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, March 21, 2012

Daily Prayer, Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a right spirit within me.

Morning
Invitatory Psalm 32
Happy are those
  whose transgression is forgiven,
  whose sin is covered.
Happy are those
  to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
  and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silence, my body wasted away
  through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
  your hand was heavy upon me;
  my strength was dried up
      as by the heat of summer. Selah

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
  and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
  and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

Therefore let all who are faithful
  offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress,
  the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah

I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
  whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
  else it will not stay near you.

Many are the torments of the wicked,
  but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
  and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Psalm 120
….
“Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.”
….
Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

Psalm 122
I was glad when they said to me,
   “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,
   as was decreed for Israel,
   to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
   the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
   “May they prosper who love you.
   Peace be within your walls,
      and security within your towers.”

For the sake of my relatives and friends
   I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
   I will seek your good.

Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
   as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
   so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
   for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease,
   of the contempt of the proud.

Psalm 124
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when our enemies attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone the raging waters.

Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Daily Lectionary Reading, Jeremiah 31:31-32
31 The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the LORD.  [Common English Bible]



Prayer for Today: O Lord, remind me this day of the many times that you have led me out of difficulty and guided me into a new way. Forgive me for the times that I have not obeyed your commands. Thank you for continuing to care for me, to lead me, to accompany me through my errors. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:153-160
Look on my misery and rescue me,
  for I do not forget your law.
Plead my cause and redeem me;
  give me life according to your promise.
Salvation is far from the wicked,
  for they do not seek your statutes.
Great is your mercy, O Lord;
  give me life according to your justice.
Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
  yet I do not swerve from your decrees.
I look at the faithless with disgust,
  because they do not keep your commands.
Consider how I love your precepts;
  preserve my life according to your steadfast love.
The sum of your word is truth;
  and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.

Evening
Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in your word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem.
….

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