It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Daily Prayer, Thursday, August 18, 2011


Thursday,
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.

Morning
Invitatory Psalm 150
Praise the Lord!

We praise you in your sanctuary;
we praise you in your mighty firmament!
We praise you for your mighty deeds;
We praise you according to your surpassing greatness!
We praise you with trumpet sound;
We praise you with tambourine and dance;
We praise you with strings and pipe!
We praise you with clanging cymbals;
We praise you with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!



Psalms 19, 20, 21



Daily Lectionary Reading, Exodus 1:8-22
8 Now a new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “ The Israelite people are now larger in number and stronger than we are. 10 Come on, let’s be smart and deal with them. Otherwise, they will only grow in number. And if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land. ” 11 As a result, the Egyptians put foremen of forced work gangs over the Israelites to harass them with hard work. They had to build storage cities named Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they grew and spread, so much so that the Egyptians started to look at the Israelites with disgust and dread. 13 So the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. 14 They made their lives miserable with hard labor, making mortar and bricks, doing field work, and by forcing them to do all kinds of other cruel work. 15 The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “ When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth and you see the baby being born, if it’s a boy, kill him. But if it’s a girl, you can let her live. ” 17 Now the two midwives respected God so they didn’t obey the Egyptian king’s order. Instead, they let the baby boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the two midwives and said to them, “ Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live? ” 19 The two midwives said to Pharaoh, “ Because Hebrew women aren’t like Egyptian women. They’re much stronger and give birth before any midwives can get to them. ” 20 So God treated the midwives well, and the people kept on multiplying and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives respected God, God gave them households of their own. 22 Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people: “ Throw every baby boy born to the Hebrews into the Nile River, but you can let all the girls live. ”


Today's Prayer:
O Lord, speak to those of us who are in power. Open our eyes to the effects of our will, our selfishness, and remind us of your will. And speak to those of us who are being mistreated. Remind us of your care for these ancient workers and your continued care for all those who are today being mistreated. And speak to those of us who have little power. Remind us to do all we can to further your will so that our actions will further your concern for them. Amen.



Midday Psalm 119:25-32



Evening
Psalms 22, 28

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