Monday 15 May 2023 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 15 May 2023  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Deuteronomy 8:1-10

This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently
observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the
land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember the
long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the
wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in
your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled
you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which
neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you
understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word
that comes from the mouth of the Lord.* The clothes on your back did
not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. Know then
in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your
God disciplines you. Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your
God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God
is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with
springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land
of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land
of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without
scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron
and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and
bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.
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James 1:1-15

James, a servant* of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings. 

 My brothers and sisters,* whenever you face trials of any kind,
consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your
faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so
that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

 If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all
generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in
faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the
sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being
double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive
anything from the Lord.
 Let the believer* who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the
rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a
flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and
withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is
the same with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither
away.
 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the
test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord* has promised to
those who love him. No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being
tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself
tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured
and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives
birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to
death.
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Luke 9:18-27
 
Once when Jesus* was praying alone, with only the disciples near him,
he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’ They answered,
‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of
the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you
say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah* of God.’
 He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying,
‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the
elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third
day be raised.’

 Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let
them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For
those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they
gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are
ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed
when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy
angels. But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will
not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 80

Psalm 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 
   before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us! 

Restore us, O God;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 

O Lord God of hosts,
   how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? 
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
   and given them tears to drink in full measure. 
You make us the scorn* of our neighbours;
   our enemies laugh among themselves. 

Restore us, O God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
   you drove out the nations and planted it. 
You cleared the ground for it;
   it took deep root and filled the land. 
The mountains were covered with its shade,
   the mighty cedars with its branches; 
it sent out its branches to the sea,
   and its shoots to the River. 
Why then have you broken down its walls,
   so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 
The boar from the forest ravages it,
   and all that move in the field feed on it. 

Turn again, O God of hosts;
   look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine, 
   the stock that your right hand planted.* 
They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;*
   may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
   the one whom you made strong for yourself. 
Then we will never turn back from you;
   give us life, and we will call on your name. 

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 77, 79

Psalm 77

I cry aloud to God,
   aloud to God, that he may hear me. 
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
   in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
   my soul refuses to be comforted. 
I think of God, and I moan;
   I meditate, and my spirit faints.
          Selah 

You keep my eyelids from closing;
   I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 
I consider the days of old,
   and remember the years of long ago. 
I commune* with my heart in the night;
   I meditate and search my spirit:* 
‘Will the Lord spurn for ever,
   and never again be favourable? 
Has his steadfast love ceased for ever?
   Are his promises at an end for all time? 
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
   Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’
          Selah 
And I say, ‘It is my grief
   that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’ 

I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
   I will remember your wonders of old. 
I will meditate on all your work,
   and muse on your mighty deeds. 
Your way, O God, is holy.
   What god is so great as our God? 
You are the God who works wonders;
   you have displayed your might among the peoples. 
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
   the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
          Selah 

When the waters saw you, O God,
   when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
   the very deep trembled. 
The clouds poured out water;
   the skies thundered;
   your arrows flashed on every side. 
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
   your lightnings lit up the world;
   the earth trembled and shook. 
Your way was through the sea,
   your path, through the mighty waters;
   yet your footprints were unseen. 
You led your people like a flock
   by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 79

O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
   they have defiled your holy temple;
   they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. 
They have given the bodies of your servants
   to the birds of the air for food,
   the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth. 
They have poured out their blood like water
   all around Jerusalem,
   and there was no one to bury them. 
We have become a taunt to our neighbours,
   mocked and derided by those around us. 

How long, O Lord? Will you be angry for ever?
   Will your jealous wrath burn like fire? 
Pour out your anger on the nations
   that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
   that do not call on your name. 
For they have devoured Jacob
   and laid waste his habitation. 

Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
   let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
   for we are brought very low. 
Help us, O God of our salvation,
   for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins,
   for your name’s sake. 
Why should the nations say,
   ‘Where is their God?’
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
   be known among the nations before our eyes. 

Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
   according to your great power preserve those doomed to die. 
Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbours
   the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord! 
Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,
   will give thanks to you for ever;
   from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
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