Morning Prayer - June 3

The Martyrs of Uganda - 1886 and 1978

Psalm 98
Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things. His own right hand and his holy arm have won for him the victory.

The Lord has made known his salvation; his deliverance has he openly shown in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness towards the house of Israel, and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Sound praises to the Lord, all the earth; break into singing and make music. Make music to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the voice of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn sound praises before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea thunder and all that fills it, the world and all that dwell upon it.
Let the rivers clap their hands and let the hills ring out together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. In righteousness shall he judge the world and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 99
The Lord is king: let the peoples tremble; he is enthroned above the cherubim: let the earth shake.
The Lord is great in Zion and high above all peoples. Let them praise your name, which is great and awesome; the Lord our God is holy.

Mighty king, who loves justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the Lord our God; bow down before his footstool, for he is holy.
Moses and Aaron among his priests and Samuel among those who call upon his name, they called upon the Lord and he answered them. He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; they kept his testimonies and the law that he gave them. You answered them, O Lord our God; you were a God who forgave them and pardoned them for their offences.
Exalt the Lord our God and worship him upon his holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 100
O be joyful in the Lord, all the earth; serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song. Know that the Lord is God; it is he that has made us and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting, and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation.

Numbers 22.36-23.12
When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the farthest point of the boundary. Balak said to Balaam, ‘Did I not send to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honour you?’ Balaam said to Balak, ‘I have come to you now, but do I have power to say just anything? The word God puts in my mouth, that is what I must say.’ Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent them to Balaam and to the officials who were with him.
On the next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal; and from there he could see part of the people of Israel.

Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.’ Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here beside your burnt-offerings while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.’ And he went to a bare height.

Then God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, ‘I have arranged the seven altars, and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.’

The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said,
‘Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.’

So he returned to Balak, who was standing beside his burnt-offerings with all the officials of Moab. Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying:
‘Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: “Come, curse Jacob for me; Come, denounce Israel!”
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?
For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; here is a people living alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations!
Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the dust-cloud of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!’

Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.’ He answered, ‘Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?’

Luke 8.1-15
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said,
‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that “looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.” ‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

The Collect
O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - June 3

The Martyrs of Uganda, 1886 and 1978

Psalm 27
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?

When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes,
came upon me to eat up my flesh,
they stumbled and fell.
Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall not be afraid,
and though there rise up war against me, yet will I put my trust in him.

One thing have I asked of the Lord;
and that alone I seek;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
To behold the fair beauty of the Lord
and to seek his will in his temple.

For in the day of trouble he shall hide me in his shelter;
in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me and set me high upon a rock.
And now shall he lift up my head above my enemies round about me;
Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation with great gladness;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Hear my voice, O Lord, when I call;
have mercy upon me and answer me.

My heart tells of your word, ‘Seek my face.’
Your face, Lord, will I seek.

Hide not your face from me,
nor cast your servant away in displeasure.
You have been my helper;
leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Though my father and my mother forsake me,
the Lord will take me up.

Teach me your way, O Lord;
lead me on a level path,
because of those who lie in wait for me.

Deliver me not into the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and those who breathe out violence.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of The Lord
in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;
be strong and he shall comfort your heart;
wait patiently for The Lord.

Psalm 30
I will exalt you, O Lord,
because you have raised me up and have not let my foes triumph over me.

O Lord my God, I cried out to you and you have healed me.
You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead;
you restored me to life from among those that go down to the Pit.

Sing to the Lord, you servants of his; give thanks to his holy name.
For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, his favour for a lifetime.
Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

In my prosperity I said,
‘I shall never be moved. You, Lord, of your goodness, have made my hill so strong.’

Then you hid your face from me and I was utterly dismayed.
To you, O Lord, I cried; to the Lord I made my supplication:

‘What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

‘Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; O Lord, be my helper.’

You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness;
Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

Job 13
‘Look, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it.
What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
As for you, you whitewash with lies; all of you are worthless physicians.
If you would only keep silent, that would be your wisdom!
Hear now my reasoning, and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

Will you speak falsely for God, and speak deceitfully for him?
Will you show partiality towards him, will you plead the case for God?
Will it be well with you when he searches you out?
Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another?
He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality.
Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you?
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes, your defences are defences of clay.
‘Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may.
I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.
See, he will kill me; I have no hope; but I will defend my ways to his face.
This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.
Listen carefully to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears.

I have indeed prepared my case; I know that I shall be vindicated.
Who is there that will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
Only grant two things to me, then I will not hide myself from your face:
withdraw your hand far from me, and do not let dread of you terrify me.
Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.

How many are my iniquities and my sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.
Why do you hide your face, and count me as your enemy?
Will you frighten a windblown leaf and pursue dry chaff?
For you write bitter things against me, and make me reap the iniquities of my youth.
You put my feet in the stocks, and watch all my paths;
you set a bound to the soles of my feet.
One wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Romans 7.1-6
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.

In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.

The Collect
O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
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.