Morning Prayer
Psalm 39. Dixi, Custodiam.
1 I SAID, I will take heed to my ways, * that I offend not in my tongue
2 I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle, * while the ungodly is in my sight.
3 I held my tongue, and spake nothing: * I kept silence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me.
4 My heart was hot within me: and while I was thus musing the fire kindled, * and at the last I spake with my tongue:
5 LORD, let me know mine end, and the number of my days; * that I may be certified how long I have to live.
6 Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; * and verily every man living is altogether vanity.
7 For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; * he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.
8 And now, Lord, what is my hope? * truly my hope is even in thee.
9 Deliver me from all mine offences; * and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.
10 I became dumb, and opened not my mouth; * for it was thy doing.
11 Take thy plague away from me: * I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand.
12 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment: * every man therefore is but vanity.
13 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and with thine ears consider my calling; * hold not thy peace at my tears;
14 For I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, * as all my fathers were.
15 O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength, * before I go hence, and be no more seen.
First Lesson:
1 Sam. 1:12-20
12)And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. 13)Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14)And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. 15)And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16)Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 17)Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18)And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. 19)And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. 20)Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.
Second Lesson:
Luke 11:37
37)And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. 38)And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. 39)And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. 40)Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? 41)But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. 42)But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43)Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. 44)Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. 45)Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. 46)And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47)Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48)Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 49)Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 50)That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51)From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 52)Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. 53)And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: 54)Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
Evening Prayer
Psalm 42. Quemadmodum.
1 LIKE as the hart desireth the water-brooks, * so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God: * when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my meat day and night, * while they daily say unto me, Where is now thy God?
4 Now when I think thereupon, I pour out my heart by myself; * for I went with the multitude, and brought them forth into the house of God;
5 In the voice of praise and thanksgiving, * among such as keep holy-day.
6 Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my soul? * and why art thou so disquieted within me?
7 O put thy trust in God; * for I will yet thank him, which is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8 My soul is vexed within me; * therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, from Hermon and the little hill.
9 One deep calleth another, because of the noise of thy water-floods; * all thy waves and storms are gone over me.
10 The LORD will grant his loving-kindness in the daytime; * and in the night season will I sing of him, and make my prayer unto the God of my life.
11 I will say unto the God of my strength, Why hast thou forgotten me? * why go I thus heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?
12 My bones are smitten asunder as with a sword, * while mine enemies that trouble me cast me in the teeth;
13 Namely, while they say daily unto me, * Where is now thy God?
14 Why art thou so vexed, O my soul? * and why art thou so disquieted within me?
15 O put thy trust in God; * for I will yet thank him, which is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Psalm 43. Judica me, Deus.
GIVE sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause against the ungodly people; * O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.
2 For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou put me from thee? * and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?
3 O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me, * and bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling;
4 And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness; * and upon the harp will give thanks unto thee, O God, my God.
5 Why art thou so heavy, O my soul? * and why art thou so disquieted within me?
6 O put thy trust in God; * for I will yet give him thanks, which is the help of my countenance, and my God.
First Lesson:
Dan. 2:14-24
14)Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15)He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16)Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. 17)Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18)That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19)Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20)Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21)And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22)He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23)I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter. 24)Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
Second Lesson:
Acts 20:17
17)And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. 18)And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, 19)Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: 20)And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21)Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 22)And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23)Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24)But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 25)And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. 26)Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27)For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 28)Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29)For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30)Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31)Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32)And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. 33)I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. 34)Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 35)I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. 36)And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. 37)And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, 38)Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.