David Robert Lambert

This Opening Prayer was delivered to the Montgomery County Council in Rockville, Maryland, on January 24, 2012.

Psalm 9 (New International Version)

1 I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name,
O Most High.

7 The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 10  (New International Version)

12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.

16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them,
and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.

Now, a week after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I have some quotations from a letter he wrote from the Birmingham City jail.

We remember the conviction of Martin Luther King, Jr., that “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”  Therefore, let us pray for courage and determination by those who are oppressed.

We remember Martin’s warning that “a negative peace which is the absence of tension” is less than “a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”

Therefore, let us pray that those who work for peace in our world may cry out first for justice.

We remember Martin’s insight that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

Therefore, let us pray that we may see nothing in isolation, but may know ourselves bound to one another and to all people under heaven.

We remember Martin’s “hope that dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”

Therefore, in faith, let us commend ourselves and our work for justice to the goodness of almighty God.

Litany by W.B. McClain and L.H. Stookey, 20th Century

In closing, let us pray.

God of the morning, at whose voice the cheerful sun makes haste to rise,  and like a giant doth rejoice to run his journeys through the skies.

O, like the sun, may we fulfill the appointed duties of the day,  with ready mind and active will, march on and keep our heavenly way.

Amen.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
English poet and clergyman

p.s. I found this in my archives and realized it had never been posted to my blog back in January.