Daily Office - 26 Aug

Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes, to you that are enthroned in the heavens.
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
or the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God,
until he have mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of the arrogant,
and of the contempt of the proud.

Psalm 124
If the Lord himself had not been on our side, now may Israel say;
If the Lord had not been on our side, when enemies rose up against us;
Then would they have swallowed us alive when their anger burned against us;
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us and the torrent gone over our soul;
over our soul would have swept the raging waters.
But blessed be the Lord who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowler;
the snare is broken and we are delivered.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made heaven and earth.

Psalm 125
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but stands fast for ever.
As the hills stand about Jerusalem,
so the Lord stands round about his people,
from this time forth for evermore.
The sceptre of wickedness shall not hold sway over the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous turn their hands to evil.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are true of heart.
Those who turn aside to crooked ways the Lord shall take away with the evildoers;
but let there be peace upon Israel.

Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
then were we like those who dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with songs of joy.
Then said they among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
 The Lord has indeed done great things for us, and therefore we rejoiced.

Restore again our fortunes, O Lord, as the river beds of the desert.
Those who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed,
will come back with shouts of joy, bearing their sheaves with them.

Proverbs 25.1-14
These are other proverbs of Solomon that the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah copied.

It is the glory of God to conceal things,
   but the glory of kings is to search things out.
Like the heavens for height, like the earth for depth,
   so the mind of kings is unsearchable.
Take away the dross from the silver,
   and the smith has material for a vessel;
take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
   and his throne will be established in righteousness.
Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
   or stand in the place of the great;
for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here’,
   than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

What your eyes have seen
   do not hastily bring into court;
for what will you do in the end,
   when your neighbour puts you to shame?
Argue your case with your neighbour directly,
   and do not disclose another’s secret;
or else someone who hears you will bring shame upon you,
   and your ill repute will have no end.

A word fitly spoken
   is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold
   is a wise rebuke to a listening ear.
Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
   are faithful messengers to those who send them;
   they refresh the spirit of their masters.
Like clouds and wind without rain
   is one who boasts of a gift never given.

Mark 8.11-21
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.
Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ They said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’

The Collect
Almighty God,
who called your Church to bear witness
that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself:
help us to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may be drawn to you;
through him who was lifted up on the cross,
and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.