Morning Prayer: Saturday 22 March 2025
This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.
Thomas Ken, Bishop, 1711
Lent
Week 2 of Lent
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: O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you. (Psalm 63.1)
Opening
Glory ...
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from Psalm 63)
1. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,*
as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.
2. For your loving-kindness is better than life itself;*
my lips shall give you praise.
3. For you have been my helper,*
and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
4. My soul clings to you;*
your right hand holds me fast.
Glory ...
or a suitable hymn
protect me from those who rise up against me.
2. Rescue me from evildoers *
and save me from those who thirst for my blood.
3. See how they lie in wait for my life, how the mighty gather together against me; *
not for any offence or fault of mine, O Lord.
4. Not because of any guilt of mine they run and prepare themselves for battle. *
Rouse yourself, come to my side, and see;
5. for you, Lord God of hosts, are Israel’s God. Awake, and punish all the ungodly; *
show no mercy to those who are faithless and evil.
6. They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like dogs and run about the city.
7. Behold, they boast with their mouths, and taunts are on their lips; *
“For who,” they say, “will hear us?”
8. But you, O Lord, you laugh at them; *
you laugh all the ungodly to scorn.
9. My eyes are fixed on you, O my Strength; *
for you, O God, are my stronghold.
10. My merciful God comes to meet me *
and will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
11. Slay them, O God, lest my people forget; *
send them reeling by your might and put them down, O Lord our shield.
12. For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, for the cursing and lies that they utter, *
let them be caught in their pride.
13. Make an end of them in your wrath; make an end of them, and they shall be no more. *
Let everyone know that God rules in Jacob, and to the ends of the earth.
14. They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like dogs and run about the city.
15. They forage for food, *
and if they are not filled, they howl.
16. For my part, I will sing of your strength; *
I will celebrate your love in the morning;
17. For you have become my stronghold, a refuge in the day of my trouble. *
To you, O my Strength, will I sing; for you, O God, are my stronghold and my merciful God.
Glory ...
Conclusion
Song of the Word of God Isaiah 55. 6-11
1. Seek the Lord while the Lord may be found,
call upon God who is near;
2. Let the wicked abandon their ways,*
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
3. Return to the Lord, who will have mercy;*
to our God, who will richly pardon.
4. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,*
neither are your ways my ways’, says the Lord.
5. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth,*
as the rain and the snow come down from above,*
and return not again but water the earth,
6. ‘Bringing forth life and giving growth,*
seed for sowing and bread to eat,
7. ‘So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;*
it will not return to me fruitless,
8. ‘But it will accomplish that which I purpose,*
and succeed in the task I gave it.’
Glory ...
O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you.
READING(S)
Jeremiah 6.9-15
Glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again
over its branches.
To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
See, their ears are closed,
they cannot listen.
The word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.
But I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
I am weary of holding it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street,
and on the gatherings of young men as well;
both husband and wife shall be taken,
the old folk and the very aged.
Their houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together;
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,
says the Lord.
For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace’,
when there is no peace.
They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;
yet they were not ashamed,
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
Romans 3.19-31
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 ((Psalm 6.4))
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me.
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me.
Save me for your mercy’s sake.
And deliver me.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me.
SONG OF ZECHARIAH
Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * and, after, receive us with glory. If you hear God’s voice, * harden not your hearts.
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.
Song of Zechariah Antiphon: You will guide us with your counsel, O God: * and, after, receive us with glory. If you hear God’s voice, * harden not your hearts.
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
O God, you see that we lack the strength to help ourselves:protect us both inwardly and outwardly;
that our bodies may be guarded from adversity,
and our minds may be defended from such thoughts
as assault and harm the soul;
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.
