Fillan, Abbot, c.750
Morning Prayer – Week B
O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.
PSALMODY
Antiphon: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;*
your dominion endures throughout all ages. (Ps. 145.13)
Opening
VENITE
1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
“They shall not enter my rest.”’
Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
or (from Psalm 145)
1 I will exalt you, O God my king,*
and bless your name for ever and ever.
2 All your works praise you, O Lord,*
and your faithful servants bless you.
3 They make known the glory of your kingdom*
and speak of your power;
4 that the peoples may know of your power*
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 5
1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;*
consider my meditation.
2 Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God,*
for I make my prayer to you.
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;*
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.
4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,*
and evil cannot dwell with you.
5 Braggarts cannot stand in your sight;*
you hate all those who work wickedness.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;*
the bloodthirsty and deceitful, O Lord, you abhor.
7 But as for me, through the greatness of your mercy I will
go into your house;*
I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness,
because of those who lie in wait for me;*
make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;*
there is destruction in their heart;
10 Their throat is an open grave;*
they flatter with their tongue.
11 Declare them guilty, O God;*
let them fall, because of their schemes.
12 Because of their many transgressions cast them out,*
for they have rebelled against you.
13 But all who take refuge in you will be glad;*
they will sing out their joy for ever.
14 You will shelter them,*
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
15 For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous;*
you will defend them with your favour as with a shield.
Source of all justice and goodness, you hate deception and evil. Lead us in the paths of righteousness and keep us from falling into sin, that we may sing out our joy in Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
Psalm 6
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger;*
do not punish me in your wrath.
2 Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak;*
heal me, Lord, for my bones are racked.
3 My spirit shakes with terror;*
how long, O Lord, how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;*
save me for your mercy’s sake.
5 For in death no one remembers you;*
and who will give you thanks in the grave?
6 I grow weary because of my groaning;*
every night I drench my bed and flood my couch with tears.
7 My eyes are wasted with grief*
and worn away because of all my enemies.
8 Depart from me, all evildoers,*
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my supplication;*
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be confounded and quake with fear;*
they shall turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
God of mercy and tenderness, giver of life and conqueror of death, look upon our weakness and grief, and restore us to health, that we may sing a new song to your praise; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord.
Conclusion (Isaiah 40)
1 The Lord is the everlasting God,*
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
2 who does not faint nor grow weary,*
whose understanding is unsearchable,
3 who gives power to the faint,*
increase of strength to those who have no might.
4 Even youth shall faint and be weary;*
the young shall fall exhausted.
5 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;*
they shall mount up with wings like eagles.
6 They shall run and not be weary,*
they shall walk and not faint.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
Your dominion endures throughout all ages.
READING(S)
Numbers 16:1-19
Now Korah son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben—took two hundred and fifty Israelite men, leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men, and they confronted Moses.They assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, ‘You have gone too far! All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?’ When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. Then he said to Korah and all his company, ‘In the morning the Lord will make known who is his, and who is holy, and who will be allowed to approach him; the one whom he will choose he will allow to approach him. Do this: take censers, Korah and all your company, and tomorrow put fire in them, and lay incense on them before the Lord; and the man whom theLord chooses shall be the holy one. You Levites have gone too far!’ Then Moses said to Korah, ‘Hear now, you Levites! Is it too little for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to allow you to approach him in order to perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation and serve them? He has allowed you to approach him, and all your brother Levites with you; yet you seek the priesthood as well! Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against the Lord. What is Aaron that you rail against him?’
Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab; but they said, ‘We will not come! Is it too little that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also lord it over us? It is clear you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come!’
Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, ‘Pay no attention to their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any one of them.’ And Moses said to Korah, ‘As for you and all your company, be present tomorrow before the Lord, you and they and Aaron; and let each one of you take his censer, and put incense on it, and each one of you present his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.’ So each man took his censer, and they put fire in the censers and laid incense on them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Then Korah assembled the whole congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lordappeared to the whole congregation.
Romans 3:21-31
But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
Silence
Response (Ps. 86.12)
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
I will glorify your name for evermore.
With all my heart.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: God has set us free* to worship him.
1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old*
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:*
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,*
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,*
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation*
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God*
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,*
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
Benedictus Antiphon: God has set us free* to worship him.
PRAYERS
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
Collect of the Day
O Lord, in your mercy hear our prayers: and as you give us the desire to pray, grant us your help and protection; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!
The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.
