Morning Prayer
Feria (Green); Day of Abstinence
Psalms: Psalm 11, 12
King James Version
1 In the LORD put I my trust: How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? 2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? 4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. 5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. 6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright. 1 Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. 2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. 3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: 4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? 5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. 6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. 8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
First Lesson: Ezekiel 20:27-44
King James Version
27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings. 29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. 30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? 31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you. 32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. 33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: 34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. 36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. 37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: 38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols. 40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 42 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. 43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. 44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
King James Version
1 For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: 2 But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. 3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: 6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: 8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. 9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. 10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: 11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, 12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. 13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. 14 For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: 15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: 16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
Reflection
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” It is a question which can leave us anxious, because so much seems uncertain. What can we do when truth is treated lightly, worship is mixed with self-interest, and words are used to flatter, manipulate, or deceive?
The answer of the Psalmist is not that the righteous must first repair the foundations. It is this: “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven.” Before anything else, God remains God. His eyes behold; he tries the children of men. The world may be unstable, but the Lord’s throne is not.
That is the comfort beneath the severe passages appointed today. Ezekiel recalls Israel’s repeated turning aside. The people had been brought into the land by God’s covenant mercy, yet they sought out high places and idols. They wanted the privileges of being God’s people without the obedience of being God’s people. Their worship became polluted because their hearts were divided.
And yet the Lord does not abandon them to their corruption. He says that he will gather them, bring them into the wilderness, and plead with them face to face. He will cause them to pass under the rod and bring them into the bond of the covenant. The image is not of casual improvement, but of searching purification. God will separate the rebels from the faithful and cleanse his people from their idols.
This is a hard mercy. We often ask God to bless us without examining us. But the Lord’s purpose is not merely to make us comfortable in our present condition. He intends to make us true. He will have a people whose worship is sincere, whose obedience is real, and whose lives do not contradict their prayers.
The promise at the end of Ezekiel is therefore especially precious: “I will have mercy upon you for mine holy name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings.” Our hope is not that we shall be found sufficiently respectable. Our hope is that God is faithful to his own name. He judges sin, but he also gathers and restores sinners.
The apostle Paul shows what that restored life looks like in a minister and in a congregation. His preaching was not “of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile”. He did not use flattering words or hide covetousness beneath religious language. He was not seeking the applause of men, but the approval of God, who tries the heart.
Yet this firmness was not coldness. Paul says that he was gentle among the Thessalonians, “even as a nurse cherisheth her children”. He was willing to give them not only the gospel but his own soul, because they were dear to him. Truth and tenderness belong together. The faithful minister does not soften God’s word in order to please people; neither does he wield it without love. He speaks the truth because he loves those who need to hear it.
The Thessalonians, for their part, received the apostolic message “not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God”. That is the heart of the matter. The Church does not live by the changing opinions of the age, nor by the charm of its ministers, nor by the cleverness of its members. The Church lives by receiving God’s word and allowing that word to work in those who believe.
So the Psalms direct our speech as well as our trust. Human words may be proud, double-hearted, and flattering; “the words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace”. On this day of abstinence, we may think not only of refraining from food, but of laying aside whatever feeds vanity and self-deception. Let our words be fewer, truer, and more charitable. Let our worship be cleansed of pretence. Let us submit ourselves afresh to the searching word of God.
The foundations are not destroyed, for the Lord is in his holy temple. He will purify his people, preserve his word, and establish those who trust in him. Therefore receive his word humbly, speak it faithfully, and walk worthy of the God who has called you into his kingdom and glory.
Evening Prayer
Feria (Green); Day of Abstinence
Psalms: Psalm 13, 14
King James Version
1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; 4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. 5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6 I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. 1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. 5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous. 6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. 7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
First Lesson: Ezekiel 22:23-end
King James Version
23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Second Lesson: John 19:31-end
King James Version
31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. 38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Reflection
“How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD?” The cry of Psalm 13 is not the prayer of a faithless man, but of a faithful man in distress. He brings his fear into the presence of God rather than allowing it to harden into despair. There is no pretence here: sorrow is in his heart daily, his enemies seem to triumph, and God appears to hide his face. Yet the psalm does not end in darkness. “I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.”
That movement—from anguish, through prayer, to trust—is one which the Church teaches us to make again and again. We are not required to feel cheerful before we pray. We are required to pray honestly, and to remain turned towards God. The silence of God is not the absence of God; and the delay of deliverance is not the denial of his mercy.
The passage from Ezekiel shows us why the world so often feels disordered and unsafe. The leaders have abused their offices. The priests have violated God’s law and failed to distinguish the holy from the common. The prophets have spoken lies in the Lord’s name. The people have oppressed the poor and needy. At every level, those entrusted with responsibility have sought their own advantage. It is a grim catalogue, and it should make us cautious about imagining that corruption is only found in other people or in other ages.
Most searching of all is the Lord’s word: “I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” The Lord seeks one who will intercede, one who will repair what has been broken, one who will stand between judgment and the guilty. But Ezekiel finds none.
Then we come to the Gospel, and we see the One whom Ezekiel could not find. Jesus hangs upon the cross. He does not merely speak about standing in the gap: he stands there in his own person. The judgment which sin deserves falls upon him; the mercy which sinners need flows from him. “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” The pierced Christ is the answer to the lament of Psalm 13 and to the failure exposed in Ezekiel 22.
John is careful to tell us that Jesus was already dead, and that his legs were not broken. In this, he sees the fulfilment of Scripture: not one of his bones shall be broken. Then the soldier pierces his side, and forthwith there comes out blood and water. The Evangelist solemnly insists that he has seen this and that his record is true, “that ye might believe.” Our faith rests not upon a vague religious feeling, but upon the crucified and risen Lord, truly dead, truly buried, and truly offered for us.
The blood and water remind us of the abundance of Christ’s saving work: cleansing, life, forgiveness, and the gifts by which he gathers and nourishes his Church. Here is no miserly mercy. Even after men have rejected and pierced him, Christ gives forth what is needed for their salvation. The Church of England is right to keep us close to this plain Gospel: Christ crucified for sinners, received by faith, and followed in obedient holiness.
Today’s abstinence may therefore become more than a rule concerning food. Let it be a small and honest confession that our appetites do not govern us, and that we live by the mercy of God. As hunger reminds us of our dependence, let it turn us towards the One whose body was given and whose blood was shed. Let it also sharpen our repentance: are we profaning what God calls holy? Are we careless with truth, harsh towards the needy, or content to leave some broken place unrepaired?
Joseph and Nicodemus, once fearful and secret, now come into the light to honour the dead Christ. Their courage is born at the foot of the cross. So may we, even in weakness, bring our grief, our sin, and our prayers to Jesus. He is the faithful Man whom God sought; and in him the Lord’s mercy is greater than our failure.
Electric See Chapel