Sin Tears Us Apart But I Keep Praying

Each week during Lent, I have been leading a mid-day contemplative prayer service on Wednesdays in our chapel. Tomorrow we will have a Wednesday of Holy Week service which I thought I would share.


As you listen to our reading from Psalm 69, contemplate Jesus in prayer as he looks to what is to come. As he sees the path he must take.

Contemplate your own actions- is there anywhere in these words, where you see yourself?
As we contemplate what Jesus will ask of His disciples, we also contemplate verse 13 of our Psalm-“But I keep praying to you, Lord.”
Each portion will begin with singing “Stay with Me” twice.

Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray…
1 Save me, O God,
for the floodwaters are up to my neck.
2 Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire;
I can’t find a foothold.
I am in deep water,
and the floods overwhelm me.
But I Keep Praying To You, LORD.
Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray…
7 For I endure insults for your sake;
humiliation is written all over my face.
8 Even my own brothers pretend they don’t know me;
they treat me like a stranger.
But I Keep Praying To You, Lord.
Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray…
9 Passion for your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 When I weep and fast,
they scoff at me.
11 When I dress in burlap to show sorrow,
they make fun of me.
12 I am the favorite topic of town gossip,
and all the drunks sing about me.
13 BUT I KEEP PRAYING TO YOU, LORD.

14 Rescue me from the mud;
don’t let me sink any deeper!
Save me from those who hate me,
and pull me from these deep waters.
15 Don’t let the floods overwhelm me,
or the deep waters swallow me,
or the pit of death devour me.
Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray.
18 Come and redeem me;
free me from my enemies.
19 You know of my shame, scorn, and disgrace.
You see all that my enemies are doing.
20 Their insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
But I keep praying to you, Lord.
Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray.

If only one person would show some pity;
if only one would turn and comfort me.
21 But instead, they give me poison[a] for food;
they offer me sour wine for my thirst.
22 Let the bountiful table set before them become a snare
and their prosperity become a trap.[b]

BUT I KEEP PRAYING TO YOU, LORD.
29 I am suffering and in pain.
Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.

Silent contemplation

As we conclude, let us contemplate repentance for those things which came to mind as we listened to the Psalm and prayed.

Sin tears at the very fabric of God’s arrangement for creation.
(The worshippers will listen as a large muslin sheet is torn into strips)

Perhaps sometimes we do not hear or feel it, but other times we ourselves feel the tearing effects of sin.
(More tearing)

You are invited to come forward and take strips of the torn fabric and tie them to the cross.

Ponder each strip as representing what you lay before the Christ’s cross in repentance.

After a period of reflective silence, we will pray the Lord's Prayer and depart in silence.