Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart

A

One and only king, compassionate, long-suffering,
doer of good who loves humankind,
honored with your Father and praised as the Lord of all,
Son of the living God,¹ never the cause of
my destruction,²
who is not tempted by evil,³
who does not seek the death of a sinner,⁴
who offers salvation by your will,
who turns the storm of sin into the breeze of pardon,⁵
and transforms the fire of anger into rain,⁶

who turned the woman that looked back from
your goodness,⁷ into a single statue with two natures,⁸
placing her neither with the just nor unjust,

who transformed the liquidity of the sea,
into a wall of stone,⁹

who caused a stream to spring and flow
like a waterfall from the hard rocks of the desert,¹⁰

who stopped the rushing waters of the Jordan
into a pool for cleansing the pagans¹¹
and fortified the walls of Jericho
symbolizing the destruction of Satan's tyranny,
demolished by you as if it were straw,¹²

who sweetened the poisonous waters
with miraculous salts, as a metaphor
for the conversion of evil to good,
that is, the salvation of the Canaanites,¹³

who turned the bitter waters of Marah,
the symbol of disbelief,
into drinkable water with the staff of life
that you shouldered,¹⁴

who took colorless water from the river
and made it red as your blood, shed on the land,
in new crimson color from Bozrah.

who transformed the rod into a serpent
to prefigure your taking of our nature
and to show how Gentiles might join the elect,

who with the blessed right hand of Moses
foretold both your incarnation,
O Lord on high, and through your grace,
the cleansing of my corrupt body
through an immutable transformation,¹⁵

by these great signs, you have foretold
the rescue of long lost sinners
by the caring art of your love,
blessed and compassionate Lord.

B

Almighty Lord, you who make the lifeless seed sprout green from the earth,¹⁶
who command the immobile as if they could move,
who call those born of the unexalted womb,
in your image,
who give children teeth to chew,
who make the beard grow,
who turn the black foliage of hair into snow,¹⁷
showing that you reign over all.

You who transform the natural movements of the lips,
in the words of Job, into meaningful expressions,¹⁸
who shake the earth and its pillars from
their foundations,¹⁹ showing that through all creation,
only you are indestructible.

You who vary the elements in their passing states
and combine them in stable compounds,
showing that for the multitude of sins
you are likewise able to remember and forgive.

You train the inanimate Morning Star Venus
as if in a bridle,
showing you can, if you wish, tame
the evil impulses of nature.

And you regulate the speechless globe of the moon
so that it is empty or full,
providing illuminating hope to on-lookers
that you are able to restore a sinful body
depleted of goodness
to its original state of innocent fullness.

You who gather and scatter the speechless constellations,
like a flock of sheep, symbolic of the hope
of life that you, Lord, with your sweet providence
dispense in your abundant mercy
even to the slow of tongue who do not petition you.

C

You who chart the safe path on the sea²⁰
between death and life, testifying that even
in that perilous place we are protected through you.

You who, when the water is boiling in the cauldron
like a furious storm of sin, calm it with the word
of your will.

You, whose mere glance toward the earth
causes tremors,²¹ rouse the animals to alert
the thinking beings.

You who shake the limitless density of the land
like a small sailboat tossing on the waves,
by which you put all creatures on notice
that you are decisively in control,
holding the whole world in your hand.

You who sow dead bodies in the earth,
keep them whole and bring them to life again,
receiving the perishable create the eternal,
who join the spark of life with mortal matter,
who with but an utterance created the entire universe
in an instant and adorned its barrenness in every way.²²
Yours is the strength and the power,
that varies the seasons of the year,
each with its fitting splendor.

You who command the unspeaking things as if
they were alive,²³
you who by merely giving the signal set them
into motion,²⁴
you alone weave the daylight and darkness with your creative art that is beyond telling.²⁵
You who after the first order of creation
still performed miracles to the amazement
       of blessed Job.
You fashioned yet more permanent creations,
and during your incarnation performed other
celebrated acts without number.

D

You who took our transgressions upon yourself,²⁶
you who graced us with your righteousness,²⁷
you who offered yourself as the ransom of
our reconciliation,²⁸
you who never abandoned mercy,²⁹
turn the impious toward good, God-fearing works,
the stupefied toward the sobriety of a vigilant heart,
the impure toward the holiness of shining character,
the sinners toward the purity of the tranquil
saintly nature,
the broken toward wholeness impervious to accidents,
the weeping toward the joy of unclouded bliss,³⁰
the hopeless toward the love of union,
the embarrassed toward firmness,
the people who live in darkness toward the light of
endless joy,³¹
the captives of death toward life incorruptible.
For your name is glorified, Lord Jesus,
professed in all ways with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
in heaven on high and on earth below
among all the inhabitants therein,
forever and ever.
Amen.