Daily office- Jan 30

Charles, King and Martyr, 1649

Psalm 45
My heart is astir with gracious words;
as I make my song for the king, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
You are the fairest of men; full of grace are your lips, for God has blest you for ever.
Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one; gird on your majesty and glory.
Ride on and prosper in the cause of truth and for the sake of humility and righteousness.
Your right hand will teach you terrible things;
your arrows will be sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies, so that peoples fall beneath you.
Your throne is God’s throne, for ever;
the sceptre of your kingdom is the sceptre of righteousness.
You love righteousness and hate iniquity;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia;
from ivory palaces the music of strings makes you glad.
Kings’ daughters are among your honourable women; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
Hear, O daughter; consider and incline your ear; forget your own people and your father’s house.
So shall the king have pleasure in your beauty; he is your lord, so do him honour.
The people of Tyre shall bring you gifts; the richest of the people shall seek your favour.
The king’s daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is embroidered cloth of gold.
She shall be brought to the king in raiment of needlework; after her the virgins that are her companions.
With joy and gladness shall they be brought and enter into the palace of the king.
‘Instead of your fathers you shall have sons, whom you shall make princes over all the land.
‘I will make your name to be remembered through all generations; therefore shall the peoples praise you for ever and ever.’

Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble;
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea;
Though the waters rage and swell, and though the mountains quake at the towering seas.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place of the dwelling of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; therefore shall she not be removed; God shall help her at the break of day.
The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken, but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come and behold the works of the Lord, what destruction he has wrought upon the earth.
He makes wars to cease in all the world; he shatters the bow and snaps the spear and burns the chariots in the fire.
‘Be still, and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.’
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Hosea 5.1-7
Hear this, O priests!
   Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
   For the judgement pertains to you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor,  and a pit dug deep in Shittim;
   but I will punish all of them.

I know Ephraim,    and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
   Israel is defiled.
Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God.
For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
   and they do not know the Lord.

Israel’s pride testifies against him;
   Ephraim stumbles in his guilt;
   Judah also stumbles with them.
With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.
They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
   for they have borne illegitimate children.
   Now the new moon shall devour them along with their fields.

1 Corinthians 10.14-11.1
Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?
What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

‘All things are lawful’, but not all things are beneficial.
‘All things are lawful’, but not all things build up.

 Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, for ‘the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.’ If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice’, then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgement of someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved.

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

The Collect
King of kings and Lord of lords,
whose faithful servant Charles prayed for those who persecuted him and died in the living hope of your eternal kingdom:
grant us by your grace so to follow his example that we may love and bless our enemies,
through the intercession of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - Jan 29

Psalm 34

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth.

My soul shall glory in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Look upon him and be radiant and your faces shall not be ashamed.

This poor soul cried, and the Lord heard me and saved me from all my troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them.

O taste and see that the Lord is gracious; blessed is the one who trusts in him.

Fear the Lord, all you his holy ones, for those who fear him lack nothing.

Lions may lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good.

Come, my children, and listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is there who delights in life and longs for days to enjoy good things?

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from lying words.

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their cry.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to root out the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cry and the Lord hears them and delivers them out of all their troubles.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and will save those who are crushed in spirit.

Many are the troubles of the righteous; from them all will the Lord deliver them.

He keeps all their bones, so that not one of them is broken.

But evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

The Lord ransoms the life of his servants and will condemn none who seek refuge in him.

Psalm 36

Sin whispers to the wicked, in the depths of their heart;

there is no fear of God before their eyes.

They flatter themselves in their own eyes that their abominable sin will not be found out.

The words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit;

they have ceased to act wisely and to do good.

They think out mischief upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way;

nor do they abhor that which is evil.

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds.

Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep; you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.

How precious is your loving mercy, O God!

All mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings.

They shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house;

they shall drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light.

O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you and your righteousness to those who are true of heart.

Let not the foot of pride come against me, nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away.

There are they fallen, all who work wickedness.

They are cast down and shall not be able to stand.

Hosea 4.1-16

Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel;

for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. 

Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out;

bloodshed follows bloodshed. 

Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish;

together with the wild animals and the birds of the air,

even the fish of the sea are perishing. 

Yet let no one contend,  and let none accuse,

for with you is my contention, O priest. 

You shall stumble by day;

the prophet also shall stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. 

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 

The more they increased,  the more they sinned against me;

they changed their glory into shame. 

They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 

And it shall be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways, and repay them for their deeds. 

They shall eat, but not be satisfied;

they shall play the whore, but not multiply;

because they have forsaken the Lord  to devote themselves to whoredom. 

Wine and new wine take away the understanding. 

My people consult a piece of wood,  and their divining-rod gives them oracles.

For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have played the whore, forsaking their God. 

They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. 

Therefore your daughters play the whore,

and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 

I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,

nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery;

for the men themselves go aside with whores, and sacrifice with temple prostitutes;

thus a people without understanding comes to ruin. 

Though you play the whore, O Israel, do not let Judah become guilty.

Do not enter into Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven,  and do not swear, 

‘As the Lord lives.’ 

Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn;

can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture? 

1 Corinthians 10.1-13

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

The Collect

Almighty God,

whose Son revealed in signs and miracles the wonder of your saving presence:

renew your people with your heavenly grace,

and in all our weakness sustain us by your mighty power;

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.