Morning Prayer: Wednesday 20 March 2024 Wednesday 20 March 2024
The Suffering Christ Week 5 of Lent O Lord, open our lips: and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.
PSALMODY
Antiphon: I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name for evermore. Psalm 86.12
Opening Venite
1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
‘They shall not enter my rest.”
Glory to the Father or a suitable Hymn
(Or from Psalm 86)
1 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord,*
nor anything like your works.
2 All nations you have made will come and worship you, O Lord,*
and glorify your name.
3 For you are great; you do wondrous things;*
and you alone are God.
4 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;*
knit my heart to you that I may fear your name.
Glory to the Father… or a suitable hymn
Psalm 40
1 I waited patiently upon the Lord;*
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;*
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;*
many shall see, and stand in awe, and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Happy are they who trust in the Lord!*
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
5 Great things are they that you have done, O Lord my God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us!*
there is none who can be compared with you.
6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them!*
but they are more than I can count.
7 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure*
(you have given me ears to hear you);
8 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required,*
and so I said, ‘Behold, I come.
9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me:*
‘I love to do your will, O my God;
your law is deep in my heart.”
10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;*
behold, I did not restrain my lips; and that, O Lord, you know.
11 Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance;*
I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the
great congregation.
12 You are the Lord;
do not withhold your compassion from me;*
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever,
13 For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see;*
they are more in number than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.
14 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;*
O Lord, make haste to help me.
15 Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed
who seek after my life to destroy it;*
let them draw back and be disgraced
who take pleasure in my misfortune.
16 Let those who say ‘Aha!’ and gloat over me be confounded,*
because they are ashamed.
17 Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad;*
let those who love your salvation continually say,
‘Great is the Lord!’
18 Though I am poor and afflicted,*
the Lord will have regard for me.
19 You are my helper and my deliverer;*
do not tarry, O my God.
Glory to the Father…
God our saviour, hear our prayer for all who suffer at the hands of others, and especially for those who suffer for the sake of justice. Raise and comfort them, and lead us all in the paths of loving service. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.
Conclusion Isaiah 42
Behold my servant, whom I uphold*
my chosen, in whom
my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him*
he will bring forth justice to the nations:
He will not cry nor lift up his voice*
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break*
a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice*
he will not fail nor be discouraged,
till he has established justice in the earth*
and the coastlands wait for his law.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name for evermore.
READING(S) Exodus 7.8-24
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a wonder’, then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’ ‘ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts. Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs. Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. Say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.’ But until now you have not listened. Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord.’ See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.’ ‘ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egyptover its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of waterso that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ‘ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.
2 Corinthians 2.14-3.6
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Silence
Response Psalm (119.123)
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
And for your righteous promise.
For your salvation.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus antiphon: Anyone who serves me must follow me, says the Lord and where I am there shall my servant be also. (John 12.26)
1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,* for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,* born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old* that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,* and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:* to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,* holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,* for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation* by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God* the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,* and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
Benedictus antiphon: Anyone who serves me must follow me, says the Lord and where I am there shall my servant be also. (John 12.26)
PRAYERS
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen
Collect of the Day Merciful God,
look upon your family as we travel to the foot of the cross: and, by your great goodness, guide us in body;
that, by your protection,
we may also be preserved in heart and mind; through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
Amen
God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen
Let us bless the Lord: Thanks be to God!
The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.
