done. God grant that we find blessing in sharing that remembering!
P: The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot.
C: Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
P: I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.”
C: As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
P: The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
C: The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
P: I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also, my heart instructs me.
C: I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
P: Therefore, my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
C: For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let Your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
P: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
C: The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot.
P: The hymn “Savior, When in Dust to You” is the only hymn in the hymnal that includes the word “dust” in its title. As we sing it together, its words remind us that we have come to God for forgiveness and renewal and that truly we are frail creatures of dust. The hymn is a faith-filled cry and a prayer that speaks to the themes of a holy Lent.
P: Robert Grant, the author of the hymn, was a member of the British Parliament in the early 1800s. Born in India, Grant also died there. His gift for text writing is expressed in this well-loved hymn, which is set to the tune ABERYSTWYTH, composed by the Welsh organist Joseph Parry. An emigrant to Pennsylvania in the 1850s, Parry returned to Wales later in his life and became a highly regarded professor of music in Cardiff. Together we sing the four stanzas of our special hymn for today: “Savior, When in Dust to Thee.”
HYMN: “Savior, When in Dust to You” LBW 91
1 Savior, when in dust to you
Low we bow in homage due;
When, repentant, to the skies
Scarce we lift our weeping eyes;
Oh, by all your pains and woe
Suffered once for us below,
Bending from your throne on high,
Hear our penitential cry!
2 By your helpless infant years,
By your life of want and tears,
By your days of deep distress
In the savage wilderness,
By the dread, mysterious hour
Of the insulting tempter’s pow’r,
Turn, oh, turn a fav’ring eye;
Hear our penitential cry!
3 By your hour of dire despair,
By your agony of prayer,
By the cross, the nail, the thorn,
Piercing spear, and torturing scorn,
By the gloom that veiled the skies
O’er the dreadful sacrifice,
Listen to our humble sigh;
Hear our penitential cry!
SCRIPTURE LESSON Psalm 111:1-10
Great Are the LORD’s Works
1 Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
P: O Lord have mercy on us.
C: Thanks be to God.
HYMN: “How Great Thou Art” LBW 532
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
But when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim “My God how great thou art!”
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
HOMILY “Remember: Wondrous Works” Psalm 111:4
P: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Your mighty deeds show Your care for Your people. You are the giver of all good gifts. By Your hand each day our bodies are fed, our lives are refreshed, and our spirits are made whole. Keep us from taking Your many blessings to us for granted and give us hearts for sharing all of Your good gifts with those around us. In Jesus’ name.
C: Amen.
P: O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and uietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
C: Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
P: Let us bless the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
BENEDICTION
P: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night” LBW 278
1 All praise to thee, my God, this night
For all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, oh, keep me, King of kings,
Beneath thine own almighty wings.
2 Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son
The ill that I this day have done;
That with the world, myself, and thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
3 Teach me to live that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rise glorious at the awesome day.
4 Oh, may my soul in thee repose,
And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
Sleep that shall me more vig’rous make
To serve my God when I awake!
5 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heav’nly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.