LENT SOUL SONG VISUAL PRAYER
Psalm 118
Set Your Face Toward the Riot
And on this path
the gates are opening
wide
— Psalm 118
Read Psalm 118: 1,2 -19-29
- What parts of this Psalm speak to you? Inspire, resonate or call to you?
- What feelings, longings, hopes are evoked in you as you pray this Psalm?
- This Psalm might have been the prayer of a community coming together in yearly worship at Jerusalem. It is a processional song. It begins with praise. As your community of faith enters Holy Week in this most unusual time, what are the songs of praise you sing even though apart?
- If you read the whole Psalm, you are caught up in a stream of mercy and love flowing between God, the Source of Good, and humanity. Where did you notice mercy or love this week? How might you cultivate deeper awareness of this constant stream of mercy and love flowing?
- I love the image of the gate in this Psalm. “And on this path the gates of holiness are opened wide. I enter it and …..” ( from v. 19 Ancient Songs Sung Anew) Imagine a gate. Maybe like the one in my picture above. “And on the path the gate is open wide. I enter it and _____________.” Imagine entering and then complete the sentence. What is the gift God most desires for you?
- I love the closing verses, same translation: So walking in procession to your house / we approach your holy altar with branches in our hands, / and offer up these words of praise, you are our God alone, / and from a living heart we sing. “(v.27-28) As you prepare to enter Holy Week, what are the words or colours or images of prayer in your heart? Is there an intention you would like to set for the week? You might like to spend some time shaping or drawing a prayer to keep before you this Holy Week.
Prayer for Entering this Week
Are you ready?
We step
crossing the threshold
edging slowly through the Week
each moment
personal like
soul-to-soul
called to attend.
O Divine Reality
seeking union
in love spilled
personal like
heart-to-Heart
making us One. (Janice Maclean)
