Daily Prayer, Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,

 O righteous,

and shout for joy,

 all you upright in heart.

Morning

Invitatory Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he that made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

  and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

  and his 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.

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

   the tongue that makes great boasts,

those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;

   our lips are our own—who is our master?”

“Because the poor are despoiled,

   because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the Lord;

   “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”

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.

….

Rise up, O Lord, confront them, overthrow them!

By your sword deliver my life from the wicked,

   from mortals—by your hand, O Lord

   — from mortals whose portion in life is in this world.

….

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;

when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

Daily Lectionary Reading, 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15; Psalm 32

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her back to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. But what David had done was evil in the LORD ’s eyes.

12 So the LORD sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor. 2 The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him. 4 “ Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor. ” 5 David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “ As surely as the LORD lives, the one who did this is demonic! [u] 6 He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over [v] because he did this and because he had no compassion. ” 7 “ You are that man! ” Nathan told David. “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. 8 I gave your master’s house [w] to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house [x] of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. 9 Why have you despised the LORD ’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him. 10 Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house.
__________________________________
u Or as good as dead ; MT a son of death v LXX; MT fourfold ( cf Exod 22:1) w Syr daughters x Syr daughters

[Common English Bible]

Prayer for Today: Lord God, open our eyes to see our own sins as clearly as we can recognize the sins that others commit. Amen.

Midday Psalm 119:17-24

Deal bountifully with your servant,

   so that I may live and observe your word.

Open my eyes, so that I may behold

   wondrous things out of your law.

I live as an alien in the land;

   do not hide your commandments from me.

My soul is consumed with longing

   for your ordinances at all times.

You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

   who wander from your commandments;

take away from me their scorn and contempt,

    for I have kept your decrees.

Even though princes sit plotting against me,

    your servant will meditate on your statutes.

Your decrees are my delight, they are my counselors.

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.

….

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.

….

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.

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