Call to Worship
Receive God’s gracious call to worship.
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. (Psalm 100:1–5)
Adoration
Offer this praise to God:
Bless the Lord, our inmost soul blesses the Lord.
Blessed be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Triune; blessed be the Lord for every office sustained by each divine person, and for the divine blessing which has come streaming down to us through each one of those, condescending titles worn by the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We feel like singing all the time; we would take down our harp from the willows, if we had hung it there, and we would waken every string to the sweetest melody of praise unto the Lord our God.
The Law
Hear God’s perfect requirements.
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! (Galatians 5:13–15)
Confession of Sin
Confess and repent of sins before God.
We are obliged to come before You with humble confession of sin. We are not worthy of the least of all these favors; we cannot say, “He is worthy for whom You should do this thing,” nay, but we are altogether unworthy, and Your gifts are according to the riches of Your grace, for which again we praise You. Lord, forgive us all our sin. May Your pardoned ones have a renewed sense of their acceptance in the Beloved. If any cloud has arisen to hide You from any believing eye, take that cloud away. If in our march through this world, so full of mire as it is, we have any spot on us, dear Savior, wash our feet with that blessed foot-bath, and then say to us, “You are clean every whit.” May we know it so, that there is no condemnation, no separation; sin is removed as to its separating as well as its destroying power, and may we enter into full fellowship with God. May we walk in the light as God is in the light, and have fellowship with Him, while the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Let no child of Yours have any dead work upon his conscience, and may our conscience be purged from dead works to serve the living and true God.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the promise of grace:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8–9)
Praise
Offer this praise to God:
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Gloria Patri
Creed
Testify what you believe of Christian truth:
THEREFORE, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord…acknowledge
one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood,
truly God and truly man,
consisting also of a reasonable soul and body;
of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead,
and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood;
like us in all respects, apart from sin;
as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages,
but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the Godbearer;
one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten,
recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation;
the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union,
but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence,
not as parted or separated into two persons,
but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ;
even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us,
and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us. Formula of Chalcedon, A. D. 451
Catechism
Learn from Spurgeon’s catechism.
7. What are the decrees of God?
The decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his own will, whereby for his own glory he has foreordained whatever comes to pass (Eph 1:11-12).
8. How does God execute his decrees?
God executes his decrees in the works of creation (Rev 4:11), and providence (Dan 4:35).
9. What is the work of creation?
The work of creation is God’s making all things (Gen 1:1) of nothing, by the Word of his power (Hbr 11:3), in six normal consecutive days (Exd 20:11), and all very good (Gen 1:31).
Prayer for Illumination
Ask for spiritual understanding before reading God’s Word:
Grant that I may not with closed eyes may yet be looking abroad over the fields of vanity, but may my eyes be really shut to everything else now but that which is spiritual and Divine. May I have communion with God in the secret of my heart, and find Him to be to me as a little sanctuary.
O Lord, we do not find it easy to get rid of distracting thoughts, but we pray You help us to draw the sword against them and drive them away, and as when the birds came down upon his sacrifice Abraham drove them away, so may we chase away all cares, all thoughts of pleasure, everything else, whether it be pleasing or painful, that would keep us away from real fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Scripture Reading
Read Scripture with dependence and a desire to obey.
Day 3: Psalm 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd)
Prayer of Intercession
Make your requests with thanksgiving, and pray this prayer.
O Lord God! the Fountain of all Fulness, we, who are nothing but emptiness, come unto You for all supplies, nor shall we come in vain, since we bear with us a plea which is all prevalent. Since we come commanded by Your Word, encouraged by Your promise, and preceded by Christ Jesus, our great High Priest, we know that whatsoever we shall ask in prayer, believing, we shall receive. Only help us now to ask right things, and may the utterances of our mouth be acceptable in Your sight, O God our Strength and our Redeemer.
Benediction
Close with the blessing of God.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 )
