Morning Prayer: Saturday 1 March 2025

Saturday 1 March 2025

This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.

David, Bishop, Patron of Wales, c 601, Consecration of the Bishop of Aberdeen, 2018
Week C

Week of Proper 7

O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Glory to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.
Amen.

PSALMODY

Antiphon: Be joyful in God, all you lands;* sing the glory of the divine name! (Psalm. 66.1)

Opening

Come, let us sing

1 Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to God with psalms.
3 For you, O Lord, are a great God, *
and a great sovereign above all gods.
4 In your hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are yours also.
5 The sea is yours, for you made it, *
and your hands have moulded the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For you are our God, and we are the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hand. *
Oh, that today we would hearken to your voice!
8 “Harden not your hearts, *
as your forebears did in the wilderness.
9 They put me to the test, *
though they had seen my works.
10 So I swore in my wrath, *
‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”

Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn

(Or from Psalms 66 and 92)

1. All the earth bows down before you,*
sings to you, sings out your name.

2. Bless our God, you peoples;*
make the voice of God’s praise to be heard.

3. It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord,*
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

4. to tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning*
and of your faithfulness in the night season.

Glory ...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 1
1. Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of
the wicked, *
nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats
of the scornful!
2. Their delight is in the law of the Lord, *
and on this law they meditate day and night.
3. They are like trees planted by streams of water, *
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not
wither; *
everything they do shall prosper.
4. It is not so with the wicked; *
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5. Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when
judgement comes, *
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, *
but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Glory ...

Psalm 2

1. Why are the nations in an uproar? *
Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?
2. Why do the rulers of the earth rise up in revolt, and the
princes plot together, *
against the Lord and the Lord’s anointed?
3. “Let us break their yoke,” they say; *
“let us cast off their bonds from us.”
4. The One enthroned in heaven is laughing; *
the Lord has them in derision.
5. Then God speaks to them in wrath, *
and the divine rage fills them with terror.
6. “I myself have set my anointed *
upon my holy hill of Zion.”
7. Let me announce the decree of the Lord, *
who said to me, “You are my heir; this day have I
begotten you.
8. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your
inheritance *
and the ends of the earth for your possession.
9. You shall crush them with an iron rod *
and shatter them like a piece of pottery.”
10. And now, you monarchs, be wise; *
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11. Submit to the Lord with fear, *
and bow with trembling before the presence of the
Lord;
12. lest God be angry and you perish for the divine wrath
is quickly kindled. *
Happy are they all who take refuge in God!



Conclusion

Isaiah 12

1. Behold God is my salvation;*
I will trust and not be afraid;

2. the Lord God is my strength and my song;
the Lord God has become my salvation.

3. With joy you will draw water*
from the wells of salvation.

4. Give thanks to the Lord, call upon God’s name;*
make known the Lord’s deeds among the nations.

5. Sing to the Lord who has done gloriously;*
let this be known in all the earth.

6. Shout and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Sion,*
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel

Glory ...

Be joyful in God, all you lands;*sing the glory of the divine name!

READING(S)

Ruth 4.1-17

No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, ‘Come over, friend; sit down here.’ And he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, ‘Sit down here’; so they sat down. He then said to the next-of-kin, ‘Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.’ So he said, ‘I will redeem it.’ Then Boaz said, ‘The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.’ At this, the next-of-kin said, ‘I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.’

Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, one party took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, ‘Acquire it for yourself’, he took off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.’ Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.’
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. The women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

2 Corinthians 4.13-5.10

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—‘I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

Silence

Response (Psalm 63.4)

I will bless you Lord as long as I live.
I will bless you Lord as long as I live.
And lift up my hands in your name.
As long as I live.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
I will bless you Lord as long as I live.

SONG OF ZECHARIAH

Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * * and, after, receive us with glory.

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 ... (may be said by all)

Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * * and, after, receive us with glory.

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 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

Hear the prayers of your people, O Lord:
that we, who are weighed down by our sins,
may be delivered for the glory of your Name;
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.