Wed. morning Aug. 19
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
Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Confession of Sin
When we cry to the LORD in our trouble,
He will save us from our distress.
God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son, and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days.
Amen.
Let us give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to all people!
Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.
cf Psalm 107
Psalm 119:105-128
𝙍: Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.
Your word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path.
I have sworn and I will confirm it,
that I will keep Your righteous judgments.
I am exceedingly afflicted;
revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.
Accept, I beseech You, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD,
and teach me Your judgments.
𝙍: Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.
My life is continually in my hand,
yet I do not forget Your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.
Your testimonies have I taken as my heritage forever,
for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever,
even to the end.
I hate the double-minded,
but Your law do I love.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in Your word.
Depart from me, you evildoers,
that I may keep the commandments of my God.
Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live,
and let me not be ashamed in my hope.
𝙍: Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.
Hold me up, that I may be safe
and that I may observe Your statutes continually.
You reject all those who stray from Your statutes,
for their deceit is falsehood.
You destroy all the wicked of the earth like dross;
therefore I love Your testimonies.
My flesh trembles for fear of You,
and I am afraid of Your judgments.
𝙍: Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.
I have done justice and righteousness;
let not the proud oppress me.
Guarantee the well-being of Your servant;
let not the proud oppress me.
My eyes fail from watching for Your salvation,
and for the fulfillment of Your righteous word.
Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy,
and teach me Your statutes.
𝙍: Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.
I am Your servant; give me understanding,
so that I may know Your testimonies.
It is time for You, O LORD, to act,
for they have broken Your law.
Therefore I love Your commandments
more than gold, more than fine gold.
Therefore I esteem all Your precepts to be right;
I hate every false way.
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: Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.
Psalm prayer
O God, save us from ourselves, from double standards and divided hearts, and give us light and life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
2 Samuel 6:1-19
Again David gathered all of the chosen men in Israel, thirty thousand. David and all of the people who were with him arose and went from Baalah of Judah to bring up the ark of God, so named for the name of the LORD of Hosts who sits enthroned among the cherubim that are upon it. They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio the sons of Abinadab were driving the new cart. They brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on the hill, and Ahio was walking in front of the ark. Meanwhile, David and the entire house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all sorts of instruments made of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.
When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled. The LORD became angry against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence. He died there beside the ark of God.
David became angry because of the outburst of the LORD against Uzzah; that place is called Perez Uzzah to this day.
David feared the LORD that day, and he thought, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” So David did not allow the ark of the LORD to be brought to him in the City of David. Instead, David redirected it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the LORD remained at the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household.
When it was reported to King David, “The LORD has blessed Obed-Edom and everything that belongs to him, for the sake of the ark of God,” David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, David would sacrifice an ox and a fattened steer. David danced before the LORD with all of his might, and he wore a linen ephod. So David and the whole house of Israel escorted the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the horn.
When the ark of the LORD entered the City of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down from the window, and upon seeing King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she thought contemptuously of him in her mind.
They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people before the LORD of Hosts. He distributed to all of the people, the entire multitude of Israel, both men and women, one bread cake, one date cake, and one raisin cake to each one. Then all of the people left, each to his house.
David returned to bless his household, but Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet him. She said, “How the king of Israel has dignified himself today, exposing himself this day in the sight of his servant’s slave girls like one of the rabble might shamelessly expose himself.”
Then David responded to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me over your father and over everyone in his household, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. I was celebrating before the LORD. I will humble myself even more than this and be abased in my own eyes. But by the maidservants, of whom you have spoken, I will be held in honor.”
Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 7:17-43
“When the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt until another king rose up who did not know Joseph. He dealt deceitfully with our people and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to expose their infants, so that they would not live.
“At that time Moses was born, and was fair in the sight of God. And he was reared for three months in his father’s house. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and reared him as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in words and in deeds.
“When he was forty years old, it came to his heart to visit his brothers, the Israelites. But seeing one being wronged, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. On the next day he appeared to them as they fought and tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’
“But the one wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? Will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ Moses fled at this word and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
“When forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he drew near to look at it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled and dared not look.
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt. I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?’ God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear.’ This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust away. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods to go before us. For we do not know what has become of this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt.’ So they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
‘O House of Israel, have you offered to Me slain animals and sacrifices
for forty years in the wilderness?
Yes, you even raised the shrine of Moloch,
and the star of your god Remphan,
idols which you made to worship;
therefore I will exile you beyond Babylon.’
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
In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O God, you declare your almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity: mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace, that we, running the way of your commandments, may receive your gracious promises, and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure; 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.