John of the Cross - Poet, Teacher of the Faith (1591)
Psalm 85
Lord, you were gracious to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the offence of your people and covered all their sins.
You laid aside all your fury and turned from your wrathful indignation.
Restore us again, O God our Saviour, and let your anger cease from us.
Will you be displeased with us for ever?
Will you stretch out your wrath from one generation to another?
Will you not give us life again, that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
I will listen to what the Lord God will say, for he shall speak peace to his people and to the faithful,
that they turn not again to folly. Truly, his salvation is near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other;
truth shall spring up from the earth and righteousness look down from heaven.
The Lord will indeed give all that is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness shall go before him and direct his steps in the way.
Psalm 86
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and in misery.
Preserve my soul, for I am faithful;
save your servant, for I put my trust in you.
Be merciful to me, O Lord, for you are my God;
I call upon you all the day long.
Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
For you, Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer and listen to the voice of my supplication.
In the day of my distress I will call upon you, for you will answer me.
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, nor any works like yours.
All nations you have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wonderful things; you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;
knit my heart to you, that I may fear your name.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and glorify your name for evermore;
For great is your steadfast love towards me,
for you have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave.
O God, the proud rise up against me
and a ruthless horde seek after my life;
they have not set you before their eyes.
But you, Lord, are gracious and full of compassion,
slow to anger and full of kindness and truth.
Turn to me and have mercy upon me;
give your strength to your servant
and save the child of your handmaid.
Show me a token of your favour,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed;
because you, O Lord, have helped and comforted me.
Isaiah 48:12 - end
Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called:
I am He;
I am the first,
and I am the last.
My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
they stand at attention.
Assemble, all of you, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
I, even I, have spoken and called him,
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
Draw near to me, hear this!
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there.
And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit.
Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you for your own good,
who leads you in the way you should go.
O that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your prosperity would have been like a river,
and your success like the waves of the sea;
your offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.
Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,
declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it forth to the end of the earth;
say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!’
They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split open the rock and the water gushed out.
‘There is no peace’, says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’
1 Thessalonians 4:1 - 12
Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you knows how to control your own body in holiness and honour, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrongs or exploits a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly towards outsiders and be dependent on no one.
The Collect
O God, the judge of all,
who gave your servant John of the Cross
a warmth of nature,
a strength of purpose
and a mystical faith
that sustained him even in the darkness:
shed your light on all who love you
and grant them union of body and soul
in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Showing posts with label Isaiah 48. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isaiah 48. Show all posts
Friday, 14 December 2012
Thursday, 13 December 2012
Daily Office - Dec 13
Lucy, Martyr at Syracuse, 304
Samuel Johnson, Moralist, 1784
Psalm 53
The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’
Corrupt are they, and abominable in their wickedness;
there is no one that does good.
God has looked down from heaven upon the children of earth,
to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks after God.
They are all gone out of the way;
all alike have become corrupt;
there is no one that does good, no not one.
Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
who eat up my people as if they ate bread, and do not call upon God?
There shall they be in great fear, such fear as never was;
for God will scatter the bones of the ungodly.
They will be put to shame, because God has rejected them.
O that Israel’s salvation would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people then will Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.
Psalm 54
Save me, O God, by your name and vindicate me by your power.
Hear my prayer, O God; give heed to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen up against me, and the ruthless seek after my life;
they have not set God before them.
Behold, God is my helper;
it is the Lord who upholds my life.
May evil rebound on those who lie in wait for me;
destroy them in your faithfulness.
An offering of a free heart will I give you
and praise your name, O Lord, for it is gracious.
For he has delivered me out of all my trouble,
and my eye has seen the downfall of my enemies.
Psalm 60
O God, you have cast us off and broken us;
you have been angry; restore us to yourself again.
You have shaken the earth and torn it apart; heal its wounds, for it trembles.
You have made your people drink bitter things; we reel from the deadly wine you have given us.
You have made those who fear you to flee, to escape from the range of the bow.
That your beloved may be delivered,
save us by your right hand and answer us.
God has spoken in his holiness:
‘I will triumph and divide Shechem,
and share out the valley of Succoth.
‘Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my sceptre.
‘Moab shall be my washpot;
over Edom will I cast my sandal;
across Philistia will I shout in triumph.’
Who will lead me into the strong city?
Who will bring me into Edom?
Have you not cast us off, O God?
Will you no longer go forth with our troops?
Grant us your help against the enemy,
for earthly help is in vain.
Through God will we do great acts,
for it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
Isaiah 48:1-11
Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came forth from the loins of Judah;
who swear by the name of the Lord,
and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
For they call themselves after the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
The former things I declared long ago,
they went out from my mouth and I made them known;
then suddenly I did them and they came to pass.
Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
I declared them to you from long ago,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
so that you would not say, ‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my cast image commanded them.’
You have heard;
now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forward I make you hear new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
so that you could not say, ‘I already knew them.’
You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
and that from birth you were called a rebel.
For my name’s sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
so that I may not cut you off.
See, I have refined you, but not like silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for why should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.
1 Thessalonians 3
Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions.
Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for.
In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labour had been in vain.
But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us—just as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.
And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
The Collect
God our redeemer,
who gave light to the world that was in darkness by the healing power of the Saviour's cross:
shed that light on us, we pray,
that with your martyr Lucy
we may, by the purity of our lives,
reflect the light of Christ
and, by the merits of his passion,
come to the light of everlasting 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.
Samuel Johnson, Moralist, 1784
Psalm 53
The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’
Corrupt are they, and abominable in their wickedness;
there is no one that does good.
God has looked down from heaven upon the children of earth,
to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks after God.
They are all gone out of the way;
all alike have become corrupt;
there is no one that does good, no not one.
Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
who eat up my people as if they ate bread, and do not call upon God?
There shall they be in great fear, such fear as never was;
for God will scatter the bones of the ungodly.
They will be put to shame, because God has rejected them.
O that Israel’s salvation would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people then will Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.
Psalm 54
Save me, O God, by your name and vindicate me by your power.
Hear my prayer, O God; give heed to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen up against me, and the ruthless seek after my life;
they have not set God before them.
Behold, God is my helper;
it is the Lord who upholds my life.
May evil rebound on those who lie in wait for me;
destroy them in your faithfulness.
An offering of a free heart will I give you
and praise your name, O Lord, for it is gracious.
For he has delivered me out of all my trouble,
and my eye has seen the downfall of my enemies.
Psalm 60
O God, you have cast us off and broken us;
you have been angry; restore us to yourself again.
You have shaken the earth and torn it apart; heal its wounds, for it trembles.
You have made your people drink bitter things; we reel from the deadly wine you have given us.
You have made those who fear you to flee, to escape from the range of the bow.
That your beloved may be delivered,
save us by your right hand and answer us.
God has spoken in his holiness:
‘I will triumph and divide Shechem,
and share out the valley of Succoth.
‘Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my sceptre.
‘Moab shall be my washpot;
over Edom will I cast my sandal;
across Philistia will I shout in triumph.’
Who will lead me into the strong city?
Who will bring me into Edom?
Have you not cast us off, O God?
Will you no longer go forth with our troops?
Grant us your help against the enemy,
for earthly help is in vain.
Through God will we do great acts,
for it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
Isaiah 48:1-11
Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came forth from the loins of Judah;
who swear by the name of the Lord,
and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
For they call themselves after the holy city,
and lean on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
The former things I declared long ago,
they went out from my mouth and I made them known;
then suddenly I did them and they came to pass.
Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
I declared them to you from long ago,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
so that you would not say, ‘My idol did them,
my carved image and my cast image commanded them.’
You have heard;
now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forward I make you hear new things,
hidden things that you have not known.
They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
so that you could not say, ‘I already knew them.’
You have never heard, you have never known,
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
and that from birth you were called a rebel.
For my name’s sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
so that I may not cut you off.
See, I have refined you, but not like silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for why should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.
1 Thessalonians 3
Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions.
Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for.
In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labour had been in vain.
But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us—just as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.
And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
The Collect
God our redeemer,
who gave light to the world that was in darkness by the healing power of the Saviour's cross:
shed that light on us, we pray,
that with your martyr Lucy
we may, by the purity of our lives,
reflect the light of Christ
and, by the merits of his passion,
come to the light of everlasting 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.
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