prepared by Rev Daniel Yovan – 10th August 2025
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. (Psalm 103: 8, 12, 13)
STF 364 – O for a thousand tongues to sing
Prayer of praise and thanksgiving
Living God, our loving parent: you cherish your creation, and we praise you. With earth, air, water, fire: in our elements as your children, we praise. With our lips, with our lives, in all our diversity, each one made in your image, we praise you. Because your Spirit is at work today: encouraging, enabling, surprising us, we praise. Poor as we are, you give us hope: salt of the earth, you give us meaning and purpose and we praise you.
Iona Worship Book.
Thank you, O god, for all the natural resources of the earth – fruit-bearing trees, beautifying plants, oxygen-providing leaves, fragrance-emitting flowers, milk-supplying cattle and food- producing fields. Thank you for feeding us with the bread and wine signifying the body and blood of Christ. Just as we try to follow his footsteps, give us reverence when treating nature that the heavenly feast may be assured for us.
Rev Israel Selvanayagam.
Prayer of confession
Lord, forgive us when we listen, but do not hear; when we look, but do not see; and when we feel, but do not act; and by your mercy and grace draw us into the righteous deeds of your kingdom of justice and peace; through Christ our Lord.
When we confess our sins God is faithful and will forgive our sins. Hear the gracious words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your sins are forgiven Thanks be to God Amen.
Exodus 34:4-7 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised)
4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, ‘The Lord.’ 6 The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’
Reflection:
Many people think the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath, only to be feared. Because of this misunderstanding of the nature of God, many times, we skip reading the Old Testament passages. But the reading we have just read states otherwise. God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Our quest for this life as Christians is to learn about and to know the nature of God. I don’t think we will ever be able to fully understand God and his ways in this life and even in eternity.
We will grow and mature day by day in the grace and the knowledge of our God through reading of the Scriptures, worship and faithful walking with him. The glorious challenge we have in our hands is to understand the scriptures. We are asked to read and to be read by the scriptures. I cannot grow in my faith if I do not let the scriptures ‘read me’. Approaching the passages with an open mind to allow the Holy Spirit to do the deep work within us while we read and meditate. We will attract the nature of God within ourselves when we let the Word of God ‘read us’. Here in this passage we find that God was revealing his nature to Moses.
Moses was not in a good place, I think, at this point, emotionally. God gave the first set tablets with 10 commandments written on it, in Ch 31. Before Moses came down from mount Sinai, God’s people forced Aaron to make themselves the golden calf. Now God was not pleased with them (Ch 32) and wanted to punish them but because of Moses’ prayer God relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened (Ch 32: 14). However, Moses when he came down, got angry when he saw people dancing before the golden calf and broke the tablets. There was chaos in the camp and 3000 people were killed. You can understand the state of Moses as the leader of this people of God. Please read Ch 31-35, if you are able, to get a bigger picture of what was going on.
Moses now cried out to God in Ch 33: 13 ‘If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you…….’ Now God reveals his ways/nature to Moses through this remarkable encounter. He is a God of mercy and forgiveness who maintain love for thousands of generations but also holds people accountable. You can find both the compassionate and just nature of God displayed throughout the Scriptures in the Old and the New Testaments.
The purpose of any encounter with God is to be transformed into his likeness. Friends, our challenge here is to get to know God and to follow him in his ways. Even though God was not pleased with the people he would continue to show mercy and love to his people for a thousand generation. He is abounding in love and steadfast in his faithfulness, he will never break his promises. However, God warned that the people will face the consequences of their rebellion. Going away from God will attract some ‘unwanted/uninvited guests’ into our lives which will cause deception and separation from God. God is our only refuge and strength and a very help in trouble.
So, what do we learn from this encounter? God is merciful and loving beyond our comprehension. Can we become loving as God is? Would you be able to be merciful, forgiving and bounding in love towards those who are not even your friends? Is there anyone in your life who need to be forgiven?
32 ‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (Luke 6: 32 – 36 nrsv). May God help us to be merciful and abounding in love as our Father is heaven is. Amen.
Intercession:
Please bring your own prayers; prayers for the world, prayers for our churches and prayers for your families and friends in a moment of quietness……..Lord hear us. Lord graciously hear us.
The Lord’s prayer.
STF 507 – O for a heart to praise my God
1 O for a heart to praise my God,
a heart from sin set free,
a heart that always feels Thy blood
so freely spilt for me.
2 A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
my great Redeemer’s throne,
where only Christ is heard to speak,
where Jesus reigns alone.
3 A humble, lowly, contrite heart,
believing, true, and clean,
which neither life nor death can part
from him that dwells within.
4 A heart in every thought renewed
and full of love divine,
perfect and right and pure and good,
a copy, Lord, of Thine.
5 Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;
come quickly from above;
write Thy new name upon my heart,
Thy new best name of Love.
Blessing:
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory , majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. And may the blessing of God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit be with us all now and ever more. Amen.
