Wednesday morning July 31
Image: Unsplash
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim 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
Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!
Charles Wesley
Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!
thine own immortal strength put on;
with terror clothed, hell's kingdom shake
and cast thy foes with fury down.
As in the ancient days appear;
the sacred annals speak thy fame:
be now omnipotently near,
to endless ages still the same.
Thine arm, Lord, is not shortened now;
it lacks not now the power to save;
still present with thy people, thou
bearest them through life's disparted wave.
By death and hell pursued in vain,
to thee the ransomed seed shall come,
shouting, their heavenly Zion gain,
and pass through death triumphant home.
Where pure essential joy is found,
the Lord's redeemed their heads shall raise,
with everlasting gladness crowned,
and filled with love, and lost in praise.
Confession of sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us for our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his loving kindness towards 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.
Like a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
Praise the LORD, my soul!
All that is within me, praise his holy name!
Praise the LORD, my soul,
and don’t forget all his benefits.
Psalm 119:57-80
Refrain:
I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous.
The LORD is my portion;
I have promised to keep Your words.
I have sought Your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to Your promise.
I considered my ways
and turned my steps to Your testimonies.
I hurried without hesitating
to keep Your commandments.
Though the ropes of the wicked bind me,
I do not forget Your law.
At midnight I rise to give You thanks
for Your righteous judgments.
I am a friend to all who fear You,
and to those who keep Your precepts.
The earth is filled with Your loving devotion, O LORD;
teach me Your statutes.
You are good to Your servant, O LORD,
according to Your word.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in Your commandments.
Before I was afflicted, I went astray;
but now I keep Your word.
You are good, and You do what is good;
teach me Your statutes.
Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,
I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
Their hearts are hard and callous,
but I delight in Your law.
It was good for me to be afflicted,
that I might learn Your statutes.
The law from Your mouth is more precious to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
May those who fear You see me and rejoice,
for I have hoped in Your word.
I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,
and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
May Your loving devotion comfort me, I pray,
according to Your promise to Your servant.
May Your compassion come to me, that I may live,
for Your law is my delight.
May the arrogant be put to shame for subverting me with a lie;
I will meditate on Your precepts.
May those who fear You turn to me,
those who know Your testimonies.
May my heart be blameless in Your statutes,
that I may not be put to shame.
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.
Refrain:
I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous.
Psalm prayer
God our comforter,
send your Holy Spirit
to reveal your hidden mercy
even in our failures and troubles;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Samuel 20:18-42
Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed if your seat is empty. When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel. I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target. Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them,’ then come, because as surely as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away. And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”
So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat. He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, but David’s place was empty. Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”
But on the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he did not come to the king’s table.”
Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the disgrace of the mother who bore you? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”
“Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.
In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him. He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.
When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.
And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’ ” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. And when this sound rang out, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking his own language.
Astounded and amazed, they asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? How is it then that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism; Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
Astounded and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice, and addressed the crowd: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to my words. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only the third hour of the day! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out My Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on My menservants and maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness,
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
𝙍: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke through His holy prophets,
those of ages past,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,
that we may serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our lives.
And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path 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.
𝙍: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
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 God,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your church:
open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy and peace;
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.
Tuesday morning July 30
Image: Unsplash
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim 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
Light of Those Whose Dreary Dwelling
Charles Wesley
Light of those whose dreary dwelling
Borders on the shades of death,
Come, and by thy love's revealing
Dissipate the clouds beneath.
The new heaven and earth's Creator,
In our deepest darkness rise,
Scattering all the night of nature,
Pouring eyesight on our eyes.
Still we wait for thine appearing;
Life and joy thy beams impart,
Chasing all our fears, and cheering
Every poor benighted heart.
Come, and manifest the favor
God hath for our ransomed race;
Come, thou universal Savior,
Come, and bring the gospel grace.
Save us in thy great compassion,
O thou mild, pacific Prince;
Give the knowledge of salvation,
Give the pardon of our sins.
By thine all restoring merit
Every burdened soul release;
Every weary, wandering spirit
Guide into thy perfect peace.
Confession of sin
Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
After a period of reflection
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
Lord our God,
in our sin, we have avoided your call.
Our love for you is like a morning mist,
like the early dew that vanishes.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgment;
bind up our wounds and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
cf Hosea 6
May almighty God,
who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,
bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.
Psalm 48
𝙍: O God, we contemplate Your loving devotion.
Great is the LORD,
and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God,
His holy mountain.
Beautiful in loftiness,
the joy of all the earth,
like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the great King.
God is in her citadels;
He has shown Himself to be a fortress. 𝙍
For behold, the kings assembled;
they all advanced together.
They saw and were astounded;
they fled in terror.
Trembling seized them there,
anguish like a woman in labor.
With a wind from the east
You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of the LORD of Hosts,
in the city of our God:
God will establish her forever. 𝙍
Within Your temple, O God,
we contemplate Your loving devotion.
Your name, O God, like Your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
Mount Zion is glad,
the daughters of Judah rejoice,
on account of Your judgments.
March around Zion, encircle her,
count her towers,
consider her ramparts, tour her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation.
For this God is our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even till death.
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, we contemplate Your loving devotion.
Psalm prayer
Father of lights,
raise us with Christ to your eternal city,
that, with kings and nations,
we may wait in the midst of your temple
and see your glory forever and ever.
Psalm 52
𝙍: I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
Your tongue devises destruction
like a sharpened razor,
O worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
falsehood more than speaking truth.
You love every word that devours,
O deceitful tongue.
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin;
He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent;
He will uproot you from the land of the living.
The righteous will see and fear;
they will mock the evildoer, saying,
“Look at the man
who did not make God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his wealth
and strengthened himself by destruction.”
But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in the loving devotion of God
forever and ever.
I will praise You forever,
because You have done it.
I will wait on Your name—
for it is good—
in the presence of Your saints.
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: I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
Psalm prayer
Faithful and steadfast God,
nourish your people in this wicked world,
and, through prayer and the Scriptures,
give us our daily bread;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Samuel 20:1-17
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”
“Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”
But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”
So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now. If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’ If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions. Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”
“Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”
Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
“Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.”
So the two of them went out into the field, and Jonathan said, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you? But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father. And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die, and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.” And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 1:15-26
In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”
(Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out. This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
“For it is written in the book of Psalms:
‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’
and,
‘May another take his position.’
Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”
Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
𝙍: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke through His holy prophets,
those of ages past,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,
that we may serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our lives.
And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path 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.
𝙍: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
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
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your church:
open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy and peace;
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.
Monday morning July 29
Image: Unsplash
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim 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
Let the Redeemed Give Thanks and Praise
Charles Wesley
Let the redeemed give thanks and praise
To a forgiving God!
My feeble voice I cannot raise
Till washed in Jesus’ blood:
Till, at thy coming from above,
My mountain-sins depart,
And fear gives place to filial love,
And peace overflows my heart.
Prisoner of hope, I still attend
The appearing of my Lord,
These endless doubts and fears to end,
And speak my soul restored;
Restored by reconciling grace,
With present pardon blest,
And fitted by true holiness
For my eternal rest.
The peace which man can never conceive,
The love and joy unknown,
Now, Father, to thy servant give,
And claim me for thine own.
My God, in Jesus pacified,
My God, thyself declare,
And draw me to his open side,
And plunge the sinner there.
Confession of sin
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their own ways
and the unrighteous their own thoughts.
Let them return to the LORD so that he may have compassion,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God,
we have sinned against you;
we have done what is evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your loving devotion.
Wash us clean of our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin.
Renew a right spirit within us,
and restore to us the joy of your salvation
through Jesus Christ our 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.
Bless be the LORD,
for he has heard our cry for mercy.
Therefore our hearts rejoice
and we give thanks to him with our song.
cf Psalm 28:7, 9
Psalm 44
𝙍: Rise up, O LORD; be our help!
We have heard with our ears, O God;
our fathers have told us
the work You did in their days,
in the days of old.
With Your hand You drove out the nations
and planted our fathers there;
You crushed the peoples
and cast them out.
For it was not by their sword that they took the land;
their arm did not bring them victory.
It was by Your right hand,
Your arm, and the light of Your face,
because You favored them. 𝙍
You are my King, O God,
who ordains victories for Jacob.
Through You we repel our foes;
through Your name we trample our enemies.
For I do not trust in my bow,
nor does my sword save me.
For You save us from our enemies;
You put those who hate us to shame.
In God we have boasted all day long,
and Your name we will praise forever. 𝙍
But You have rejected and humbled us;
You no longer go forth with our armies.
You have made us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us have plundered us.
You have given us up as sheep to be devoured;
You have scattered us among the nations.
You sell Your people for nothing;
no profit do You gain from their sale.
You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
a mockery and derision to those around us.
You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples. 𝙍
All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face,
at the voice of the scorner and reviler,
because of the enemy, bent on revenge.
All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten You
or betrayed Your covenant.
Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from Your path.
But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals;
You have covered us with deepest darkness.
If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God have discovered,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?
Yet for Your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 𝙍
Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping?
Arise! Do not reject us forever.
Why do You hide Your face
and forget our affliction and oppression?
For our soul has sunk to the dust;
our bodies cling to the earth.
Rise up; be our help!
Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.
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: Rise up, O LORD; be our help!
Psalm prayer
In the darkness of unknowing,
when your love seems absent,
draw near to us, O God,
in Christ forsaken,
in Christ risen,
our Redeemer and our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Samuel 19:1-18
Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David.
But Jonathan delighted greatly in David, so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, so I can ask about you. And if I find out anything, I will tell you.”
Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you. He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”
So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul to serve him as he had before.
When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him.
But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night.
Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.
Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.”
But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.” And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair on its head.
And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away and he has escaped!”
Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’ ”
So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 1:1-14
In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
𝙍: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke through His holy prophets,
those of ages past,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,
that we may serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our lives.
And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path 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.
𝙍: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
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 media and the arts
Farming and fishing
Commerce and industry
Those whose work is unfulfilling, stressful or fraught with danger
All who are unemployed
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,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your church:
open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy and peace;
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.