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.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Daily Prayer, Monday, September 26, 2011

Restore us, O God;
  let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Morning
Invitatory Psalm  95
O come, let us sing to the Lord:
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
We come into your presence with thanksgiving;
we make a joyful noise to you with songs of praise.
You, Lord, are a great God,

In your hands are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are yours also.
The sea is yours, for you have made it,
and the dry land, which your hands have formed.

O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us we kneel before our Maker!
For you are our God,
and we are the people of your pasture,
and the sheep of your hand.
….



Psalm 57
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by.
2 I cry to God Most High, you who fulfill your purpose for me. 3 You will send from heaven and save me, you will put to shame those who trample on me. You will send forth your steadfast love and faithfulness.

4 I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.
….
8 Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn. 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10 For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the clouds.

11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 61
1Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.

2From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; 3for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

4Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings. 5For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name….8 So I will always sing praises to your name, as I pay my vows day after day.

Psalm 64
1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from the dread enemy. 2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the scheming of evildoers, 3 who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, 4 shooting from ambush at the blameless; they shoot suddenly and without fear.

5 They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, “Who can see us? 6 Who can search out our crimes? We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.” For the human heart and mind are deep. 7 But you will overcome them....
9Then everyone ... will tell what God has brought about. They will ponder what you have done. 10Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord who is their refuge. Let all the upright in heart glory.


Daily Lectionary Reading, Matthew 21:33-46

33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and took a trip. 34 When it was time for harvest, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. 35 But the tenant farmers grabbed his servants. They beat some of them, and some of them they killed. Some of them they stoned to death.

36 “Again he sent other servants, more than the first group. They treated them in the same way. 37 “Finally he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and we’ll have his inheritance.’ 39 They grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

40 “ When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers? ”

41 They said, “ He will totally destroy those wicked farmers and rent the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruit when it’s ready. ”

42 Jesus said to them, “ Haven’t you ever read in the scriptures, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes? (o) 43 Therefore, I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be crushed. And the stone will crush the person it falls on. ”

45 Now when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard the parable, they knew Jesus was talking about them. 46 They were trying to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, who thought he was a prophet.
[Common English Bible]
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o  Ps 118:22–23

Prayer for Today: You have provided for us a cornerstone on which we can build your church. Form us into a people who can hear your words and respond to them according to your will.  Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:89-96


Evening

Psalm 88

1O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
2let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.
3For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
4I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help,
5like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.
6You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.
7Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you.
10Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah
11Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?
15Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate

Psalm 91
1You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, 2will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust. 3 You will deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;4 you will cover me with your pinions, and under your wings I will find refuge; your faithfulness is a shield and buckler.”

5You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, 6or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.….

9Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place,
10no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. 11For God will command the angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. 13You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

God says, 14 “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. 15When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. 16With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.”

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