You, O Lord, ask the question, Son of Man, can these bones live? Only You know, O Lord.
I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine.
I seek to know this Way of Divine Companionship -- living with You, thinking of You, talking to You, resting in You, having my joy be in You. So many of us have been disillusioned by the shepherds who came to watch over us and to guide us. Not only have we become disillusioned; we have been mistreated, bruised, shoved aside, forgotten, caused to stray. How long, O Lord; how long?
O Lord, come and search for Your lost sheep. Seek us out even as a shepherd seeks out the flocks when they are among the scattered sheep. Rescue all who have been scattered. Bring us back from the places to which we have been scattered on days of thick clouds and darkness. These are such confusing, troubled times. Bring us into Your land, feed us by the watercourses and in good pasture. Take us to good grazing land where we may lie down safely. Feed us on the rich pasture of Your mountains. Be our Shepherd, O Lord. Seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, strengthen the weak -- no longer let Your flock be ravaged! Make us and the region around us a blessing. Send down the showers in their season; make us to be showers of blessing. Make us secure on our soil, and make us to know You as our Shepherd and Lord. Break the bars of the yoke that weigh us down. Save us from the hands of those who enslaved us. Bring us to live in safety and let us no longer be filled with fear. You, O Lord, are our Shepherd and we are the sheep of Your pasture. You, O Lord, are our God, and we are Your people. Great and amazing are Your deeds, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, King of the Nations! Amen (Ezekiel 37.3; Song of Solomon 6.3; Ezekiel 34; Revelation 15.3)
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