Fri. morning Aug. 14
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
I Am Thine, O Lord
Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Psalm 55
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint, and I murmur,
because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked;
for they bring down trouble upon me,
and in anger they hate me.
My heart is in anguish within me,
and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling have come upon me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
Indeed, I would wander far off,
and remain in the wilderness.
I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm and tempest.”
Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,
for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it on its walls;
iniquity and trouble are in its midst.
Destruction is in its midst;
oppression and deceit do not depart from its marketplace.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
then I could bear it;
nor is it he who hates me who has exalted himself against me;
then I could hide from him.
But it was you, a man, my equal,
my companion, and my acquaintance.
We took sweet counsel together,
and walked in the house of God in the throng.
Let death seize them,
and let them go down alive to Sheol,
for wickedness is in their dwellings and in their midst.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
As for me, I will call upon God,
and the LORD will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
will I reflect and groan,
and He will hear my voice.
He has redeemed my soul in peace
from the battle that was against me,
for there were many against me.
God will hear and afflict them,
even He who sits enthroned from of old.
Because they do not change,
therefore they do not fear God.
𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;
he has violated his covenant.
His speech was smoother than butter,
but war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
Cast your burden on the LORD,
and He will sustain you;
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
But You, O God, will cast the wicked down
to the pit of destruction;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in You.
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: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.
Psalm prayer
Lord, in all times of fear and dread, grant that we may so cast our burdens upon you, that you may bear us on the holy wings of the Spirit to the stronghold of your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
2 Samuel 1
After the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, David had remained two days in Ziklag. On the third day, behold, a man came from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt upon his head. As he approached David, he fell to the ground prostrate.
David asked him, “Where have you come from?”
He responded, “I fled from the camp of Israel.”
David said to him, “Tell me, what is the report?”
So he reported, “The people fled from battle. Many of the people have fallen and died; even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”
Then David asked the young man who was reporting to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
The young man who was reporting to him answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa when, in front of me, Saul was leaning on his spear; and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close behind him. When he turned around, he noticed me. He summoned me, and I responded, ‘Here I am.’
“He asked me, ‘Who are you?’
“I answered, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
“Then he said to me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I have been mortally wounded, yet I am still alive.’
“So I stood beside him and killed him because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. Then I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, as did all of the men who were with him. They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul, Jonathan his son, the people of the LORD, and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
Then David asked the young man who was reporting to him, “Where are you from?”
He responded, “I am the son of one who sought refuge, an Amalekite.”
David said to him, “How is it that you did not fear raising your hand to destroy the anointed of the LORD?”
Then David called to one of the young men and said, “Step forward and execute him.” So he struck him and killed him. But David said to him, “Your blood is upon your own head, since your mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I put an end to the anointed of the LORD.’ ”
Then David recited this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the Song of the Bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Jashar:
Your splendor, O Israel, has been slain upon your hills.
How the mighty ones have fallen.
Do not report it in Gath,
do not announce it in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
or the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
O mountains of Gilboa,
may there be no rain or dew upon you
or your bountiful fields;
for there the shield of the mighty was defiled!
The shield of Saul is no longer anointed with oil.
From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor did the sword of Saul return empty.
Saul and Jonathan,
beloved and delightful,
neither in life nor death will they be separated.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and jewels,
who adorned your garments with gold jewelry.
How the mighty ones have fallen in the midst of battle!
Jonathan was slain on your high places.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
you were very dear to me;
your love was more remarkable than the love of women.
How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war have perished.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 5:12-26
Many signs and wonders were performed among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Porch. No one else dared join them, but the people respected them. Believers were increasingly added to the Lord, crowds of both men and women, so that they even brought the sick out into the streets and placed them on beds and mats, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might touch some of them. Crowds also came out of the cities surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were afflicted by evil spirits, and they were all healed.
Then the high priest and all those who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees) rose up and were filled with jealousy. They seized the apostles and put them in the common prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and led them out, and said, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”
Having heard this, they entered the temple at dawn and taught.
But the high priest and those who were with him came and called together the Sanhedrin and the senate of all the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have them brought out. But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely shut and the guards standing outside before the doors. But when we opened it, we found no one inside.” Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they were in doubt of what might become of this.
Then one came and told them, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with his escorts went and brought them, without force lest they should be stoned, for they feared the people.
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:
Political leaders and the armed forces
Peace and justice in the world
Those who work for reconciliation
All whose lives are devastated by war and civil strife
Prisoners, refugees, and homeless people
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Let your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please you; 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
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.