A Reading from (Psalm 13)
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
On Tuesday, March 27th, 2023 six people, including 3 children, were shot and killed at the private elementary school on the grounds of Covenant Presbyterian Church.
The Victims, who are now in the care of the Lord:
Let us pray,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Lord we know not the plans you have set out for your faithful people. In days of great tragedy Lord we look to you and you alone. May we set our broken hearts and woeful spirits on your love knowing that the victims of Covenant Presbyterian Church are now at peace in your heavenly kingdom. Be with the families and the whole community of Green Hills that they may find their own peace and gain strength through you. Let us not think, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 13:1), but instead remind us that you and you alone, O Lord, “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” (Psalm 10:17-18). Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
Amen.