Morning Prayer: Wednesday 23 May 2018

Wednesday 23 May 2018

William of Perth (or Rochester), 1201
Week A

The Week of Pentecost

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: I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;* I will praise my God while I have my being. (Ps. 104.34)

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 104)

1 You spread out the heavens like a curtain;*
you lay the beams of your chambers in the waters above;
2 You make the clouds your chariot;*
you ride on the wings of the wind;
3 You make the winds your messengers*
and flames of fire your servants.
4 You have set the earth upon its foundations,*
so that it never shall move at any time.

Glory to the Father...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 11
1 In the Lord have I taken refuge;*
how then can you say to me,
‘Fly like a bird to the hilltop;

2 For see how the wicked bend the bow
and fit their arrows to the string,*
to shoot from ambush at the true of heart.

3 When the foundations are being destroyed,*
what can the righteous do?’

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;*
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.

5 His eyes behold the inhabited world;*
his piercing eye weighs our worth.

6 The Lord weighs the righteous as well as the wicked,*
but those who delight in violence he abhors.

7 Upon the wicked he shall rain coals of fire and
burning sulphur;*
a scorching wind shall be their lot.

8 For the Lord is righteous;
he delights in righteous deeds;*
and the just shall see his face.

God our refuge, deliver us from violence and evil, and guide us in the paths of righteousness, that on the day of judgement we may rejoice to see you face to face; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Psalm 12
1 Help me, Lord, for there is no godly one left;*
the faithful have vanished from among us.

2 Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbour; *
with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.

3 Oh, that the Lord would cut off all smooth tongues,*
and close the lips that utter proud boasts!

4 Those who say, ‘With our tongue will we prevail; *
our lips are our own; who is lord over us?’

5 ‘Because the needy are oppressed,
and the poor cry out in misery,*
I will rise up,’ says the Lord,
‘and give them the help they long for.’

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,*
like silver refined from ore
and purified seven times in the fire.

7 O Lord, watch over us*
and save us from this generation for ever.

8 The wicked prowl on every side,*
and that which is worthless is highly prized by everyone.

Glory to the Father...

God of truth, protector of your people, come to the aid of all who are poor and oppressed. By the power of your life-giving word lead us in the ways of peace and integrity, and give us the help we long for in Jesus Christ our Saviour.



Conclusion

Isaiah 45

1 Thus says the Lord who created the heavens,*
who formed the earth and made it;
2 who did not create it a chaos,*
but formed it to be inhabited –
3 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;*
for I am God: there is no other.
4 From my mouth has gone forth in righteousness*
a word that shall not return:
5 “To me every knee shall bow,*
every tongue shall swear”.’
6 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel*
shall triumph and glory.

Glory to the Father...

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will praise my God while I have my being.


READING(S)

Proverbs 6.1-19

My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbour,
if you have bound yourself to another,
you are snared by the utterance of your lips,
caught by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into your neighbour’s power:
go, hurry, and plead with your neighbour.
Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.


Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
it prepares its food in summer,
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.


A scoundrel and a villain
goes around with crooked speech,
winking the eyes, shuffling the feet,
pointing the fingers,
with perverted mind devising evil,
continually sowing discord;
on such a one calamity will descend suddenly;
in a moment, damage beyond repair.


There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.


1 Letter of John 5.1-12

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.


Silence

Response Psalm (Ps 92.4)

In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.
In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.
I will sing for joy because of the works of your hands.
You have made me glad.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
In all you have done, O Lord, you have made me glad.


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

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.
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.