Psalms for All Seasons ‎#102B

102B. A Litany for the Sick or Dying

Text Information

• First Line: Hear my prayer, LORD, let my cry for help come to you
• Title: A Litany for the Sick or Dying
• Author (Litany): Leonard Vander Zee
• Publication Date: 2012
• Topic: Biblical Names and Places: Jerusalem; Biblical Names and Places: Zion; Church Year: Ash Wednesday; Church Year: Christmas; Church Year: Lent; Cry to God; Earth; Elements of Worship: Confession (Individual); God as: Creator; God's: Word; God's: Glory; God's: People (flock, sheep); God's: Way; Humanity: Sustained by God; Jesus Christ: Incarnation; Lament: Illness; Lament: Individual; Life Stages: Children; Life Stages: Death; Life Stages: Generations; Life Stages: Old Age; New Creation; Occasional Services: New Year; People of God / Church: Citizens of Heaven; Servants of God; The Creation; The Incarnation; Unity of the Church
• Copyright: Psalm text © THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright ® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
• Notes: Litany with singing of stanzas from 102A interspersed. Although there is no lack of prayer for the dying in our worship, rarely do we find prayers of the dying as part of our liturgies. The litany can be used in either congregational or pastoral care settings. In a congregational setting a member of the congregation would be asked to speak voice 2 on behalf of the sufferer. The litany offers the opportunity for the dying person to be present as voice 2, as congregation members symbolically take their place at the bedside and enter into the prayers in a direct and personal way. Subsequently, the pastor and elders could bring the litany to the bedside of the sufferer. Voice 1 would be read by an elder, pastor, or other representative of the church. Voice 2 might be prayed by the sufferer or, when that is not possible, could be spoken by a family representative, preferably while making some kind of physical contact with the sufferer. There is a part of the psalm that relates to circumstances of an untimely serious illness. If this is the case, include the shaded portion of the litany. A litany such as this has the capacity to frame the setting of a deathbed and to respect its significance. By bringing in the soaring and searing language of the psalms, we avoid being banal in a situation that cries out for depth of meaning.

Tune Information

(No tune information)