Electric See Chapel
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September 2026

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The Chapel archive contains Daily Office readings and reflections that have already been delivered.

September 17, 2026

Morning Prayer

Feria (Green)

Psalms: Psalm 86, 87

King James Version

1 Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. 4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. 9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. 12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. 14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them. 15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. 16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. 17 Show me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast helped me, and comforted me. 1 His foundation is in the holy mountains. 2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. 4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. 5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her. 6 The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah. 7 As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

First Lesson: Jeremiah 33:14-end

King James Version

14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. 17 For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; 18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. 19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. 23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Second Lesson: Philippians 1:12-end

King James Version

12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; 14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. 19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; 26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. 27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 30 Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Reflection

“The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.”

Saint Paul writes those words from prison. His circumstances are not comfortable, convenient, or apparently successful. He is bound; others are taking advantage of his imprisonment; some preach Christ from envy and strife. Yet Paul refuses to measure the work of God by the ease of his circumstances. What appears to be a hindrance has become an occasion for the gospel to be heard.

That is a lesson easily forgotten. We are tempted to think that God’s purposes depend upon favourable conditions: health, security, approval, numbers, or the absence of opposition. But the Church of God has never advanced by human comfort. The gospel has gone forward through weakness, suffering, faithful witness, and the steadfast courage of ordinary Christians. The Church of England, in her proper and ancient calling, knows this well: the faith is not ours to redesign according to the fashion of the hour, but a treasure entrusted to us, to be held and handed on.

Paul is not indifferent to the motives of those who preach. Envy and strife are real sins. Nevertheless, he rejoices that Christ is preached. His own reputation is not the centre of his concern. Christ is. “Whether in pretence, or in truth,” he says, “Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice.” This is not an excuse for falsehood or disorder. It is a sign of a heart set free from jealousy. Paul would rather see the name of Jesus proclaimed than see his own position defended.

Then comes that great declaration: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” This is not a contempt for life, nor a romantic desire for death. Paul knows that to depart and be with Christ is far better, yet he also knows that to remain in the flesh may be more needful for the Church. His life is no longer organised around his own advantage. Whether living or dying, he belongs to Christ; and therefore either state can be fruitful in God’s hand.

That is Christian freedom. We need not cling desperately to comfort, success, or even our own importance. We may ask instead: how may Christ be magnified in me today? In patience, in honest work, in bearing an illness, in caring for another, in speaking the truth without malice, or in enduring some opposition without fear, our lives may become a quiet proclamation of the gospel.

The psalm gives us the prayer which makes such a life possible: “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.” A divided heart is always anxious about reputation and outcome. A united heart has one governing desire: to belong wholly to God. The Lord is “good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy.” Therefore we need not pretend to be stronger or better than we are. We may come as the psalmist comes: poor and needy, asking God to preserve our souls and teach us his way.

And Jeremiah reminds us why we may trust that prayer. God has promised that the righteous Branch shall grow up unto David, and that “the LORD our righteousness” shall be the name of his people. The promise rests not upon our constancy but upon his covenant. Day and night continue in their appointed order; so surely will God keep his word. In Christ, the promised King, our righteousness is not something we manufacture. It is given to us, and then worked out in a life of faithfulness.

So let us not be terrified by adversaries, nor discouraged by unfavourable circumstances, nor consumed by concern for our own standing. Let our conversation—our whole manner of life—be as becometh the gospel of Christ. Stand fast in one spirit; strive together for the faith; and trust the God whose covenant is surer than the ordinances of heaven and earth.

Whether our portion today is labour or rest, health or weakness, life or death, let Christ be magnified in us. For to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Evening Prayer

Feria (Green)

Psalms: Psalm 88

King James Version

1 O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; 3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. 8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. 9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee. 10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. 11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? 12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. 14 LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? 15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. 16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off. 17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together. 18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

First Lesson: Jeremiah 34:8-end

King James Version

8 This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; 9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. 10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. 11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. 12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, 14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. 15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: 16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. 17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, 19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; 20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. 21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you. 22 Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

Second Lesson: John 10:22-end

King James Version

22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. 39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, 40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. 41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. 42 And many believed on him there.

Reflection

Psalm 88 is one of the darkest prayers in the whole Psalter. It begins with faith—“O LORD God of my salvation”—and then descends into trouble, loneliness, and what seems to be the silence of God. It ends not with a triumphant answer, but with the words, “Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.”

The Church gives us this psalm because faithful prayer is not always cheerful prayer. There are times when a Christian cannot see the purpose of suffering, cannot feel the nearness of God, and cannot summon bright words. Yet the man who prays this psalm has not abandoned God. Even in the darkness, he continues to cry unto the Lord. His faith may be little more than a hand stretched out in the night, but it is still faith.

The reading from Jeremiah shows us another kind of darkness: not the darkness of suffering endured, but the darkness of a heart that will not remain faithful. The people of Jerusalem made a covenant to set their Hebrew servants free, and for a time they obeyed. But afterwards they changed their minds and brought those servants back into bondage. They performed the right action, but did not possess steadfast hearts.

The Lord reminds them that he had brought their fathers out of Egypt, “out of the house of bondmen.” Their own freedom was a gift of God, and therefore they were bound to deal justly with their brethren. To reverse their obedience was not a small inconsistency. It was to profane the name of the Lord and to treat his covenant as something that could be taken up or laid down according to convenience.

That warning reaches us, not merely as a lesson about other people long ago, but as a searching word for every Christian life. It is possible to make a good beginning and then turn back. It is possible to speak rightly, worship regularly, and yet resist the obedience which God requires in ordinary conduct. The Lord desires not a passing religious mood, but a faithful heart.

In the Gospel, people gather round Jesus in the temple and demand that he tell them plainly whether he is the Christ. But our Lord points them not to a slogan, nor merely to a declaration, but to his works: “The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.” His identity is revealed in what he does. He is the Son sent by the Father, and his works are the works of God.

Then he gives that beautiful description of his people: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Notice the order. Christ knows his sheep before they follow him. Their security begins in his knowledge and his keeping, not in the strength of their own grip. “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

This does not mean that the Christian will never walk through darkness. Psalm 88 forbids such an interpretation. Nor does it mean that we may turn back from obedience, as Jerusalem did, while presuming upon God’s protection. Rather, it means that even when our faith is weak, Christ remains strong; even when we cannot see his hand, we are still in his hand.

The true sheep hear his voice. They do not merely ask for information about Christ; they listen to him and follow him. His voice is heard in Holy Scripture, in the Church’s faithful teaching, and in the commands by which he orders our lives. The old discipline of the Daily Office is therefore no empty custom: day by day, in light and darkness alike, we place ourselves where the Shepherd’s voice may be heard.

Let us then bring him both kinds of failure: the misery of the suffering heart and the shame of the disobedient heart. He is able to sustain the one and to restore the other. The Son and the Father are one; and no power in earth or heaven can finally pluck Christ’s people from their hands.