Morning Prayer: Thursday 26 June 2025
This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.
Robert Leighton, Bishop, 1684
Week C
Week of Proper 12
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
and known me.
2. You know my sitting down and my rising up; *
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3. You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
5. You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
7. Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
Where can I flee from your presence?
8. If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
9. If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10. even there your hand will lead me *
and your mighty hand hold me fast.
11. If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, *
and the light around me turn to night.”
12. Darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day; *
darkness and light to you are both alike.
13. For you yourself created my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14. I will thank you because I am marvellously made; *
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
15. My body was not hidden from you, *
while I was being made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth.
16. Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb; * all of them were written in your book;
they were fashioned day by day, * when as yet there was none of them.
17. How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *
How great is the sum of them!
18. If I were to count them, * they would be more in number than the sand;
to count them all, * my life span would need to be like yours.
19. Oh, that you would slay the wicked, O God! *
You that thirst for blood, depart from me.
20. They speak despitefully against you; *
your enemies take your name in vain.
21. Do I not hate those, O Lord, who hate you? *
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22. I hate them with a perfect hatred; *
they have become my own enemies.
23. Search me out, O God, and know my heart; *
try me and know my restless thoughts.
24. Look well whether there be any wickedness in me *
and lead me in the way that is everlasting.
Glory ...
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)
1 Samuel 8.1-22
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’
So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, ‘These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.’
But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, ‘No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.’ When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to their voice and set a king over them.’ Samuel then said to the people of Israel, ‘Each of you return home.’
Acts 6.15-7.16
Then the high priest asked him, ‘Are these things so?’ And Stephen replied:
‘Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, “Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.” Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living. He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and maltreat them for four hundred years. “But I will judge the nation that they serve,” said God, “and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.” Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
‘The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favour and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all; so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors, and their bodies were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
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. Christ is the chosen of God: * * who brings healing to the nations.
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. Christ is the chosen of God: * * who brings healing to the nations.
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 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.
