Morning Prayer
Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, France, c. 530 (White or Green)
Psalms: Psalm 6, 8
King James Version
1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? 6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. 7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies. 8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. 10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly. 1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
First Lesson: Ezekiel 17
King James Version
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: 4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. 5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. 6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. 7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. 8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. 9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. 10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew. 11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; 13 And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land: 14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. 15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered? 16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. 17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons: 18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. 20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. 21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it. 22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: 23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.
Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 1
King James Version
1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. 5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. 6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. 9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Reflection
The appointed readings take us from tears to praise, from the ruin of a broken covenant to the promise of a flourishing tree, and from the turning away from idols to the patient hope of Christ’s return.
Psalm 6 gives us the prayer of a distressed soul: “Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak.” There is nothing polished or pretended here. The psalmist does not disguise his misery, nor does he presume to stand before God on the strength of his own righteousness. He pleads for mercy. He asks the Lord to hear his weeping, and then comes the quiet confidence: “The LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.”
That is a wholesome pattern for our prayers. We need not wait until our thoughts are tidy and our hearts are calm before coming to God. We may come as we are, confessing our weakness and asking to be healed. The Lord does not despise the broken and contrite heart. Indeed, honest penitence is often the doorway through which renewed faith enters.
Then Psalm 8 lifts our eyes from our distress to the heavens: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” The question is not one of despair, but of wonder. We are small, yet God remembers us. We are frail, yet he has crowned humanity with glory and honour and entrusted us with dominion over his works.
This dignity is not a licence for pride. It is a vocation under God. We are stewards, not owners; servants, not sovereigns. The world is the work of God’s fingers, and our proper task is to receive it gratefully and govern it faithfully beneath his authority.
Ezekiel shows us what happens when that authority is rejected. The king of Judah had entered into a covenant and given his oath, but then despised the covenant and sought security elsewhere. He looked to Egypt for horses and people, rather than trusting the word that had bound him. The judgment is severe because faithlessness is serious. An oath is not merely a sound uttered into the air, and a covenant is not a convenience to be discarded when another prospect appears.
Yet the passage does not end in judgment. God himself promises to take a tender branch from the high cedar and plant it upon a high mountain. What human pride has brought low, God will restore in his own time and by his own hand. The low tree shall be exalted; the dry tree shall flourish. Under the branches of this goodly cedar there shall be shelter for every kind of bird.
The promise finds its fulfilment in the kingdom of Christ. Our Lord is the tender branch, apparently small and unimpressive in the eyes of the world, yet destined to become the refuge of the nations. The Church lives from that promise. We do not sustain Christ’s kingdom by cleverness or worldly power. We are planted by him, nourished by his grace, and called to provide, in our measure, a faithful shelter where the word of God is heard and his mercy received. And, by God’s providence, that Church is not an invention of yesterday, but the ancient household of Christ in which our own Church of England has her proper place and duty.
Saint Paul gives us a picture of what such a people look like. The Thessalonians had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” Conversion is not simply turning away from false things; it is turning towards the living God in active service. Their faith produced work, their love produced labour, and their hope produced patience. The Gospel came to them “not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost.”
That is the mark of genuine Christian faith: not noise, but fruit; not mere profession, but endurance; not fascination with the past, but a life directed towards the future—“to wait for his Son from heaven.”
Today, then, let us bring our weakness to God without shame, receive our dignity without pride, and examine what loyalties govern our lives. Let us turn again from every false refuge to the living and true God. The Lord who hears our weeping is also the Lord who makes the dry tree flourish. In Christ, our hope is not misplaced: he has been raised from the dead, and he will come again to gather his faithful people beneath the shelter of his everlasting kingdom.
Evening Prayer
Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, France, c. 530 (White or Green)
Psalms: Psalm 7
King James Version
1 O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. 7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high. 8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. 9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. 10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. 11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. 14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. 17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
First Lesson: Ezekiel 20:1-26
King James Version
1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2 Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying, 3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you. 4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers: 5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God; 6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands: 7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. 8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. 10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. 11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. 12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. 15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; 16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: 19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; 20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. 21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. 23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; 24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. 25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; 26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
Second Lesson: John 19:1-30
King James Version
1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. 2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. 4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. 5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. 16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. 19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. 23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. 28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Reflection
“Behold your King.”
Pilate’s words are spoken with a mixture of mockery and bewilderment. Jesus has been scourged. The soldiers have dressed him in purple and crowned him with thorns. He is brought out before the crowd, not in royal splendour but in humiliation. Yet Pilate speaks more truly than he knows: “Behold your King.”
The readings today ask us what sort of king we are prepared to have. Israel’s history, as rehearsed by Ezekiel, is a history of being chosen, rescued, instructed, and yet repeatedly turning aside. The Lord brought his people out of Egypt. He gave them statutes by which they might live. He gave them sabbaths as a sign that they belonged to him. But their hearts went after idols. They preferred the work of their own hands, and the ways of the nations around them, to the living God.
That temptation is not confined to the ancient world. An idol is anything to which we give the honour, trust, and obedience that belong to God. It may be wealth, reputation, comfort, political power, or simply our own judgement. Idolatry need not involve bowing before a carved image. It is enough that something else becomes the final authority in our lives.
In the Passion, the choice is made starkly visible. “We have no king but Caesar,” cry the chief priests. They reject the true King in order to preserve their place within an earthly order. Pilate, too, knows that Jesus is innocent, yet fears the crowd and the accusation that he is no friend of Caesar. Both sides confess, in different ways, that their security lies elsewhere.
And Jesus? He does not seize power or defend himself by force. He tells Pilate, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.” His kingdom is not established by the methods of this world. His authority is revealed through faithful obedience, even unto death. He reigns from the cross.
This is the great paradox of the Gospel. The One who is truly King appears to be defeated. The crown is real, but it is made of thorns. The throne is real, but it is the cross. The title is written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Pilate intends it as a public notice, perhaps even a jest; God makes it a proclamation to the nations.
Psalm 7 gives us language for the desire that God will judge rightly. “The righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.” We may long for justice when we are falsely accused, or when evil seems to prosper. Yet the Passion shows us that divine judgement is not merely God’s exposure of other people’s sins. It is also the searching light in which our own hearts are revealed. We see the violence of the crowd, the cowardice of Pilate, the compromise of the priests—and we must ask where those same tendencies live in us.
But we also see the mercy of Christ. He does not answer hatred with hatred. He entrusts himself to the Father. He sees his mother and the beloved disciple, and even in his suffering creates a household of care: “Behold thy son”; “Behold thy mother.” His final words are not those of a life accidentally cut short: “It is finished.” The work given him by the Father is completed.
Today we remember Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, a pastor through whom the Gospel was planted and strengthened in Gaul. A bishop’s calling is not to invent a new kingdom, but faithfully to point to the King—preserving the apostolic faith, teaching the commandments of God, and gathering people into the Church’s worship. That remains the calling of the Church, and especially of the Church of England: not to make Christ respectable by worldly standards, but to proclaim him crucified and risen, Lord over every earthly power.
So let us behold our King. Let us bring before him the idols by which we seek security, the compromises by which we protect ourselves, and the sins that the searching God already sees. And let us trust the King who reigns from the cross: for his judgement is true, his mercy is sure, and his finished work is our salvation.