![[Daily Devotionals/Devotion/Devotion Day Seven.jpg]] > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.![[DevotionDaySeven.mp3]] > ### Opening Prayer: *Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you. ~St. Augustine* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 86 #### Great Is Your Steadfast Love #### A Prayer of David. **86 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,for to you do I cry all the day.4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.* *5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,for you answer me.* *8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.9 All the nations you have made shall comeand worship before you, O Lord,and shall glorify your name.10 For you are great and do wondrous things;you alone are God.* *11 Teach me your way, O Lord,that I may walk in your truth;unite my heart to fear your name.12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.* *14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;a band of ruthless men seeks my life,and they do not set you before them.15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant.17 Show me a sign of your favor,that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.* #### Scripture for the Day: 1 Chronicles 22:17-19 *17 David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18 “Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. 19 Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord.”* #### Reading for Reflection: *I ask you, Lord Jesus,to develop in me, your lover an immeasurable urge towards you,an affection that is unbounded,longing that is unrestrained,fervor that throws discretion to the winds!The more worthwhile our love for you,all the more pressing does it become. Reason cannot hold it in check, fear does not make it tremble, wise judgment does not temper it.(The Fire of Love by Richard Rolle)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Lord Most High *From the ends of the earth* *From the depths of the sea* *From the heights of the heavens* *Your name be praised* *From the hearts of the weak* *From the shouts of the strong* *From the lips of all people* *This song we raise, Lord* *Throughout the endless ages* *You will be crowned with praises,* *Lord Most High* *Exalted in every nation* *Sovereign of all creation* *Lord Most High, Be magnified* ### Closing Prayer *My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton)* --- [[Devotion Day 1]] [[Devotion Day 2]] [[Devotion Day 3]] [[Devotion Day 4]] [[Devotion Day 5]] [[Devotion Day 6]] #Devotion