Lent - 26

We are spending Laetare Sunday resting at Wick. Wick is an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness, of which Wick was the county town.

The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. It had a population of 7,333 in the 2001 census. Pulteneytown, which was developed on the south side of the river by the British Fisheries Society during the 19th century, was officially merged into the burgh in 1902.

The town is on the main highway (the A99-A9 road) linking John o' Groats with southern Britain. The Far North railway line links Wick railway station with southern Britain and with Thurso, the other burgh of Caithness. Wick Airport is on Wick's northern outskirts. The airport has two usable runways.

The main offices of The John o'Groat Journal and The Caithness Courier are located in Wick, as are Caithness General Hospital (run by NHS Highland), the Wick Carnegie Library and local offices of the Highland Council. Wick Sheriff Court is one of 16 sheriff courts serving the sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland and Islands.



Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD :
"I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea.
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.

The LORD is a warrior;
the LORD is his name.

Pharaoh's chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh's officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.

The deep waters have covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.

"Your right hand, O LORD,
was majestic in power.
Your right hand, O LORD,
shattered the enemy.

In the greatness of your majesty
you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
it consumed them like stubble.

By the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood firm like a wall;
the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

"The enemy boasted,
'I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
and my hand will destroy them.'

But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.

"Who among the gods is like you, O LORD ?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?

You stretched out your right hand
and the earth swallowed them.

"In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.

The nations will hear and tremble;
anguish will grip the people of Philistia.

The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people of Canaan will melt away;

terror and dread will fall upon them.
By the power of your arm
they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, O LORD,
until the people you bought pass by.

You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established.

The LORD will reign
for ever and ever."

When Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.

Miriam sang to them:

"Sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea." (Exodus 15.1-21)

O praise our great and gracious Lord
and call upon his Name;
to strains of joy tune every chord,
his mighty acts proclaim;
tell how he led his chosen race
to Canaan's promised land;
tell how his covenant of grace
unchanged shall ever stand.

He gave the shadowing cloud by day,
the moving fire by night;
to guide his Israel on their way,
he made their darkness light;
and have not we a sure retreat,
a Saviour ever nigh,
the same clear light to guide our feet,
the Dayspring from on high?

We too have Manna from above,
the Bread that came from heaven;
to us the same kind hand of love
hath living waters given.
A Rock we have, from whence the spring
in rich abundance flows;
that Rock is Christ, our Priest, our King,
who life and health bestows.

O let us prize this blessèd food,
and trust our heavenly Guide;
so shall we find death's fearful flood
serene as Jordan's tide,
and safely reach that happy shore,
the land of peace and rest,
where angels worship and adore,
in God's own presence blest.

Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Happy Sunday!