Morning Prayer - July 2

Psalm 119.57-80
You only are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to keep your words.
I entreat you with all my heart, be merciful to me according to your promise.
I have considered my ways and turned my feet back to your testimonies.
I made haste and did not delay to keep your commandments. Though the cords of the wicked entangle me,
I do not forget your law. At midnight I will rise to give you thanks, because of your righteous judgements.
I am a companion of all those who fear you, those who keep your commandments.

The earth, O Lord, is full of your faithful love; instruct me in your statutes.
You have dealt graciously with your servant, according to your word, O Lord.
O teach me true understanding and knowledge, for I have trusted in your commandments.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
You are gracious and do good; O Lord, teach me your statutes.

The proud have smeared me with lies, but I will keep your commandments with my whole heart.
Their heart has become gross with fat, but my delight is in your law.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.
The law of your mouth is dearer to me than a hoard of gold and silver.
Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
Those who fear you will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in your word.

I know, O Lord, that your judgements are right, and that in very faithfulness you caused me to be troubled.
Let your faithful love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
Let your tender mercies come to me, that I may live, for your law is my delight.
Let the proud be put to shame, for they wrong me with lies; but I will meditate on your commandments.
Let those who fear you turn to me, even those who know your testimonies.
Let my heart be sound in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.

Judges 5
Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:

‘When locks are long in Israel, when the people offer themselves willingly - bless the Lord!
‘Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the Lord I will sing, I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

‘Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens poured, the clouds indeed poured water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel.

‘In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, caravans ceased and travellers kept to the byways. The peasantry prospered in Israel, they grew fat on plunder, because you arose, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel? My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord.

‘Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way.To the sound of musicians at the watering-places, there they repeat the triumphs of the Lord, the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel.

‘Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.
‘Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song!

Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam.
Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the Lord marched down for him against the mighty. From Ephraim they set out into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kin; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zebulun those who bear the marshal’s staff; the chiefs of Issachar came with Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed out at his heels.

Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, settling down by his landings. Zebulun is a people that scorned death; Naphtali too, on the heights of the field.

‘The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver. The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The torrent Kishon swept them away, the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might!

‘Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
‘Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

‘Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed. He asked water and she gave him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl. She put her hand to the tent-peg and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet; she struck Sisera a blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. He sank, he fell, he lay still at her feet; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead.

‘Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?  Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?”
 Her wisest ladies make answer, indeed, she answers the question herself:
“Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? A girl or two for every man; spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera, spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?”

‘So perish all your enemies, O Lord!  But may your friends be like the sun as it rises in its might.’

And the land had rest for forty years.

Luke 13.22-end
Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, ‘Lord, will only a few be saved?’ He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, “Lord, open to us”, then in reply he will say to you, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” But he will say, “I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!” There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.’

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

The Collect
Lord, you have taught us that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ's sake, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - July 2

Psalm 106
Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious, for his faithfulness endures for ever.
Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord or show forth all his praise?
Blessed are those who observe what is right and always do what is just.
Remember me, O Lord, in the favour you bear for your people;
visit me in the day of your salvation;
That I may see the prosperity of your chosen and rejoice in the gladness of your people, and exult with your inheritance.

We have sinned like our forebears; we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.
In Egypt they did not consider your wonders, nor remember the abundance of your faithful love;
they rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.
But he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his power to be known.
He rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up;
so he led them through the deep as through the wilderness.
He saved them from the adversary’s hand and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
As for those that troubled them, the waters overwhelmed them;
there was not one of them left.
Then they believed his words and sang aloud his praise.

But soon they forgot his deeds and would not wait for his counsel.
A craving seized them in the wilderness, and they put God to the test in the desert.
He gave them their desire, but sent a wasting sickness among them.
They grew jealous of Moses in the camp and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
So the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram.
A fire was kindled in their company; the flame burnt up the wicked.
They made a calf at Horeb and worshipped the molten image;
Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that feeds on hay.
They forgot God their saviour, who had done such great things in Egypt,
Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham and fearful things at the Red Sea.
So he would have destroyed them,
had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach,
to turn away his wrath from consuming them.

Then they scorned the Promised Land and would not believe his word,
But murmured in their tents and would not heed the voice of the Lord.
So he lifted his hand against them and swore to overthrow them in the wilderness,
To disperse their descendants among the nations, and to scatter them throughout the lands.
They joined themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
They provoked him to anger with their evil deeds and a plague broke out among them.
Then Phinehas stood up and interceded and so the plague was stayed.
This was counted to him for righteousness throughout all generations for ever.

They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses suffered for their sake;
For they so embittered his spirit that he spoke rash words with his lips.
They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them.
They mingled with the nations and learned to follow their ways,
So that they worshipped their idols, which became to them a snare.
Their own sons and daughters they sacrificed to evil spirits.
They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters,
Which they offered to the idols of Canaan, and the land was defiled with blood.
Thus were they polluted by their actions, and in their wanton deeds went whoring after other gods.

Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he abhorred his inheritance.
He gave them over to the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them.
So their enemies oppressed them and put them in subjection under their hand.
Many a time did he deliver them, but they rebelled through their own devices and were brought down through their wickedness.
Nevertheless, he saw their adversity, when he heard their lamentation.
He remembered his covenant with them and relented according to the greatness of his faithful love.
He made them also to be pitied by all who had taken them captive.

Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting;
and let all the people say, Amen. Alleluia.

Ezekiel 1.15-2.2
As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl; and the four had the same form, their construction being something like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved. Their rims were tall and awesome, for the rims of all four were full of eyes all round. When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When they moved, the others moved; when they stopped, the others stopped; and when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Over the heads of the living creatures there was something like a dome, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. Under the dome their wings were stretched out straight, one towards another; and each of the creatures had two wings covering its body. When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stopped, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads; when they stopped, they let down their wings.

And above the dome over their heads there was something like a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was something that seemed like a human form. Upwards from what appeared like the loins I saw something like gleaming amber, something that looked like fire enclosed all round; and downwards from what looked like the loins I saw something that looked like fire, and there was a splendour all round. Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendour all round. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone speaking.
He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me.

2 Corinthians 1.15-2.4
Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favour; I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards, ready to say ‘Yes, yes’ and ‘No, no’ at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been ‘Yes and No.’ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not ‘Yes and No’; but in him it is always ‘Yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen’, to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first instalment.

But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth. I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in the faith.

So I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice; for I am confident about all of you, that my joy would be the joy of all of you. For I wrote to you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.