My Father and My God,
You are the Sovereign One: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
You alone rule in Heaven above, the earth below, the sea, and even in the abode of Hell, You are the Sovereign Ruler.
You control all the kingdom’s of men for Your glory and the good of Your church.
O LORD: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, You are omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, immense, and eternal.
You are loving, gracious, merciful, kind, long-suffering, forgiving, and at the same time holy, just, and righteous!
You have always existed! You are the Ancient of Days! You are the Eternal One!
This knowledge is too wonderful for me to grasp. It is too high, I cannot attain it.
However, I can apprehend it because it is revealed in Scripture.
But no mortal man can comprehend such depths of glory, splendor, holiness, and wonder.
O Lord, You are the zenith of purity, but I am so sinful in thought, word, and deed.
Who am I or what am I that You, O Lord, are mindful of me, that You should care for me, that You should redeem me?
I have violated all Your holy commandments! I have kept none of them!
I am worthy and deserving of damnation! Of myself, I am vile, corrupt, and unclean in Your sight!
As David wrote of the Savior in Psalm 22:6, “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people.”
But in a wonder of Your grace, You have redeemed me, body and soul, to be Your own.
You have cleansed me with Christ’s blood! You have covered me with Christ’s righteous robes!
I am humbled to the ground “that You would give Your only Son to make this wretch (me) His treasure.”
I have no words to fully express Your gracious, wondrous, awesome redemption. But, nevertheless, I praise Your name!
I praise You, Father! I praise You, Jesus! I praise You, Holy Spirit! One God in divine essence yet three distinct Persons.
O Holy Spirit, continue Your transforming work within me. Continue setting me free from the pull of sin.
Make me think and live like my Savior Jesus, Who always did those things that please the Father!
O Jesus, humble me when I obey; chasten me when I rebel against You!
Retrieve me when I go astray; keep me within Your sheepfold, O Great Shepherd of the Sheep, since I am “prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love! Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above!”
Never loosen Your grip upon me lest I return to the broad road that leads to destruction!
Hold me close, O Father, or I will run back to the mud of this world even as a pig returns to the mud after being washed.
Don’t let me return to the garbage can of this world even as a dog licks up its own vomit.
My trust for redemption, from justification to glorification, is You, Lord Jesus!
Use me for Your glory, even though I am sinful, weak, broken, and feeble!
Use me up for Your glory! Fill me with Your Spirit and Word.
Holy Spirit, bring my mind captive to the obedience of Christ!
I know I am a sinful vessel, but please, O Father, I plead with You, use me for Your glory and the good of Your church!
Bless the ministry of the Word this morning!
Bless the administration and participation of the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper as we remember Christ’s work for His sheep and His spiritual presence among His sheep as Jesus walks among the candlesticks.
O Lord Jesus, minister to me, minister to us, Your sheep, Your redeemed, Your people!
As the hymn writer penned:
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more;
feed me till I want no more.
In Jesus’ name!
Amen!