Daily Office - Aug 10

Laurence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 25

Psalm 76
In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel.
At Salem is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
There broke he the flashing arrows of the bow,
the shield, the sword and the weapons of war.
In the light of splendour you appeared,
glorious from the eternal mountains.
The boastful were plundered; they have slept their sleep;
none of the warriors can lift their hand.
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and chariot fell stunned.
Terrible are you in majesty:
who can stand before your face when you are angry?
You caused your judgement to be heard from heaven;
the earth trembled and was still,
When God arose to judgement, to save all the meek upon earth.
You crushed the wrath of the peoples and bridled the wrathful remnant.
Make a vow to the Lord your God and keep it;
let all who are round about him bring gifts to him that is worthy to be feared.
He breaks down the spirit of princes and strikes terror in the kings of the earth.

Psalm 79
O God, the heathen have come into your heritage;
your holy temple have they defiled and made Jerusalem a heap of stones.
The dead bodies of your servants they have given to be food for the birds of the air,
and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the field.
Their blood have they shed like water on every side of Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
We have become the taunt of our neighbours,
the scorn and derision of those that are round about us.
Lord, how long will you be angry, for ever?
How long will your jealous fury blaze like fire?
Pour out your wrath upon the nations that have not known you,
and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your name.
For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling place.
Remember not against us our former sins;
let your compassion make haste to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and wipe away our sins for your name’s sake.
Why should the heathen say, ‘Where is now their God?’
Let vengeance for your servants’ blood that is shed be known among the nations in our sight.
Let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before you, •
and by your mighty arm preserve those who are condemned to die.
May the taunts with which our neighbours taunted you, Lord, return sevenfold into their bosom.
But we that are your people and the sheep of your pasture will give you thanks for ever,
and tell of your praise from generation to generation.

Proverbs 6.1-19
My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbour,
   if you have bound yourself to another,
you are snared by the utterance of your lips,
   caught by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my child, and save yourself,
   for you have come into your neighbour’s power:
   go, hurry, and plead with your neighbour.
Give your eyes no sleep
   and your eyelids no slumber;
save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,
   like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Go to the ant, you lazybones;
   consider its ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief
   or officer or ruler,
it prepares its food in summer,
   and gathers its sustenance in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
   When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
   a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
   and want, like an armed warrior.

A scoundrel and a villain
   goes around with crooked speech,
winking the eyes, shuffling the feet,
   pointing the fingers,
with perverted mind devising evil,
   continually sowing discord;
on such a one calamity will descend suddenly;
   in a moment, damage beyond repair.

There are six things that the Lord hates,
   seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
   and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
   feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
   and one who sows discord in a family.

Mark 4.35-end
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

The Collect
Almighty God,
who made Laurence a loving servant of your people
and a wise steward of the treasures of your Church:
fire us with his example to love as he loved
and to walk in the way that leads to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.