Thu. evening Mar. 5
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. In the darkness of our sin you have shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Open our eyes to acknowledge your presence, that freed from the misery of sin and shame we may grow into your likeness from glory to glory.
Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Words: Henry W. Baker (1868)
Music: Irish melody
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#90)
The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine forever.
Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.
In death's dark vale I fear no ill,
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.
And so through all the length of days,
thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house forever.
Confession of Sin
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
Psalm 71
𝙍: O God, be not far from me.
In You, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Deliver me in Your righteousness and rescue me;
incline Your ear to me, and save me.
Be to me a rock of refuge
to which I may continually come;
You have given the commandment to save me,
for You are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
For You are my hope, O Lord GOD;
You are my trust from my youth.
I have leaned on You since my birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise will be continually of You.
𝙍: O God, be not far from me.
I have become a marvel to many,
for You are my strong refuge.
Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
and with Your glory all the day.
Cast me not away in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength fails.
For my enemies speak against me,
and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
saying, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and take him,
for there is no one to deliver him.”
O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me.
Let them be confounded and consumed
who are adversaries of my soul;
let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
who seek my hurt.
𝙍: O God, be not far from me.
But I will hope continually,
and will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of Your righteousness
and of Your salvation all the day,
for I do not know their extent.
I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
𝙍: O God, be not far from me.
O God, You have taught me from my youth,
and I still declare Your wondrous works.
Now also when I am old and gray,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I declare Your might to this generation,
and Your power to everyone who is to come.
Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You?
You who have shown me many troubles and distresses
will revive me again,
and will bring me up again
from the depths of the earth.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me on every side.
𝙍: O God, be not far from me.
Also with the harp will I praise You
for Your faithfulness, O my God;
to You will I sing praises with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will greatly rejoice
when I sing to You,
and my soul, which You have redeemed.
My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness
all the day long,
for they are confounded and brought to shame
who seek my hurt.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
𝙍: O God, be not far from me.
Psalm prayer
Faithful Lord, living Savior, in youth and old age, from the womb to the grave, may we know your protection and proclaim your great salvation to the glory of God the Father.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 9:12-24
Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
And the LORD said: Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked in it, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them. Therefore thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.
Thus says the LORD of Hosts:
Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come;
and send for wailing women, that they may come.
And let them make haste
and take up a wailing for us,
that our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids gush out with waters.
For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,
“How devastated we are!
We are greatly humiliated,
because we have forsaken the land,
because our dwellings have cast us out.”
Yet hear the word of the LORD, O you women,
and let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
and teach your daughters wailing,
and everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
“For death has come up into our windows;
and has entered our palaces,
to cut off the children from the streets,
and the young men from the squares.”
Speak, Thus says the LORD:
“The carcasses of men shall fall
as dung upon the open field,
and as the sheaf after the harvester,
and no one shall gather them.”
Thus says the LORD:
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
and let not the mighty man glory in his might,
let not the rich man glory in his riches;
but let him who glories glory in this,
that he understands and knows Me,
that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness,
justice, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight,
says the LORD.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 7:1-13
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee. He would not walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You do. For no one does anything in secret, while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, reveal Yourself to the world.” For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
Therefore Jesus told them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always fitting. The world cannot hate you. But it hates Me, because I testify concerning it, that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not going up to this feast yet, because My time has not yet fully come.” Having said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
However, after His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He also went up, not publicly, but secretly. Then the Jews looked for Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?”
There was much complaining among the people concerning Him. For some said, “He is a good Man.”
Others said, “No, He deceives the people.” Yet no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded
the low estate of His servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy,
as He spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
Brief silence.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Prayers may include the following concerns:
Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, you show to those who are in error the light of your truth, that they may return to the way of righteousness: grant to all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, that they may reject those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Conclusion
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.