Last Saturday, in the Westerkerk in Amsterdam, the prayer that Jesus Himself taught His disciples resounded: the Lord’s Prayer. In word and music, we followed the path of this prayer.
We began with God Himself: Our Father, who art in heaven. Then the prayer directed our gaze to God’s Kingdom. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. In the reading from Psalm 145, we heard of a Kingdom that encompasses all generations and endures through all ages.
After that, we grew still. In an instrumental moment, the words were present without being sung:
After that, we grew still. In an instrumental moment, the words were present without being sung:
“In the garden of sorrow
He chose Himself to be a Lamb.
Torn by anguish and grief,
yet still He said: Thy will be done.”
From that silence, the prayer continued into daily life. Give us this day our daily bread. Then we were confronted with the plea for forgiveness: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. In Psalm 79, the confession of sin and guilt was heard, together with the cry for mercy. But it did not end there. In Psalm 103, we heard who the LORD is: compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness.
From that confession and that trust, we sang:
From that confession and that trust, we sang:
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
when the burden of sin presses me down,
let me lean upon Thy faithfulness,
let me rest in Thy shadow,
where the blood shed by Thee
becomes for me the fountain of life.”
The Lord’s Prayer ends with a petition for preservation and perseverance. In the midst of struggle and uncertainty, the assurance sounded that we do not walk alone, but are led and upheld. Therefore Psalm 27 proclaimed: Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD.
We concluded the concert with the hymn Maranatha — a prayer filled with longing and hope. With this song, not only the concert reached its close, but also the future expectation of the church of all ages was voiced: “Jesus, do not delay any longer — come.”
With gratitude, we look back on this evening, in which music and Scripture sounded together as prayer — not only to be listened to, but to be lived, to be prayed, and to entrust ourselves anew to God.
Visit our social media channels for an extended photo recap, captured by Bastiaan Stolk.
