A Psalm for Sept. 24, 2004/Tishrei 9, 5765

1 <A Psalm for Sept. 24, 2004/Tishrei 9, 5765> Have mercy O Lord, whose heavens declare your glory, and whose lands show your craftsmanship.
2 Only you are good, and only your wisdom prevails over all.
3 So many down here lack your light, and stumble in the darkness. Forgive us and help us.
4 Thank you for your generosity in Angola, Africa, where a million depend on charity for food, and you provide it. But more than just filling their minds, fill their hearts with a hunger for you.
5 Thank you for the Swiss Red Cross, sending 13 tons of supplies to Haiti. Thank you for Spain's assistance, also. May the downtrodden know your loving hand in their times of crisis.
6 Thank you for John Howard of Australia, who has chosen to work with Families First, a party that opposes abortion, euthanasia, and promotes abstinence. Bless those who protect the weak and helpless.
7 Thank you for your Mercy in Gabon, Africa where HIV infections fell in 2003. You are the Great Physician.
8 Thank you for aiding the Japanese authorities in arresting the vessel with 60 thousand Ecstacy pills, saving young minds and bodies from ruin.
9 Thank you for those in Damavand and Firouzkouh Iran, who have suffered a 4.1 earthquake and yet no casualties nor damage has been reported. Comfort those disquieted by the quake. Thank you also for the rattling quake near the Gulf of California, rated at 5.8, which upsetted northern Mexico towns, but no causalties have been reported. May all know it is you who makes the ground quake and you who can cease it.
10 Bless the leaders of India and Pakistan with your guidance as they seek to end tensions between those two countries. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
11 Be merciful to the hostages in Iraq, today they took four of their own and six Egyptians. The UK still has a hostage. Comfort their loved ones. Enlighten their captors that murder is not the way of righteousness. Thank you for freeing the Canadian woman held hostage. Jesus said, Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
12 Have mercy on the hostages in Uganda, where young girls are being abducted to be the wives of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) Leader, Joseph Kony. It is written, Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
13 Parents grieve in Beslan, Russia, Lord. Comfort them. Their children died begging for water and came before you thirsty. Help those with children who are still missing. Jesus said, Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
14 Help those seeking to aid the children in Cote d'Ivoire, where civil war has disrupted Measels vaccinations. Let them know who their neighbors are.
15 Have mercy on the Danish, who are threatened by Ansaral Zawahiri, the same group who claims to have beheaded two female Italians. Comfort the Italians in their loss, as they mourn, also. Let us not rejoice when the headsmen fall, nor be glad when they stumble; Let us be thankful for your mercy.
16 Comfort those in Japan who are worried over the eruption of Mount Asama near Gunma and Nagano. For it is you who make volcanoes erupt and cease.
17 Comfort the people in China, where a dozen died in Linyi when a ferry. Comfort those too who are in parts unknown. For your comfort is secure and enduring.
18 Drought has gripped Somalia, Africa. Thousands cry for food. Show your servants how to help them.
19 France has recognized a gay couple as parents, Lord. Let the French learn what your will is. Thank you that France's president, along with Brazil's backed a pledge to help fight hunger and poverty, in which 110 countries joined to aid the poor. Help the USA to realize we need to aid this cause, too. Jesus told us we would always have too poor, and to them the Gospel needs to be preached.
20 Disease ravages South Africa; they expect five million deaths by 2011 and a political party is suing the government.Bless those who care for the ill, that they may be safe as they seek to comfort the sick. Help that nation heal their dying.
21 Have mercy on Montreal where the C. difficile bacterium ravages the hospitals. The diseases may be new to us, Lord, but let the world now that the Physician is the same today as he was yesterday.
22 Cadmium is in Greece's fountain water, Lord. Be merciful to those who thirst. May they also thirst for your Word.
23 Show the Afghanistan people that there are better crops that poppy to harvest. Enlighten the leaders of the Terezay tribe that threatening to burn homes is no way to secure an election. Remind them that what they do to the least of us, we have done to you, too.
24 Police and residents in Borno, Nigeria have fallen because of escalating attacks. Protect the poor people from those who preach both peace and bloodshed. Let them come to know the Prince of Peace.
25 Have mercy on Vojvodina, Serbia where ethnic violence continues. Let all people know they are yours, Lord.
26 Let the harlots in Miari, Seoul, understand that the government's crackdowns on prostitution are for their health and welfare. May they repent and Go and sin no more. Aid the Korean government during this time of protests.
27 Let the psychologists in London leave sceances alone. Just as Paul exorcized the spirit of divination in Acts, please exorcize the psychics in London. You know the future, Lord; let men be comforted in your security.
28 Jesus said, But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. And today we learn that in Ashkelon, Israel authorities seized 80,000 cans of dog food disguised as foie gras. We also remember you said, Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. There is no joke is this event, only sorrow for the deceived.
29 Be merciful to Terri Schiavo, Lord. "Terri's Law" has been struct down. She will come to you soon, hungry and thirsty. Be merciful on her soul which has been trapped and abandoned.
30 Thank you for not unleashing your execration against our homes with the hurricanes. We know know you could have given us far worse, and we thank you for your mercy.
31 Forgive us where we have failed you Lord. All heads should bow to you. The enthusiasm at football games should be echoed and amplified in your congregations, but alas it is not. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.