Have mercy on me, O Lord

March 31, 2021

Dear friends,

The suffering and death of Jesus have been the inspiration for countless works of art and pieces of music.

Here’s a little bit of that music for your Holy Week:

First, the King’s College choir singing “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty”:

Next is a recording of a piece of music written in the 1600s by the Italian composer, Gregorio Allegri. It is a setting of Psalm 51 in Latin. Psalm 51 is the psalm that David wrote after he had fallen into sin with Bathsheba and was brought to repentance.

Some parts of that psalm are very familiar:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

That comes right in the middle of the psalm, and we sing it every Sunday!

This is a great psalm to pray as we meditate on the suffering and death of Jesus, rejoicing that by his blood we have been washed clean of every sin. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever!

God bless and keep you,

Pr. Buchs