Morning Prayer: Wednesday 2 April 2025
This is the new revised order for Daily Prayer authorised for experimental use. You can find the 2006 Revised version here.
Week 4 of Lent
Lent
Week 4 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
and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.
2. Raise a song and sound the timbrel, *
the merry harp, and the lyre.
3. Blow the ram’s-horn at the new moon, *
and at the full moon, the day of our feast.
4. For this is a statute for Israel, *
a law of the God of Jacob,
5. who laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph, *
when they came out of the land of Egypt.
6. I heard an unfamiliar voice saying, *
“I eased their shoulders from the burden; their hands were set free from bearing the load.
7. You called on me in trouble, and I saved you; *
I answered you from the secret place of thunder and tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8. Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: *
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9. There shall be no strange god among you; *
you shall not worship a foreign god.
10. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *
‘Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.’
11. And yet my people did not hear my voice, *
and Israel would not obey me.
12. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *
to follow their own devices.
13. Oh, that my people would listen to me! *
That Israel would walk in my ways!
14. I should soon subdue their enemies *
and turn my hand against their foes.
15. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before me, *
and their punishment would last for ever.
16. But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *
and satisfy them with honey from the rock.”
Glory ...
Conclusion
Song of Manasseh Manasseh 1a, 4, 6-7, 9a, 9c, 11-12, 14b, 15b
1. O Lord Almighty and God of our forebears,*
you who made heaven and earth in all their glory:
2. All things tremble with awe at your presence,*
before your great and mighty power.
3. Immeasurable and unsearchable is your promise of mercy,*
for you are God, Most High.
4. You are full of compassion and very merciful,*
and you relent at human suffering.
5. O God, according to your great goodness,*
you have promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against you.
6. The sins I have committed against you,*
are more in number than the sands of the sea.
7. I am not worthy to look up and see the heavens,*
because of my many sins and iniquities.
8. And now my heart bows before you,*
imploring your kindness upon me.
9. Unworthy as I am, I know that you will save me,*
according to your great mercy.
10. For all the host of heaven sings your praise,*
and your glory is for ever and ever.
Glory ...
O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you.
READING(S)
Jeremiah 17.19-18.12
But if you listen to me, says the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but keep the sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited for ever. And people shall come from the towns of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt-offerings and sacrifices, grain-offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank-offerings to the house of the Lord. But if you do not listen to me, to keep the sabbath day holy, and to carry in no burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates; it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
But they say, ‘It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.’
Romans 8.1-11
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
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. I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, * Father I have sinned against heaven and before you.
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. I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, * Father I have sinned against heaven and before you.
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
Almighty God, grant that we, who are weighed down by our sins,may be relieved and encouraged by your grace;
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.
