Tue. morning Feb. 3
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all, to you be glory and praise forever. You founded the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. In the fullness of time, you made us in your image, and in these last days you have spoken to us in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us, let the light of your love always shine in our hearts, your Spirit ever renew our lives, and your praises ever be on our lips.
Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn
My Faith Looks Up to Thee
Words: Ray Palmer (1875)
Music: Lowell Mason (1831)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#351)
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day
be wholly Thine.
May Thy rich grace impart
strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire;
as Thou hast died for me,
O may my love to Thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire.
While life’s dark maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread,
be Thou my Guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow’s tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from Thee aside.
When ends life's transient dream,
when death’s cold, sullen stream
shall o'er me roll,
blest Savior, then in love,
fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above,
a ransomed soul.
Confession of Sin
Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Almighty God, patient and of great goodness: I confess to you, I confess with my whole heart my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments, my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking; the hurts I have done to others, and the good I have left undone. O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you; and raise me to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 5
𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.
Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my meditation.
Listen to the voice of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to You will I pray.
O LORD, in the morning You will hear my voice;
in the morning I will direct my prayer to You,
and I will look up expectantly.
For You are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness,
nor will evil dwell with You.
𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.
Those who boast will not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You will destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors
the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, in the abundance of Your mercy
I will enter Your house;
in fear of You I will worship
at Your holy temple.
𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.
Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make Your way straight before me.
For there is no uprightness in their mouth;
destruction is in their midst;
their throat is an open tomb;
they flatter with their tongue.
Declare them guilty, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
for they have rebelled against You.
𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.
But let all those who take refuge in You rejoice;
let them ever shout for joy,
because You defend them;
let those who love Your name be joyful in You.
For You, LORD, will bless the righteous;
You surround him with favor like a shield.
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: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.
Psalm Prayer
Lord, protect us from the deceit of flattering tongues and lying lips; give us words of life which speak your truth and bless your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 6
𝙍: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
nor discipline me in the heat of Your anger.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am weak;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking.
My soul is greatly troubled,
but You, O LORD—how long?
Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
Save me for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
For in death there is no remembrance of You;
in Sheol who will give You thanks?
I am weary with my groaning;
all night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eyes waste away from grief;
they grow weak because of all my enemies.
𝙍: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;
for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
The LORD has heard my supplication;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
May all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;
may they turn back and be suddenly ashamed.
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: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
Psalm Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, may the tears shed in your earthly life be balm for all who weep, and may the prayers of your pilgrimage give strength to all who suffer; for your mercy’s sake.
Psalm 8
O LORD, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have set Your glory
above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength
because of Your enemies,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You have established,
what is man that You are mindful of him,
and the son of man that You attend to him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
and whatever travels the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
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.
Psalm prayer
We bless you, master of the heavens, for the wonderful order which enfolds this world; grant that your whole creation may find fulfillment in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Savior.
Old Testament reading
Genesis 18:16-33
Then the men rose up and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to see them on their way. Then the LORD said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? I chose him, and he will instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He promised him.”
Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to Me. If not, I will know.”
The men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Shall You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous in the city? Shall You also destroy, and not spare the place, for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be treated like the wicked; far be it from You. Should not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the entire place for their sakes.”
Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous. Will You destroy all the city for lack of five?”
And He said, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”
And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there will be forty found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”
Then he said to Him, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose there will be thirty found there?”
Again He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak only once more. Suppose ten will be found there?”
Then He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
So the LORD went His way as soon as He had stopped speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 27:27-44
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole detachment of soldiers before Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and when they wove a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a staff in His right hand. They knelt before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spit on Him, and took the staff and hit Him on the head. After they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. This man they compelled to bear His cross. When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He tasted it, He would not drink it. When they crucified Him, they divided His garments by casting lots to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, “They divided My garments among themselves and for My clothing they cast lots.” And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. They put His accusation over His head, which read:
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Then two thieves were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. Those who passed by insulted Him, shaking their heads, saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying, “He saved others. He cannot save Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God. Let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” Even the thieves who were crucified with Him insulted Him in the same way.
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for He has visited and redeemed His people,
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets of long ago,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the presence of the Lord to prepare His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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.
Intercession and thanksgiving
Prayers may be offered for:
the day and its tasks
the world and its needs
the Church and her life
Prayers may include the following concerns:
All who are sick in body, mind, or spirit
Those in the midst of famine or disaster
Victims of abuse and violence, intolerance, and prejudice
Those who are bereaved
All who work in the medical and healing professions
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Loving God, we look to you.
Receive our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
God our creator, who in the beginning commanded the light to shine out of darkness: we pray that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ may dispel the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, shine into the hearts of all your people, and reveal the knowledge of your glory in the face of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
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
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.