Daily Lectionary in Poetry Saturday 6th December 2014

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

Prayer for the Restoration of God’s Favor
To the leader. Of the Korahites.

1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you pardoned all their sin.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people,
    to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.[a]
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
    righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
    and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
    and will make a path for his steps
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Lord God
You forgave all those who sinned
We worship you

Lord God
Speak peace to us
As we follow you

Lord God
Forgive us
We are faithful to you

Lord God
As you are righteous
So are we faithful always

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Ezekiel 36:24-28

24 I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. 28 Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

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I will gather you up
I will clean you of your sins
I will give you a new heart
And a new spirit there within

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Mark 11:27-33

Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned

27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him 28 and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” 31 They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

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They asked him many questions:
What are you doing?
Who do you think you are?
Who allows you to speak like this?

Straight away Jesus responded 
He had a simple question  
About John's baptism so he asked
"Did it come from heaven?"

They didn't know how to answer
Either way could be quite wrong
"We don't know" they said while trembling
Jesus replied "my will be done"

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