Thursday 3 May 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 3 May 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wisdom 5:9-23

‘All those things have vanished like a shadow,
and like a rumour that passes by; 
like a ship that sails through the billowy water,
and when it has passed no trace can be found,
no track of its keel in the waves; 
or as, when a bird flies through the air,
no evidence of its passage is found;
the light air, lashed by the beat of its pinions
and pierced by the force of its rushing flight,
is traversed by the movement of its wings,
and afterwards no sign of its coming is found there; 
or as, when an arrow is shot at a target,
the air, thus divided, comes together at once,
so that no one knows its pathway. 
So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be,
and we had no sign of virtue to show,
but were consumed in our wickedness.’ 
Because the hope of the ungodly is like thistledown carried by the wind,
and like a light frost driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day. 


But the righteous live for ever,
and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them. 
Therefore they will receive a glorious crown
and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,
because with his right hand he will cover them,
and with his arm he will shield them. 
The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armour,
and will arm all creation to repel his enemies; 
he will put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and wear impartial justice as a helmet; 
he will take holiness as an invincible shield, 
and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,
and creation will join with him to fight against his frenzied foes. 
Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim,
and will leap from the clouds to the target, as from a well-drawn bow, 
and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult;
the water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them; 
a mighty wind will rise against them,
and like a tempest it will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth,
and evildoing will overturn the thrones of rulers.
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Colossians 2:8-23

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty
deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental
spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the
whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in
him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were
circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of
the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him
in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of
God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with
him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that
stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it
to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public
example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or
of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow
of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let
anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of
angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of
thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body,
nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a
growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do
you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to
regulations, ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’? All these
regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human
commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in
promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the
body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.
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Luke 6:39-49

He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but
everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Why do you see
the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own
eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Friend, let me take out the
speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own
eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.

‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good
fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered
from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person
out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person
out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of
the heart that the mouth speaks.

‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you? I will
show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts
on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and
laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst
against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well
built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a
house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against
it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 50

Psalm 50

The mighty one, God the Lord,
   speaks and summons the earth
   from the rising of the sun to its setting. 
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
   God shines forth. 


Our God comes and does not keep silence,
   before him is a devouring fire,
   and a mighty tempest all around him. 
He calls to the heavens above
   and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 
‘Gather to me my faithful ones,
   who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’ 
The heavens declare his righteousness,
   for God himself is judge.
          Selah 


‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
   O Israel, I will testify against you.
   I am God, your God. 
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
   your burnt-offerings are continually before me. 
I will not accept a bull from your house,
   or goats from your folds. 
For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
   the cattle on a thousand hills. 
I know all the birds of the air,
   and all that moves in the field is mine. 


‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
   for the world and all that is in it is mine. 
Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
   or drink the blood of goats? 
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
   and pay your vows to the Most High. 
Call on me in the day of trouble;
   I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ 


But to the wicked God says:
   ‘What right have you to recite my statutes,
   or take my covenant on your lips? 
For you hate discipline,
   and you cast my words behind you. 
You make friends with a thief when you see one,
   and you keep company with adulterers. 


‘You give your mouth free rein for evil,
   and your tongue frames deceit. 
You sit and speak against your kin;
   you slander your own mother’s child. 
These things you have done and I have been silent;
   you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you. 


‘Mark this, then, you who forget God,
   or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 
Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me;
   to those who go the right way
   I will show the salvation of God.’
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 59, 60, 114, 115

Psalm 59

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
   protect me from those who rise up against me. 
Deliver me from those who work evil;
   from the bloodthirsty save me. 


Even now they lie in wait for my life;
   the mighty stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, 
   for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. 


Rouse yourself, come to my help and see! 
   You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Awake to punish all the nations;
   spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.
          Selah 


Each evening they come back,
   howling like dogs
   and prowling about the city. 
There they are, bellowing with their mouths,
   with sharp words on their lips—
   for ‘Who’, they think, ‘will hear us?’ 


But you laugh at them, O Lord;
   you hold all the nations in derision. 
O my strength, I will watch for you;
   for you, O God, are my fortress. 
My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
   my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. 


Do not kill them, or my people may forget;
   make them totter by your power, and bring them down,
   O Lord, our shield. 
For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
   let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter, 
   consume them in wrath;
   consume them until they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
   that God rules over Jacob.
          Selah 


Each evening they come back,
   howling like dogs
   and prowling about the city. 
They roam about for food,
   and growl if they do not get their fill. 


But I will sing of your might;
   I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been a fortress for me
   and a refuge on the day of my distress. 
O my strength, I will sing praises to you,
   for you, O God, are my fortress,
   the God who shows me steadfast love.



Psalm 60

O God, you have rejected us, broken our defences;
   you have been angry; now restore us! 
You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open;
   repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering. 
You have made your people suffer hard things;
   you have given us wine to drink that made us reel. 


You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
   to rally to it out of bowshot. 
          Selah 
Give victory with your right hand, and answer us,
   so that those whom you love may be rescued. 


God has promised in his sanctuary:
   ‘With exultation I will divide up Shechem,
   and portion out the Vale of Succoth. 
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
   Ephraim is my helmet;
   Judah is my sceptre. 
Moab is my wash-basin;
   on Edom I hurl my shoe;
   over Philistia I shout in triumph.’ 


Who will bring me to the fortified city?
   Who will lead me to Edom? 
Have you not rejected us, O God?
   You do not go out, O God, with our armies. 
O grant us help against the foe,
   for human help is worthless. 
With God we shall do valiantly;
   it is he who will tread down our foes.



Psalm 114

When Israel went out from Egypt,
   the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 
Judah became God’s sanctuary,
   Israel his dominion. 


The sea looked and fled;
   Jordan turned back. 
The mountains skipped like rams,
   the hills like lambs. 


Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
   O Jordan, that you turn back? 
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
   O hills, like lambs? 


Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
   at the presence of the God of Jacob, 
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
   the flint into a spring of water.



Psalm 115

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
   for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. 
Why should the nations say,
   ‘Where is their God?’ 


Our God is in the heavens;
   he does whatever he pleases. 
Their idols are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands. 
They have mouths, but do not speak;
   eyes, but do not see. 
They have ears, but do not hear;
   noses, but do not smell. 
They have hands, but do not feel;
   feet, but do not walk;
   they make no sound in their throats. 
Those who make them are like them;
   so are all who trust in them. 


O Israel, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 


The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
   he will bless the house of Israel;
   he will bless the house of Aaron; 
he will bless those who fear the Lord,
   both small and great. 


May the Lord give you increase,
   both you and your children. 
May you be blessed by the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth. 


The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
   but the earth he has given to human beings. 
The dead do not praise the Lord,
   nor do any that go down into silence. 
But we will bless the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!
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