Morning Prayer (Matins) in Contemporary Language

¶ Morning Prayer on Thursday
Thursday, 24 September 2020

Preparation

O Lord, open our lips
Alland our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

One or more of the following is said or sung:
a prayer of thanksgiving (page 109),
a suitable hymn,
or A Song of God’s Blessing

1God be gracious to us and bless us ♦
and make his face to shine upon us,

2That your way may be known upon earth, ♦
your saving power among all nations.

3Let the peoples praise you, O God; ♦
let all the peoples praise you.

4O let the nations rejoice and be glad, ♦
for you will judge the peoples righteously
and govern the nations upon earth.

5Let the peoples praise you, O God; ♦
let all the peoples praise you.

6Then shall the earth bring forth her increase, ♦
and God, our own God, will bless us.

7God will bless us, ♦
and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Psalm 67

AllGlory 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.

This opening prayer may be said

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 37*

Refrain: The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.

1 Fret not because of evildoers; ♦
be not jealous of those who do wrong.

2 For they shall soon wither like grass ♦
and like the green herb fade away.

3 Trust in the Lord and be doing good; ♦
dwell in the land and be nourished with truth.

4 Let your delight be in the Lord ♦
and he will give you your heart’s desire.

5 Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, ♦
and he will bring it to pass.

6 He will make your righteousness as clear as the light ♦
and your just dealing as the noonday. R

7 Be still before the Lord and wait for him; ♦
do not fret over those that prosper
as they follow their evil schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; ♦
do not fret, lest you be moved to do evil.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off, ♦
but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land.

10 Yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; ♦
you will search for their place and find them gone.

11 But the lowly shall possess the land ♦
and shall delight in abundance of peace. R

12 The wicked plot against the righteous ♦
and gnash at them with their teeth.

13 The Lord shall laugh at the wicked, ♦
for he sees that their day is coming.

14 The wicked draw their sword and bend their bow
to strike down the poor and needy, ♦
to slaughter those who walk in truth.

15 Their sword shall go through their own heart ♦
and their bows shall be broken.

16 The little that the righteous have ♦
is better than great riches of the wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, ♦
but the Lord upholds the righteous. R

18 The Lord knows the days of the godly, ♦
and their inheritance shall stand for ever.

19 They shall not be put to shame in the perilous time, ♦
and in days of famine they shall have enough.

20 But the wicked shall perish;
like the glory of the meadows
the enemies of the Lord shall vanish; ♦
they shall vanish like smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, ♦
but the righteous are generous in giving.

22 For those who are blest by God shall possess the land, ♦
but those who are cursed by him shall be rooted out. R

23 When your steps are guided by the Lord ♦
and you delight in his way,

24 Though you stumble, you shall not fall headlong, ♦
for the Lord holds you fast by the hand.

25 I have been young and now am old, ♦
yet never have I seen the righteous forsaken,
or their children begging their bread.

26 All the day long they are generous in lending, ♦
and their children also shall be blest. R

27 Depart from evil and do good ♦
and you shall abide for ever.

28 For the Lord loves the thing that is right ♦
and will not forsake his faithful ones.

29 The unjust shall be destroyed for ever, ♦
and the offspring of the wicked shall be rooted out.

30 The righteous shall possess the land ♦
and dwell in it for ever. R

31 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, ♦
and their tongue speaks the thing that is right.

32 The law of their God is in their heart ♦
and their footsteps shall not slide.

33 The wicked spy on the righteous ♦
and seek occasion to slay them.

34 The Lord will not leave them in their hand, ♦
nor let them be condemned when they are judged. R

35 Wait upon the Lord and keep his way; ♦
he will raise you up to possess the land,
and when the wicked are uprooted, you shall see it.

36 I myself have seen the wicked in great power ♦
and flourishing like a tree in full leaf.

37 I went by and lo, they were gone; ♦
I sought them, but they could nowhere be found.

38 Keep innocence and heed the thing that is right, ♦
for that will bring you peace at the last. R

39 But the sinners shall perish together, ♦
and the posterity of the wicked shall be rooted out.

40 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; ♦
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

41 The Lord shall stand by them and deliver them; ♦
he shall deliver them from the wicked and shall save them,
because they have put their trust in him.

Refrain: The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.

Blessed and holy God,
ever merciful and forgiving,
may we turn from what is evil
and do what is good in your sight,
for you have saved us by the cross of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

AllGlory 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.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

1 Kings 11.1-13

King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods;’ Solomon clung to these in love. Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not completely follow the Lord, as his father David had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods.

Then the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. I will not, however, tear away the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.’

Canticle

A Song of the Covenant, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 44 (page 596), may be said

Refrain:

AllI have given you as a light to the nations,
and I have called you in righteousness. Alleluia.

1Thus says God, who created the heavens, ♦
who fashioned the earth and all that dwells in it;

2Who gives breath to the people upon it ♦
and spirit to those who walk in it,

3 ‘I am the Lord and I have called you in righteousness, ♦
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

4 ‘I have given you as a covenant to the people, ♦
a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind,

5‘To bring out the captives from the dungeon, ♦
from the prison, those who sit in darkness.

6‘I am the Lord, that is my name; ♦
my glory I give to no other.’

Isaiah 42.5-8a

AllGlory 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.

AllI have given you as a light to the nations,
and I have called you in righteousness. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Acts 17.16-end

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the market-place every day with those who happened to be there. Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.’ (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.’ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,
“For we too are his offspring.”
Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

Fear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
AllFear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned.
AllI have called you by name; you are mine.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllFear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.

from Isaiah 43

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,
or Gloria in Excelsis (A Song of God's Glory) (page 635) may be said

Refrain

AllYou promised, O God, to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.

1Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, ♦
who has come to his people and set them free.

2He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, ♦
born of the house of his servant David.

3Through his holy prophets God promised of old ♦
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,

4To show mercy to our ancestors, ♦
and to remember his holy covenant.

5This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: ♦
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

6Free to worship him without fear, ♦
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

7And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, ♦
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

8To give his people knowledge of salvation ♦
by the forgiveness of all their sins.

9In the tender compassion of our God ♦
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

10To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, ♦
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1.68-79

AllGlory 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.

Refrain

AllYou promised, O God, to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.

Prayers

Intercessions are offered
¶ for the day and its tasks
¶ for the world and its needs
¶ for the Church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 362–363

¶ Local government, community leaders
¶ All who provide local services
¶ Those who work with young or elderly people
¶ Schools, colleges and universities
¶ Emergency and rescue organizations

One of the forms of prayer found on pages 362–371 may be used.

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
      upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

AllOur 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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

AllOur Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Conclusion

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
AllAmen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
AllThanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.