the sour taste of my best efforts thwarted by my worst desires

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Ps 34:8 (ESV)

Many are the things that I taste each day.

The bitter taste of my sweetest intentions tainted by my twinges of jealousy.

The sour taste of my best efforts thwarted by my worst desires.

The burned taste of my greatest offerings torched by flames of my own glory.

The vinegary taste of my own pride and vanity.

The tart taste of my trials and troubles.

The curdled taste of cruel and unkind things done to me.

To taste of the Lord – is to taste of Him who tasted all my sin, so that I might forever taste of His forgiveness.

To taste of the Lord – is to taste of Him who tasted all my guilt, that I might forever taste of His innocence.

To taste of the Lord – is to taste of Him who tasted the total wrath of God against me, that I might forever taste the total righteousness of God.

To taste of the Lord – is to taste of Him who tasted my death, that I might taste of His eternal life.

To taste of the Lord – is to taste of Him who tasted my grave, that I might taste of His resurrection.

To taste, is to receive to yourself,

Nay, it is to receive in yourself.

To taste, to receive the Lord is to believe in Him,

To take, to receive to yourself the Lord, and with Him, everything He offers.

When you taste of the Lord, you do more than merely taste that He is good.

For it is in tasting of the Lord, that Lord makes the taster – good.

So taste daily, hourly, never fail to taste, to receive to yourself – the Lord, and in Him, what is good – for you.

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.   Jn 6:54-56 (ESV)

-pmwl

He has by my wounding Him on the Cross - hidden me in His wounds.

You are a hiding place for me… Ps 32:7 (ESV)

This is my claim upon the Lord, O my soul,

For He is the Rock that was cleft for me.

In His wounds, I am safely hidden.

He who has engraved my name upon the palm of His hand,

He has by my wounding Him on the Cross - hidden me in His wounds.

Even as the Lord hid Moses in the cleft of the rock so to save Moses as His glory passed by,

So the Lord has hidden me in the cleft of my Rock and Redeemer so to save me as His wrath passed by.

Even as the glory of God burned hot on the rock, Moses dwelled safely in the place the Lord had hidden Him.

So has the wrath of God burned hot on my Rock and Redeemer, I dwell safely in the place the Lord has hidden me.

I have been baptized into Christ, O my soul,

He shall hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble (Ps 27:5).

He shall hide me from the wicked who do me violence and from my deadly enemies who surround me (Ps 17:8-9).

In the shadow of His hand He has hidden me (Is 49:2).

Be at peace, O my soul,

For the Lord is my hiding place,

He shall preserve me from trouble,

And He, even now, surrounds me with shouts of deliverance before me, behind me, beside me, beneath me and above me. Ps 32:7

You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.  Ps 119:114 (ESV)

- pmwl  

I brought upon myself such wasting away

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.   Ps 32:3-5 (ESV)

Be not silent O my soul,

For by your silence in the hour of my temptation,

I have brought upon myself such wasting away within me, such groaning in my guilt.

Be not silent O my soul,

For heavy is the hand of God upon me.

So weighty is His Law upon me for my sin,

That my spirit is broken, my hope is crushed.

Be not silent O my soul,

For hot is His wrath against me for my sin.

Such is the heat that my black guilt draws to me,

That my strength has disappeared as the dew in the summer sun.

Acknowledge my sin, O my soul,

For the Lord shall remember my sin no more (Jr 31:34).

Uncover all my iniquities, O my soul,

For the Lord shall forgive my iniquities (Jr 31:34).

Confess my sins to the Lord, O my soul,

For the Lord is faithful and just (1Jn 1:9),

He shall forgive me of my sin and cleanse me of all my unrighteousness (1Jn 1:9).

Rejoice, O my soul,

For I had made myself 

single in my sin, 

isolated in my iniquities 

and garrisoned by my  guilt.

I confessed my sin to the LORD,

And He gave me the companionship of Christ.

I uncovered my iniquities to the LORD,

And He gave me Immanuel.

I acknowledge my guilt to the LORD,

And He gave me His guarding grace.

Waste away no more my bones!

Be silent my groaning!

For I having confessed my sins,

And the Lord has forgiven my the iniquity of my sin.

His hand that was heavy upon me,

Now holds me with my name engraved upon it (Is 49:16).

In the summer heat of my sins,

He gives me living water that wells up in me with the strength of eternal life (Jn 4:14).

Be not silent, O my soul,

For I praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

In the company of the upright,

in the congregation (Ps 111:1).

Be not silent, O my soul!

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Ps 32:1 (ESV)

- pmwl

there the Lord shall count against me all that I have kept back from the truth.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Ps 32:2 

Not just blessed, O my soul, but here find multitudes of blessings from the Lord where there is no deceit in me.

No mountain of my iniquities, no extreme levels of my unevenness, no infinite number of my inequities - shall the Lord put to me for payment where I have been honest with myself and with Him.

No deceit, no sly, no spin O my soul, for where less than the truth about me is confessed to the Lord – there the Lord shall count against me all that I have kept back from the truth.

Walk in the Light, O my soul, as He is in the Light, and confess, confess, confess all my iniquities to Him and the blood of Jesus His Son shall cleanse me of all my iniquities (1 Jn 1:7-8).

When the Lord says of me, as He says of all:

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Ps 14:2-3 (ESV)

Answer honestly, O my soul: “Yea, Lord, surely this is me.”

When the Lord says of my heart, as He says of all hearts:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jr 17:9 (ESV)

Answer honestly, O my soul: “Yea, Lord, surely this is my heart.”

When the Lord says of me, with my sins and my iniquities, as He says of all:

... you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. Is 43:24 (ESV)

Answer honestly, O my soul: “Yea, Lord, surely I have burdened You, surely I have wearied You.”

When the Lord says of me, O my soul:

O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted … Is 54:11 (ESV)

Answer honestly,O my soul: “Yea, Lord, surely I am afflicted, storm-tossed and not comforted.”

When the Lord says of me and my feeble faith, O my soul:

O you of little faith. Mt 8:26 (ESV)

Answer honestly, O my soul: “Yea, Lord, yet a multitude of blessings are mine through this faith, ever so feeble.

For I have confessed my sins with no deceit, and You are faithful, not counting them against me.

Surely You, who have begun this good work in me, will bring it and me to perfect completion as the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ (Ph 1:6.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.  Ps 42:5-6 (ESV)

- pmwl

…the blessings of the Lord are not for the keepers of the Law

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.   Ps 32:1

Behold the means of blessedness, O my soul.

Take comfort, O my soul,

for no matter how poor, how sick, how sorrowful I have been in my sin,

I am forgiven for the sake of Christ,

and the Lord shall bless me.

Be at peace, O my soul,

for no matter how great, how many, how awful my sins,

they are all covered over by the blood of Christ,

and the Lord shall bless me in all things.

Rejoice! Again I say rejoice, O my soul,

for the blessings of the Lord are not for the keepers of the Law,

but for me the sinner, me the Lawbreaker –

whom He has forgiven of all my iniquities,

redeemed my life from the pit

and now crowns me with His steadfast love and mercy (Ps 103:3-4).

Because the Lord shall bless me.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

for His full, instantaneous, irreversible and never yielding forgiveness

that turns the hell I have earned by my sin

into the heaven He has earned for me by His sinlessness.

And the Lord shall bless me.

Give thanks to the Lord, O my soul,

for the blood of His Son has so covered my sinfulness, covered my sin, covered my wretchedness

that these are all so hidden now from the sight of God

that He shall forever bless me.

How good and gracious is the Lord, O my soul,

for He who has forgiven my sin and covered all my iniquities,

does not leave me to wonder if these gracious works are worked for me,

but sends forth servants of His Word to announce the forgiveness of my sins,

nay to give me God’s forgiveness of my sins and the covering of my iniquities

in His name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And I am forever blessed in the Lord. Amen.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Ps 103:1-5 (ESV)

- pmwl

…and there is Your hand.

My times are in your hand … Ps 31:15

There are my times and there is Your hand.

I have days, hours and moments and still there is Your hand.

I have days, hours and moments long past, some remembered, many forgotten and still there is Your hand.

I have days now, each filled with hours of joy and hours of pain, moments of merriment and moments of mourning and still there is Your hand.

I have days yet to be for me, each filled with hours and moments wholly unknown to me and still there is Your hand.

From the time my mother conceived me, each moment, every hour and all my days have been, as I was conceived – sinful (Ps 51:5) and still there is Your hand.

In my day of my judgment, the hour of my trial, and the moment of my condemnation there was Your hand.

Having entered in time, You have entered to my times.

You have met me in the moment of my sinful conception with Your hand.

You have grasped each of my sinful hours by Your hand.

You have taken the damnation for all my days into Your hand.

And now the day of my judgment, the hour of my guilt and the moment of my death are in Your hand.

Early on the third day, at the hour of sunrise and there is the moment of my resurrection because my times were in Your resurrected hand.

Now my times are filled with forgiveness and new life because I am in Your hand.

Now the days, the hours and the moments of my life are no longer lived in vain –

because no day, no hour, not a single moment of Your time has Your hand held me and my times in vain.

Because there is Your hand, I pray –

“Take my life and let it be

consecrated Lord to Thee;

Take my moments and my days;

let them flow in ceaseless praise,

let them flow in ceaseless praise.” LSB 784 v. 1

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.   Ps 62:8 (ESV)

- pmwl

can I put my spirit’s finger and surely find …

Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. Ps 31:5

From Your hand came my spirit and in my hand it has become corrupt, twisted and rebel.

Only in Your hand, Your pierced hand, can I be redeemed from my pierced and perverted spirit.

Only in Your hand, Your pierced hand, will I have my spirit righted and renewed.

Only in Your hand, Your pierced hand, will my spirit be revived when it is crushed.

Only in Your hand, Your pierced hand, can I find my name written and my spirit rescued.

Only in Your hand, Your pierced hand, can I put my spirit’s finger and surely find my Lord and my God – ever faithful to me.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.  Is 62:3 (ESV)

- pmwl 

Like water finding its way .. Your righteousness finds

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Ps. 31:1

How mighty and awesome is Your righteousness O Lord!
Your righteousness so cleaves You, so opens You, that You alone become a refuge for me – the unrighteous, the non-righteous, the never-righteous - in my sin.
Your righteousness so owns me in my shame, that it makes You fully responsible for me – the shamed, the shameful, the shaming – in my sin.
Like water finding its way to the lowest place – Your righteousness finds its way to low and lowest of me in my sin so that I might be raised up – by You.
Like water completely filling that which is empty – Your righteousness fills me in my emptiness so that I am filled – with You.
Like water washing away that which is filthy – Your righteousness washes me of my filth in the blood of Christ and I am cleansed – in You.
How far and wide Your righteousness is involved in all things for me.
Surely I am refuged well in You, when I ought be refused by You.
Surely I am put to glory in You, when I ought be to shame by You.
Surely I am delivered in You, when I ought be denied by You.
Surely You are Jesus Christ, the Lord our righteousness (Jr 33:16).

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.  Ps 65:5 

- pmwl

Hear … for no one else has ears to hear …

"Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” Ps 30:10 (ESV)

Hear me, O Lord, for I refused to hear.

Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am unworthy.

Be my helper, O Lord, for I am helpless.

Hear me, O Lord, for no one else has ears to hear my need.

Be merciful to me, O Lord, for no one else has mercy to meet my need.

Be my helper, O Lord, for no one has help for my need.

O Lord, You alone heard my need in the voices that

betrayed You,

lied about You,

denied You,

condemned You,

mocked You

and cried out for remembrance of me in Your kingdom.

O Lord, You alone met my need as You suffered mercilessly at the hands of man and the wrath of God.

O Lord, You alone helped me in my need as the Father answered Your prayer that I be forgiven by making all that I am

Yours to deal with – for me,

Yours to answer – for me,

Yours to make right – for me,

and Yours to save – for me.

You hear O Lord, and now I hear the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68).

You are merciful O Lord, and now I am saved from my end in sin (Nh 9:31).

You help me O Lord, and now in the shadow of Your wing, I sing for joy (Ps. 63:7).

The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. Ps 6:9 (ESV)

- pmwl 

My inner arena in which the desires of my flesh are set against the desires of the Spirit…

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Ps 25:1 (ESV)

My soul! My soul!

My inner battleground where the war between my sinful nature and my new nature in Christ is waged.

My inner battlefield where the law of my members wages its war against the law of mind, taking me captive to the sin that lives within my members (Rm 7:23)

My inner arena in which the desires of my flesh are set against the desires of the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are set against those of my flesh so that I am unable to do as I want (Gal 5:17-18).

My inner place where the paradox of being a sinner and a saint lives in almost unbearable unresolved tension and conflict.

My soul, my wretched soul, who will rescue you from me, from my conflict, from my sin?

He who has become my soul!

He who has become my life!

He who has become my forgiveness in the midst of my guilt.

He who has become my peace in the conflicts of my soul.

He who has become my joy in my defeats and despair.

He who on His Cross entered every war, every battle within me so that He might take both me and my losses to Himself.

He who, having fought all my battles and won every war, now gives to me His soul and with it, the safety and security of His victory.

He who promises never to leave me, nor forsake me or my soul.

He, who having begun this good work in me, will bring it to completion for me and my soul at His coming again.

My Lord! My Lord! Precious anchor for my soul (Hb 6:19), to You I lift up, to You I give the keeping of my soul and me.

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.   Lm 3:25 (ESV)

- pmwl

And there where I am … there is only one to help me.

Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.   Ps 22:11 (ESV)

Lord, O Lord be not far from me, for in all my sin, I turn far from You, I have gone far from You.

And there to where I have turned in sin, trouble is near,

And there to where my sin has taken me, my sin has overtaken me.

And there where I am in sin, there is no one to help me.

And there where I am in sin, I am bound in my sin, and helpless in my sin.

And there where I am in sin, there is where the Savior has come.

And there He comes nearer to me than my trouble.

And there He has comes between me and my trouble.

And there with my trouble there is none to help Him.

And there with none to help Him, He put me far from my trouble.

And now I find, that be I here or there,

it is where the Savior is near, the Savior helps me, and the Savior always saves me.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Ps 46:1 (ESV) 

- pmwl

Only the damned know they are forsaken

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Ps 22:1 (ESV)

Who has not felt and sensed what these words speak. In all that they may have seen and experienced, hasn't everyone at one time or another believed themselves forsaken. How often do circumstances and sensations overwhelm me and all seems to provide the clearest of evidence that God has forsaken me.

Yet in all that I may experience, in all that I may feel or sense, I cannot truthfully speak these words while I am yet on this side of the grave.

Was I not conceived and born in sin, 

isn’t my reason still tainted by sin, 

aren’t all my senses still tainted by sin, 

and am I not still a sinner through I be redeemed?

With the answer to each of these being yes, all that I do experience, I experience in darkness, the deep darkness of sin. Thus I cannot know myself truly forsaken.

Only the damned know themselves forsaken. 

And in the darkness, the deep darkness of sin, there is one who stands with me, one who stands in my place, one who stands for me.

He has entered into my darkness, my deepest darkness to be damned for me, to cry out for me, to finish for me all possibility of God ever forsaking me.  

He is the Son of God and He has become a light for me that my darkness can never overcome (Jn 1:5 & 9).

He is Jesus Christ and He has come into the world to save me, a sinner (1 Tm 1:15).

He is God my Savior and He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hb 13:5).

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Ps 103:1-5 (ESV)

- pmwl 

A new and clean heart within my sinful heart

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear …  Psalms 10:17 (ESV)

Note what the Lord hears in prayer, “the desire of the afflicted.” Notice that the Lord listens far more than to the words offered up in prayer. He listens deeper than merely the words of the mouth, He listens to the heart for it is out of the heart that all things proceed. Even in the midst of all the evil that spews for from our hearts, our Lord has ears to hear the desire of humble heart.

A new and clean heart within my sinful heart;

• a humble and clean heart that lives and believes as the Lord Himself created in me through His Word and His Spirit;
• a humble heart that finds no worthiness in me to call Him Lord or call upon Him as my Lord, yet calls because He has made Himself my Lord;
• a humble heart that sets me before the mighty Lord as I really am, because as the Lord, He freely welcomes and saves me from all that I am so that I may be His own;
• a humble heart that looks to the Lord alone to save me from my sinful heart, my sins and the sins of others that press me on every side;
• a humble heart that, though I be burdened by the woe that is upon me for I am a man of unclean lips, still looks to the Lord of Hosts who meets me in my woe on the Cross to save me;
• a humble heart that calls only on the name of Lord to be saved and strengthened;
• a humble heart that rejoices in God my Savior who loves to fill to overflowing, all that I have emptied;
• a humble heart that rejoices in God my Savior who loves to make straight all that I have bent;
• a humble heart that rejoices in God my Savior who loves to completely take away every burden laid upon me by myself or others;
• a humble heart of faith, out of which come righteous desires and words that the Lord always hears and answers.

A humble heart of faith, that though it be ever so small, ever so tiny, is still the holy temple of the Holy Spirit who keeps me in the true faith through Jesus Christ the Lord. 

Have mercy Lord, and hear my prayer.  

The Lord bless you and keep you!

- pmwl 

The Lord loves to take the place of the poor

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.  Psalms 10:17-18 (ESV)

What a glorious reversal from the way of the world, the way of even my own sinful nature. The Lord, who is righteous and dwells on high, descends to the place of the afflicted, the place of the fatherless, the place of the oppressed, the place of the terrified, the place of the wrong, the place of sin.

Such are the places our Lord’s love is drawn, such are the places our Lord in His love cannot be kept from, such are the places our Lord has come to live that by His love each might be exchanged for the place He has prepared.

So great is His love that

He came to be afflicted so that in His affliction you are comforted.

He was made fatherless so that in Him you have the heavenly Abba Father as your father (Rm 8:15).

He was oppressed so that in Him you are lifted up on eagle’s wings (Is 40:31, Ps 103:5).

He was terrified so that in Him you have the peace that surpasses all understanding (Ph 4:7).

He became wrong so that in Him you are made right and righteous before God (Ep 4:24).

He became sin so that in Him the curse of your sin is destroyed in God’s forgiveness (Ga 3:13).

He became what we are so that in Him, in Christ Jesus, you are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come (Heb 2:14, 2Co 5:17).

Yes, though the Lord is on high, He always regards the lowly (Ps 138:6).

Surely the LORD is, and shall always be, to you as Isaiah speaks of Him: “You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.” (Is 25:4).

The peace of the Lord be yours always.

- pmwl

A nothing of a prayer that prays for all things

Be gracious to me, O Lord!  Psalms 9:13 (ESV)

Such simple words, such a seemingly small thing to ask, yet these few words ask that nothing less than all that is Jesus Christ be given to me.

In these few words the living God is petitioned to fulfill every one of His promises to me.

This short prayer is a petition for the absolute heights, depths and breadth of God’s love to be given to me.

This mustard size prayer pleads for the Lord to move the mountain of my sin from me here to the Christ there.

This seemingly nothing of a prayer prays that the Lord provide me with everything.

This unworthy prayer prayed according to the worthiness of the Lord to answered it for me.

If you would know whether all that this prayer asks is answered – look to the manger of Christ, look to the life of Christ, look to the cross of Christ, look to the death of Christ, look to the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and if you would find the answer to this little prayer in your life, look to your baptism in you were united by the grace of God the answer – Jesus Christ.

The grace of God be with you all. Amen.  

- pmwl

He is able to read the text of our tears

“Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.” 

Psalms 6:8

Who are these workers of evil? It is all those that are turned away from God, be it the Devil or the unbelieving sinner. St. Paul, an apostle no less, says that the works of evil that kept rising up and taking him captive, was sin that still lived in him. Our weeping over them, over what they do to us, over what they lead us to do to other, or what others have done to us -is the call of our heart, not our mouth and this the Lord alone hears, understands and responds in His loving mercy and forgiveness.

In what language does weeping convey its meaning? It is the language of the heart and it is universal. Weeping is the honest conversation of sorrow. Mankind never fully understands this conversation, whether it be the weeping of others or ourselves. And even if we could understand weeping’s conversation, we are powerless to answer it.

Yet, there is one who understands the conversation, the petitions of our weeping: “the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.” He who wept, is intimately fluent in the language of weeping and responds in mercy.

What blessed comfort is this in our sorrows, that our Lord hears the honest pleas of our weeping with the ears of mercy.

What easing of our sorrows that He is able to read the texts of our tears.

Each of our tears is an eloquent orator putting before the Lord the truthfulness of our sorrow and all that we are in our sorrow. Putting before Him our helplessness, and He who made Himself helpless for us on the Cross, responds with nothing less than the heaven sent help of God's forgiveness that gives us the victory over all our sorrows and their cause.

Even in our weeping, when words fail us, we can say with all confidence: “In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.” Psalms 18:6

Gracious Lord, I give You thanks that when evil arises within me or without, You have the ears to hear words of my prayer and the words of my weeping. Let your mercies bear me up through my sorrows and my struggles, “because You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You.” Psalm 86:5

The peace of the Lord be with you always.

 -pmwl

THE BURDENS OF A PASTOR

I offer the following as an encouragement to a dear brother pastor I had the privilege to visit with today. A pastor like many, whose love for those he serves weighs heavy on him.    -pmwl

"Some things, even though openly known, ought to be tolerated for a time. That is, when circumstances afford no suitable opportunity for openly correcting them. For sores by being cut at the wrong time are the worse enflamed; and, if medical treatments suit not the time, it is clear that they lose their medicinal function. But, while a fitting time for the correction of those in one’s charge is being sought, the patience of the church leader is exercised under the very weight of their offenses.

Therefore, it is well said by the psalmist, “Sinners have built upon my back” (Psalm 129:3 LXX). For on the back we support burdens; and therefore he complains that sinners had built upon his back, as if to say plainly; those whom I am unable to correct I carry as a burden laid upon me. (Gregory the Great, c. 540-604).

PRAYER:

God our Father, Lord Jesus Christ, send Your grace and peace. Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, comfort us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort others who are in trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from You. Amen. (2 Corinthians 1:2-4)"

from A Daily Prayer Catechism THE LORD WILL ANSWER CPH 2004 p,. 135