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.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Daily Prayer, Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. 
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.


Morning
Invitatory Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into the Lord’s presence with singing.

We know that you are God.
It is you that made us, and we are yours.
we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.

We enter your gates with thanksgiving,
and your courts with praise.
We give thanks to you, bless your name.
For you, O Lord, are good;
your steadfast love endures forever,
and your faithfulness to all generations.



Psalm 12

Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; 
the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
....
The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.


Psalm 13

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? 
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! 
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; 
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.


Psalm 17
Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
From you let my vindication come; let your eyes see the right.
If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.


As for what others do, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.
My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.
Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.


Guard me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me.
They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
They track me down; now they surround me; they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.
They are like a lion eager to tear, like a young lion lurking in ambush.
....
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.




Daily Lectionary Reading, Jonah 4:6-11
6 Then the LORD God provided a shrub (g), and it grew up over Jonah, providing shade for his head and saving him from his misery. Jonah was very happy about the shrub. 7 But God provided a worm the next day at dawn, and it attacked the shrub so that it died. 8 Then as the sun rose God provided a dry east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint. He begged that he might die, saying, “ It’s better for me to die than to live. ” 9 God said to Jonah, “ Is your anger about the shrub a good thing? ” Jonah said, “ Yes, my anger is good—even to the point of death! ” 10 But the LORD said, “ You ‘pitied’ the shrub, for which you didn’t work and which you didn’t raise; it grew in a night and perished in a night. 11 Yet for my part, can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals? ” _________________________________________________ g Botanists disagree about whether Heb qiqayon refers to a climbing gourd plant, a castor bean plant, or some other shrub.


[Common English Bible]


Today's Prayer: O Lord, help us to see what is important. Help us to look beyond our own self-asorption. Stir up in us gratitude for all that we have been given. Stir up in us the desire to give to others. Amen.



Midday Psalm 119:17-24



Evening


Psalm 18
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, 
my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.


The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. 
From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
....
He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; 
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; 
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.


For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.
I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt.
Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
With the loyal you show yourself loyal; with the blameless you show yourself blameless;
with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.


For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.
This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.


For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock besides our God?—
the God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe.
He made my feet like the feet of a deer, and set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand has supported me;
your help has made me great.
You gave me a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.
....
The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation,
the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me;
who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent.
For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

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