# The soil of your soul Day 6 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer *Father, Allow the soil of my soul to be a place that is fertile and receptive to all that you desire to plant in my heart. Tend it carefully and nurture all that has sprung up in me that is of you; that I may be a garden of your delight. Through Jesus. Amen. (JLB)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 65 #### O God of Our Salvation To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song. *65 Praise is due to you,[a] O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.* *2 O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!* *5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation,* *the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; 6 the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; 7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, 8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.* *9 You visit the earth and water it;[b]you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water;you provide their grain,for so you have prepared it.10 You water its furrows abundantly,settling its ridges,softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.11 You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,the hills gird themselves with joy,13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain,they shout and sing together for joy.* #### Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 5:1-7 #### The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed *5 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.* *3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,* *judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?* *5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;[a]I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.* *6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up;I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.* *7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;[b]* *for righteousness, but behold, an outcry![c]* #### Reading for Reflection: ​ *Spiritual disciplines are like garden tools. The best spade and hoe in the world cannot guarantee a good crop. They can only make it more likely the growth will be unobstructed. The mystery of maturation lies in the heart of the seed, the outcome of planting depends largely on the vagaries of weather. Still, tools are important in helping to ensure that planted seeds will bear fruit. Tools can remove stones and roots, aerate the soil, weed and water the garden.* ​ *Disciplines like prayer, scriptural reflection, and hospitality have the character of garden tools. They keep the soil of our love clear of obstruction. They keep us open to the mysterious work of grace in our heart and our world. They enable us not only to receive but to respond to God’s love, which in turn yields the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. (Soul Feast by Marjorie J. Thompson)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: You Have Redeemed My Soul *You have redeemed my soul from the pit of emptiness* *You have redeemed my soul from death (Repeat)* *I was a hungry child, a dried up river.* *I was a burned out forest* *And no one could do anything for me* *But you put food in my body, water in my dry bed* *And to my blackened branches* *You brought springtime green and a new life* *And nothing is impossible for you* ### Closing Prayer: *Grow your good grace in me O God. Make me receptive to the ways that you water and tend this garden of my heart. Prune me where I need pruning, nurture me where I need nurturing, weed me where I need weeding, and care for me tenderly where I need your tender care. I love you, O Gardner of my soul. In the tenderness of Jesus. Amen. (JLB)*