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Psalm 117 Please read the whole Psalm:

“Praise the LORD,all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. ² For great is his lovetoward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.”

This psalm is quoted in Romans 15 by Paul, to show that Jesus is the Messiah for the world. One Lord, one world, one joy.

In a divided world with many gods and many miseries, this is the message we want people to hear.

“It is not religion, but lusts that make the world so unquiet (James 4:1-2). Not godliness, but wickedness that makes people bite and devour one another. One of the first effects of the Gospel is to civilise those places where it comes, and settle order and peace among men.” John Flavel

Petition: Please join with us in praying for:

1. The World – There have been 228,493,023 cases (+3,884,396 – about the same as last week). There are now 4,691,081 (+61,086 – a slight decrease) deaths of people with covid. The US, the UK, Vietnam, Israel, Cuba and the West Bank/Gaza are all seeing increases.

Sixty-four cases of the Delta variant have been reported in the Chinese city of Putian in the last three days. The city has been sealed off.

2. Australia – There have been 85,629 cases in total. (Up 12,024 – similar to last week)

NSW continues to see a steady decline – today it dropped below 1,000 cases for the first time in three weeks. Victoria is seeing increasing numbers every day. There have been 1,569,182 tests in the past week. There are 1,468 people in hospital (+90) with 291 in ICU (+38). There are 19,595 active cases (+1,686)).

3. Vaccine and Cures – There have been 5.92 billion vaccine doses (+260 million). 77 doses for every 100 people. Australia now has 24.40 million (96 per 100 people). Unvaccinated people are 11 times as likely to die from Covid than vaccinated people, according to three US studies. Unjabbed people are also almost five times as likely to catch it, and ten times as likely to be admitted to hospital.

4. Church – Church leaders are negotiating with politicians about the prospect of Covid passports. Pray for wisdom, grace and boldness. Some Christians are concerned about going to church with unvaccinated people, others are concerned about excluding people.

5. Personal and Family – Some grandchildren have not seen their grandparents for months or even years. Barriers caused by the tightening of borders both internationally and between Australian states are causing heartache and distress. Pray for these to be raised soon.

A Prayer of Repentance:

Father in heaven, we confess that we are not the people of joy, praise and unity Psalm 117 tells us we should be. We ask that you would forgive us for our self-absorption and teach us to look up to you, and out to others, in the name of Jesus – Amen.

Song: One of the oldest and most beautiful forms of Christian praise is Byzantine chant – here is a version of Psalm 117… it’s chill!

A Prayer of Thanksgiving:

“Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. ² For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.” (Ps 117)

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Originally published on ChristiansUnited.online. Image by Warren Wong on Unsplash.