# Quieting Day 5 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. > #### Opening Prayer: *Uncrowd my heart, O God, until silence speaks in your still small voice; turn me from the hearing of words, and the making of words, and the confusion of much speaking, to listening, waiting, stillness, silence.~Thomas Merton* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 23 #### A Psalm of David. *23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.* *He leads me beside still waters.[a] 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness[b] for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c] I will fear no evil,* *for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.* *5 You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.6 Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord forever.[g]* #### Scripture for the Day: Lamentations 3:19-28 *19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings the wormwood and the gall!20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a] his mercies never come to an end;23 they are new every morning;great is your faithfulness.* *24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,to the soul who seeks him.26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.28 Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;* #### Reading for Reflection: *Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and Him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that He is actively present in our lives—healing, teaching, and guiding—we need to set aside time and space to give Him our undivided attention. (Making All Things New by Henri J.M. Nouwen)* *Hasten unto Him who calls you in the silences of your heart. (A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Be Still My Soul *Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.* *Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.* *Leave to thy God to order and provide;* *In every change, He faithful will remain.* *Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend* *Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.* *Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake* *To guide the future, as He has the past.* *Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;* *All now mysterious shall be bright at last.* *Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know* *His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.* ### Closing Prayer: *O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer)* -------------------