Monday 28 February 2011 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Monday 28 February 2011 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Deuteronomy 4:9-14

But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children— how you once stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth, and may teach their children to do so’; you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the ten commandments;* and he wrote them on two stone tablets. And the Lord charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.
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2 Corinthians 10:1-18

I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold towards you when I am away!— I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards.* Indeed, we live as human beings,* but we do not wage war according to human standards;* for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human,* but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

 Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we. Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’ Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.

 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense. We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you. For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news* of Christ. We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labours of others; but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may proclaim the good news* in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s sphere of action. ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.
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Matthew 6:7-15

‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 ‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name. 
   Your kingdom come.
   Your will be done,
     on earth as it is in heaven. 
   Give us this day our daily bread.* 
   And forgive us our debts,
     as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
   And do not bring us to the time of trial,*
     but rescue us from the evil one.* 
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 1, 2, 3

Psalm 1

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers; 
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night. 
They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper. 


The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.


Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire,
   and the peoples plot in vain? 
The kings of the earth set themselves,
   and the rulers take counsel together,
   against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 
‘Let us burst their bonds asunder,
   and cast their cords from us.’ 


He who sits in the heavens laughs;
   the Lord has them in derision. 
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
   and terrify them in his fury, saying, 
‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’ 


I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
   today I have begotten you. 
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
   and the ends of the earth your possession. 
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
   and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ 


Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
   be warned, O rulers of the earth. 
Serve the Lord with fear,
   with trembling kiss his feet,*
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
   for his wrath is quickly kindled. 


Happy are all who take refuge in him.


Psalm 3

O Lord, how many are my foes!
   Many are rising against me; 
many are saying to me,
   ‘There is no help for you* in God.’
          Selah 


But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
   my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 
I cry aloud to the Lord,
   and he answers me from his holy hill.
          Selah 


I lie down and sleep;
   I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. 
I am not afraid of tens of thousands of people
   who have set themselves against me all around. 


Rise up, O Lord!
   Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
   you break the teeth of the wicked. 


Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
   may your blessing be on your people!
          Selah
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 4, 7

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
   You gave me room when I was in distress.
   Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. 


How long, you people, shall my honour suffer shame?
   How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?
          Selah 
But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
   the Lord hears when I call to him. 


When you are disturbed,* do not sin;
   ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
          Selah 
Offer right sacrifices,
   and put your trust in the Lord. 


There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good!
   Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!’ 
You have put gladness in my heart
   more than when their grain and wine abound. 


I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
   for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.


Psalm 7

O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;
   save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me, 
or like a lion they will tear me apart;
   they will drag me away, with no one to rescue. 


O Lord my God, if I have done this,
   if there is wrong in my hands, 
if I have repaid my ally with harm
   or plundered my foe without cause, 
then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
   trample my life to the ground,
   and lay my soul in the dust.
          Selah 


Rise up, O Lord, in your anger;
   lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
   awake, O my God;* you have appointed a judgement. 
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
   and over it take your seat* on high. 
The Lord judges the peoples;
   judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
   and according to the integrity that is in me. 


O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
   but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
   O righteous God. 
God is my shield,
   who saves the upright in heart. 
God is a righteous judge,
   and a God who has indignation every day. 


If one does not repent, God* will whet his sword;
   he has bent and strung his bow; 
he has prepared his deadly weapons,
   making his arrows fiery shafts. 
See how they conceive evil,
   and are pregnant with mischief,
   and bring forth lies. 
They make a pit, digging it out,
   and fall into the hole that they have made. 
Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
   and on their own heads their violence descends. 


I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
   and sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
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