Lent | Wednesday 25 Feb 2026: Psalm 32; Exodus 34:1-9, 27-28; Matthew 18:10-14 ~ Jesus searches for every wanderer.

Lent | Wednesday 25 Feb 2026

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening prayer:

Almighty God,
whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit
to be tempted by Satan:
Come quickly to help us who are assaulted
by many temptations, and,
as you know the weaknesses of each of us,
let each one find you mighty to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“It is not my heavenly Father’s will
that even one of these little ones
should perish.”
(Matthew 18:14)

__________

From the Psalms: Psalm 32:1-7 (NKJV) – Songs Of Deliverance | Sherri Youngward

Psalm 32 (NKJV) The Joy of Forgiveness

32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
+ Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

+ When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
+ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
+ I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

32:6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
+ You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

__________

OT Reading: Exodus 34:1-9, 27-28 (NLT)

A New Copy of the Covenant

34:1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed. Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. No one else may come with you. In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”

+ So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones. Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

+ Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,

“Yahweh! The Lord!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
+ I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—
even children in the third and fourth generations.”

+ Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped. And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favor with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.”

34:27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel.”

+ Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.

__________

The Ten Commandments Song | Good Shepherd Band / Joseph Spurgeon

__________

NT Reading: Matthew 18:10-14 (NLT)

18:10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

Parable of the Lost Sheep

18:12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

__________

Shepherd of Love | Middle East University Church of Seventh-Day Adventists

__________

Prayer: ACNA | BCP 2019 

Dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: I hold up all my weakness to your strength, my failure to your faithfulness, my sinfulness to your perfection, my loneliness to your compassion, my little pains to your great agony on the Cross. I pray that you will cleanse me, strengthen me, guide me, so that in all ways my life may be lived as you would have it lived, without cowardice and for you alone. Show me how to live in true humility, true contrition, and true love. Amen.

O God, our heavenly Father, you manifested your love by sending your only-begotten Son into the world, that all might live through him: Pour out your Spirit on your Church, that we may fulfill his command to preach the Gospel to all people. Send forth laborers into your harvest; defend them in all dangers and temptations; and hasten the time when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, and faithful Israel shall be saved; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear what we ask in the Name of your Son: Accept and fulfill our petitions, we pray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.