Wed. morning Jun. 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
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
Confession of Sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 119:1-32
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
who seek Him with all their heart.
They also do no injustice;
they walk in His ways.
You have commanded us
to keep Your precepts diligently.
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
Oh that my ways were directed
to keep Your statutes!
Then I shall not be ashamed,
when I look upon all Your commandments.
I will praise You with an upright heart,
when I learn Your righteous judgments.
I will keep Your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to Your word.
With my whole heart have I sought You;
let me not wander from Your commandments.
Your word have I hidden in my heart,
that I might not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O LORD;
teach me Your statutes.
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
With my lips have I declared
all the ordinances of Your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts,
and have respect unto Your ways.
I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live
and keep Your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of Your law.
I am a stranger on the earth;
hide not Your commandments from me.
My soul is consumed with longing
for Your decrees at all times.
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
You rebuke the proud, the cursed,
who stray from Your commandments.
Remove from me reproach and contempt,
for I have kept Your testimonies.
Even though princes sit and speak against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
Your testimonies also are my delight
and my counselors.
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to Your word.
I have declared my ways, and You answered me;
teach me Your statutes.
Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
so shall I meditate on Your wondrous works.
My soul melts for sorrow;
strengthen me according to Your word.
𝙍: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
Remove from me the way of lying,
and graciously teach me Your law.
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
Your judgments have I set before me.
I cling to Your testimonies;
O LORD, put me not to shame!
I will run the way of Your commandments,
for You shall enlarge my heart.
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: Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes.
Psalm prayer
Faithful God, let your word be the treasure of our hearts, that we may delight in your truth and walk in the glorious liberty of your Son Jesus Christ.
Old Testament reading
Joshua 8:1-29
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you. Arise, and go up to Ai. See, I have given the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land into your hand. Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its spoils and its livestock. Now set an ambush for the city behind it.”
So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, mighty men of valor, and sent them out at night. He commanded them, “Behold, you shall ambush the city from behind. Do not go very far from the city. All of you be ready. I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to engage us as before, we will flee from them. They will come after us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will think, ‘They are fleeing from us as before!’ So we will flee from them. Then you shall rise up for the ambush and take possession of the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hands. When you have seized the city, set it on fire. Act according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.”
So Joshua sent them out. They went to the place of ambush and took up a position between Bethel and Ai, westward of Ai, and Joshua spent the night among the people.
Joshua got up early in the morning and mustered the people. He and the elders of Israel went up before the people to Ai. All the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near to the city. They camped north of Ai, and there was a valley between them and Ai. He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, westward of the city. So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.
When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurriedly got up early and went out to engage Israel in battle at the assembly point near the Arabah. Yet he did not know that there was an ambush for him behind the city. So Joshua and all Israel allowed themselves to be beaten before them, and they fled in the direction of the wilderness. All the people who were in Ai were assembled to pursue them, so they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city wide open, and they pursued Israel.
The LORD said to Joshua, “Point toward Ai with the sword that is in your hand, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua pointed toward the city with the sword in his hand. When his hand pointed, the men in ambush got up quickly from their place and ran. They came into the city, captured it, and quickly set the city on fire.
So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven! So they had no power to feel this way or that way, and the people who had fled into the wilderness had turned back toward their pursuers. When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that smoke rose from it, they turned and struck down the men of Ai. Then the men in the city came out to engage them in battle, so they were now in the middle, with Israel on each side. Israel struck them down until neither survivors nor escapees were left. They took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
When Israel completed killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they had pursued them, and when all of them had finally fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. All who had fallen that day, men and women, numbered twelve thousand, all the people of Ai. Joshua did not draw back his hand with the outstretched sword until he destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Israel plundered only the livestock and the spoil of that city for themselves, according to the word of the LORD that He had commanded Joshua.
Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day. The king of Ai hanged on a tree until evening. At sunset, Joshua commanded that the people take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the city gate. They erected a large heap of stones over it that remains to this day.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Luke 11:1-13
He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father, who is in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come;
Your will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
Then He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine on his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give you anything’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs.
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
“If a son asks for bread from any of you who is a father, will you give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will you offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
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:
The social services
All who work in the criminal justice system
Victims and perpetrators of crime
The work of aid agencies throughout the world
Those living in poverty or under oppression
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity: keep us steadfast in this faith, that we may evermore be defended from all adversities; through 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
Rejoicing in God’s new creation, 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.