Daily Prayer, Thursday, September 8, 2011

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me.

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!

Psalm 125, 126, 127, 128, 129
Psalm 125
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
   which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
   so the Lord surrounds his people,
   from this time on and for evermore.
….
Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
   we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
   and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
   ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
   and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
   like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
   reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
   bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
   carrying their sheaves.

Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds the house,
   those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
   the guard keeps watch in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
   and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
   for he gives sleep to his beloved.

Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,
   the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
   are the sons of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has
   his quiver full of them.
He shall not be put to shame
   when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 128
Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
   who walks in his ways.
You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands;
   you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.
….

Psalm 129
‘Often have they attacked me from my youth’
   —let Israel now say—
‘often have they attacked me from my youth,
   yet they have not prevailed against me.
Those who plough ploughed on my back;
   they made their furrows long.’
The Lord is righteous;
   he has cut the cords of the wicked.
....

Daily Lectionary Reading, Psalm 103:8-13

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
   nor will he keep his anger for ever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
   nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
   so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
   so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
   so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.


Midday Psalm 119:161-168


Evening
Psalms 135, 136


Psalm 135
Praise the Lord!
   Praise the name of the Lord;
   give praise, O servants of the Lord,
you that stand in the house of the Lord,
   in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
   sing to his name, for he is gracious.
….
Whatever the Lord pleases he does,
   in heaven and on earth,
   in the seas and all deeps.
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth;
   he makes lightnings for the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
….
Your name, O Lord, endures for ever,
   your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
For the Lord will vindicate his people,
   and have compassion on his servants.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
   they have eyes, but they do not see;
they have ears, but they do not hear,
   and there is no breath in their mouths.
Those who make them
   and all who trust them
   shall become like them.
….
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 136
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever.
O give thanks to the God of gods,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
who alone does great wonders,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
who by understanding made the heavens,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
who spread out the earth on the waters,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
who made the great lights,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
the sun to rule over the day,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
....
It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
and rescued us from our foes,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever;
who gives food to all flesh,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever.

O give thanks to the God of heaven,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever.