Morning Prayer: Thursday 31 January 2019

Thursday 31 January 2019

Charles Mackenzie of Central Africa, Bishop, Missionary, Martyr, 1862
Week C

Week of Proper 3

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

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)


Glory to the Father
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from 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 his 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 to the Father...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 107.1-32
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,*
and his mercy endures for ever.

2 Let all those whom the Lord has redeemed proclaim*
that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.

3 He gathered them out of the lands;*
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastes;*
they found no way to a city where they might dwell.

5 They were hungry and thirsty;*
their spirits languished within them.

6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.

7 He put their feet on a straight path*
to go to a city where they might dwell.

8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.

9 For he satisfies the thirsty*
and fills the hungry with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness and deep gloom,*
bound fast in misery and iron;

11 Because they rebelled against the words of God*
and despised the counsel of the Most High.

12 So he humbled their spirits with hard labour;*
they stumbled, and there was none to help.


13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.

14 He led them out of darkness and deep gloom*
and broke their bonds asunder.

15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.

16 For he shatters the doors of bronze*
and breaks in two the iron bars.

17 Some were fools and took to rebellious ways;*
they were afflicted because of their sins.

18 They abhorred all manner of food*
and drew near to death's door.

19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.

20 He sent forth his word and healed them*
and saved them from the grave.

21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.

22 Let them offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving*
and tell of his acts with shouts of joy.

23 Some went down to the sea in ships*
and plied their trade in deep waters;


24 They beheld the works of the Lord*
and his wonders in the deep.

25 Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose,*
which tossed high the waves of the sea.

26 They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths;*
their hearts melted because of their peril.

27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards*
and were at their wits' end.

28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,*
and he delivered them from their distress.

29 He stilled the storm to a whisper*
and quieted the waves of the sea.

30 Then were they glad because of the calm,*
and he brought them to the harbour they were bound for.

31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy*
and the wonders he does for his children.

32 Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people*
and praise him in the council of the elders.

Glory to the Father...

O God, the divine seeker, you are light to the lost, bread to the hungry, deliverance to the captive, healing to the sick, eternal vision to the dying, and harbour to every soul in peril. Gather the wanderers from every corner of the world into the community of your mercy and grace, that we may eternally praise you for our salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.

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;*
he has become my salvation.
3 With joy you will draw water*
from the wells of salvation.
4 Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name;*
make known his deeds among the nations.
5 Sing to the Lord for he 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 to the Father...

Be joyful in God, all you lands; Sing the glory of his name!

READING(S)

Isaiah 49.13-23

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Your builders outdo your destroyers, and those who laid you waste go away from you. Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall put all of them on like an ornament, and like a bride you shall bind them on. Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated landÑ surely now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children born in the time of your bereavement will yet say in your hearing: 'The place is too crowded for me; make room for me to settle.' Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put awayÑ so who has reared these? I was left all aloneÑ where then have these come from?' Thus says the Lord God: I will soon lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster-fathers, and their queens your nursing-mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

Galatians 3.1-14

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing?Ñif it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? Just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness', so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.' For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.' Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for 'The one who is righteous will live by faith.' But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, 'Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for usÑfor it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'Ñ in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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.

BENEDICTUS

Benedictus antiphon:

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:

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 and eternal God,
behold us in our weakness:
and stretch out your hands to protect us;
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.