Saturday 10 January 2009<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span><!--StartFragment-->
<p class="MsoNormal">DAILY LECTIONARY</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Isaiah 65:1-9</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to be found by those who did not seek me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to a nation that did not call on my name.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I held out my hands all day long</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to a rebellious people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who walk in a way that is not good,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>following their own devices;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a people who provoke me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to my face continually,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">sacrificing in gardens</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and offering incense on bricks;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who sit inside tombs,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and spend the night in secret places;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who eat swine’s flesh,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with broth of abominable things in their vessels;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who say, ‘Keep to yourself,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These are a smoke in my nostrils,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a fire that burns all day long.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">See, it is written before me:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will not keep silent, but I will repay;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will indeed repay into their laps</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their* iniquities and their* ancestors’ iniquities together,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">says the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">because they offered incense on the mountains</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and reviled me on the hills,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will measure into their laps</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>full payment for their actions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thus says the Lord:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the wine is found in the cluster,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for there is a blessing in it’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so I will do for my servants’ sake,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and not destroy them all.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will bring forth descendants* from Jacob,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and from Judah inheritors* of my mountains;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my chosen shall inherit it,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my servants shall settle there.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Revelation 3:1-6</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘I know your works; you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is at the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Yet you have still a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. ******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John 6:1-14</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.*<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages* would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they* sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 138. 139:1-23</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 138</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>before the gods I sing your praise;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I bow down towards your holy temple</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you have exalted your name and your word</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>above everything.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the day I called, you answered me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you increased my strength of soul.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for they have heard the words of your mouth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for great is the glory of the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the haughty he perceives from far away.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though I walk in the midst of trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you stretch out your hand,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your right hand delivers me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do not forsake the work of your hands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 139:1-23</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, you have searched me and known me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You know when I sit down and when I rise up;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you discern my thoughts from far away.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You search out my path and my lying down,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and are acquainted with all my ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even before a word is on my tongue,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, you know it completely.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You hem me in, behind and before,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lay your hand upon me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it is so high that I cannot attain it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Where can I go from your spirit?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or where can I flee from your presence?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I ascend to heaven, you are there;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I take the wings of the morning</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">even there your hand shall lead me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your right hand shall hold me fast.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the light around me become night’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">even the darkness is not dark to you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the night is as bright as the day,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for darkness is as light to you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For it was you who formed my inward parts;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you knit me together in my mother’s womb.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Wonderful are your works;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that I know very well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My frame was not hidden from you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when I was being made in secret,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>intricately woven in the depths of the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In your book were written</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the days that were formed for me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when none of them as yet existed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>How vast is the sum of them!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I try to count them—they are more than the sand;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I come to the end*—I am still with you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O that you would kill the wicked, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">those who speak of you maliciously,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lift themselves up against you for evil!*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hate them with perfect hatred;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I count them my enemies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Search me, O God, and know my heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>test me and know my thoughts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">See if there is any wicked* way in me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lead me in the way everlasting.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 104</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 104</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bless the Lord, O my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord my God, you are very great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You are clothed with honour and majesty,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wrapped in light as with a garment.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You stretch out the heavens like a tent,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you set the beams of your* chambers on the waters,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you make the clouds your* chariot,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you ride on the wings of the wind,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you make the winds your* messengers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>fire and flame your* ministers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You set the earth on its foundations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that it shall never be shaken.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You cover it with the deep as with a garment;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the waters stood above the mountains.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At your rebuke they flee;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the place that you appointed for them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You set a boundary that they may not pass,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that they might not again cover the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You make springs gush forth in the valleys;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they flow between the hills,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">giving drink to every wild animal;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the wild asses quench their thirst.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By the streams* the birds of the air have their habitation;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they sing among the branches.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From your lofty abode you water the mountains;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and plants for people to use,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to bring forth food from the earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and wine to gladden the human heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">oil to make the face shine,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and bread to strengthen the human heart.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In them the birds build their nests;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the stork has its home in the fir trees.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The high mountains are for the wild goats;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have made the moon to mark the seasons;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the sun knows its time for setting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You make darkness, and it is night,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The young lions roar for their prey,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>seeking their food from God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the sun rises, they withdraw</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lie down in their dens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">People go out to their work</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and to their labour until the evening.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, how manifold are your works!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In wisdom you have made them all;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the earth is full of your creatures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yonder is the sea, great and wide,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>creeping things innumerable are there,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>living things both small and great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There go the ships,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These all look to you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to give them their food in due season;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when you give to them, they gather it up;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you hide your face, they are dismayed;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when you take away their breath, they die</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and return to their dust.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you send forth your spirit,* they are created;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and you renew the face of the ground.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may the Lord rejoice in his works—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who looks on the earth and it trembles,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who touches the mountains and they smoke.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will sing praise to my God while I have being.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May my meditation be pleasing to him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I rejoice in the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let sinners be consumed from the earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and let the wicked be no more.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bless the Lord, O my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Praise the Lord!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<!--EndFragment-->