Oremus for Saturday, October 24, 2020

Antiphon¹

Ant. All you who are thirsty, * come to the waters, says the Lord,
and you who have no money, come, drink in gladness.
V. Give ear, my people, to my teaching; *
incline your ear to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable *
and utter hidden lessons of the past. cf. Isaiah 55; Psalm 78

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires, known,
and from whom no secrets are hid:
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Music: https://tinyurl.com/ycn4djk5

O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will declare your praise.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Praise to you, O Christ, Alleluia!

HYMN: F Richard Garland
Tune: Ratisbon https://tinyurl.com/ycph5hnq

1 When the seeds of Love are sown,
God expects a harvest sure;
Word of God for vision grown,
Holy Truth that will endure.
Wisdom from the Source of Grace,
visit and redeem this place.

2 Some seeds root and quickly grown,
Testament ofGod’s intent.
Some are choked by cares and woe,
lacking needed nourishment.
Spirit of the Living Word,
grow in us the Love we’ve heard.

3 Open then our eyes to see
all the hope Your Love imparts.
Nurture us in dignity,
plant your kingdom in our hearts.
Author of eternal life
come in Christ and give new life.

PSALMS
For psalms in contemporary language, https://tinyurl.com/y9tjh7rk

Psalm 119:1-32 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/y9wwyccr)

1  Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way *
 and walk in the law of the Lord.
2  Blessed are they that keep his testimonies *
 and seek him with their whole heart.
3  For they who do no wickedness *
 walk in his ways.
4  Thou hast charged *
 that we shall diligently keep thy commandments.
5  O that my ways were made so direct *
 that I might keep thy statutes!
6  So shall I not be confounded *
 while I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7  I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart *
 when I shall have learned the judgements of thy righteousness.
8  I will keep thy ceremonies *
 O forsake me not utterly.
9  Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way *
 even by ruling himself after thy word.
10  With my whole heart have I sought thee *
 O let me not go wrong out of thy commandments.
11  Thy words have I hid within my heart *
 that I should not sin against thee.
12  Blessed art thou, O Lord *
 O teach me thy statutes.
13  With my lips have I been telling *
 of all the judgements of thy mouth.
14  I have had as great delight in the way of thy testimonies *
 as in all manner of riches.
15  I will talk of thy commandments *
 and have respect unto thy ways.
16  My delight shall be in thy statutes *
 and I will not forget thy word.
17  O do well unto thy servant *
 that I may live, and keep thy word.
18  Open thou mine eyes *
 that I may see the wondrous things of thy law.
19  I am a stranger upon earth *
 O hide not thy commandments from me.
20  My soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire *
 that it hath alway unto thy judgements.
21  Thou hast rebuked the proud *
 and cursed are they that do err from thy commandments.
22  O turn from me shame and rebuke *
 for I have kept thy testimonies.
23  Princes also did sit and speak against me *
 but thy servant is occupied in thy statutes.
24  For thy testimonies are my delight *
 and my counsellors.
25  My soul cleaveth to the dust *
 O quicken thou me, according to thy word.
26  I have acknowledged my ways, and thou heardest me *
 O teach me thy statutes.
27  Make me to understand the way of thy commandments *
 and so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
28  My soul melteth away for very heaviness *
 comfort thou me according unto thy word.
29  Take from me the way of lying *
 and cause thou me to make much of thy law.
30  I have chosen the way of truth *
 and thy judgements have I laid before me.
31  I have stuck unto thy testimonies *
 O Lord, confound me not.
32  I will run the way of thy commandments *
 when thou hast set my heart at liberty.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

PRAYER

Holy God,
you are just in all your ways
and your commandments are the greatest of treasures.
Give us understanding of your law
and direct us according to your will
that we may be faithful in serving you
for the sake of Jesus our Lord. Amen. ^BCW

THE WORD OF GOD

Reading: Joshua 2:1-14

Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. The king of Jericho was told, ‘Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.’ Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.’ But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, ‘True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.’ She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men: ‘I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.’ The men said to her, ‘Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.’

HYMN: Isaac Watts
Tune: Mendip https://tinyurl.com/y2yyl9kz

1 There is a land of pure delight,
where saints immortal reign;
infinite day excludes the night,
and pleasures banish pain.

2 There everlasting spring abides,
and never-withering flowers;
death, like a narrow sea, divides
that heavenly land from ours.

3 Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood
stand dressed in living green;
so to the Jews old Canaan stood,
while Jordan rolled between.

4 But timorous mortals start and shrink
to cross the narrow sea,
and linger shivering on the brink,
and fear to launch away.

5 O could we make our doubts remove,
those gloomy doubts that rise,
and see the Canaan that we love
with unbeclouded eyes;

6 Could we but climb where Moses stood,
and view the landscape o’er,
not Jordan’s stream, nor death’s cold flood,
should fright us from the shore!

Reading: Romans 11:1-15

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.’ But what is the divine reply to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written,
‘God gave them a sluggish spirit,
   eyes that would not see
   and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.’
And David says,
‘Let their table become a snare and a trap,
   a stumbling-block and a retribution for them;
let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
   and keep their backs for ever bent.’

So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead!

HYMN: Charles Wesley
Tune: Surrey https://tinyurl.com/y3eskyzk

1. Give me the faith which can remove 
and sink the mountain to a plain; 
give me the childlike praying love, 
which longs to build thy house again; 
thy love, let it my heart o’er-power, 
and all my simple soul devour. 

2. I would the precious time redeem, 
and longer live for this alone, 
to spend and to be spent for them
who have not yet my Savior known; 
fully on these my mission prove, 
and only breathe, to breathe thy love. 

3. My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord, 
into thy blessed hands receive; 
and let me live to preach thy word, 
and let me to thy glory live; 
my every sacred moment spend 
in publishing the sinner’s Friend. 

4. Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart 
with boundless charity divine, 
so shall I all my strength exert, 
and love them with a zeal like thine, 
and lead them to thy open side, 
the sheep for whom the Shepherd died.

Reading: Mark 4:1-9

Again Jesus began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

CANTICLE Jonah 2:2-9
(Patrick Schlabs: https://tinyurl.com/yy9zwfv6)

You cast me out into the deep
And there your floods surround
I sank beneath the raging sea
As billows crashed around
I was thrown out from your sight
And I was driven away
I know I will see with my eyes
Again your holy place
Refrain:
I called to God in my distress
He has heard my voice
I cried to him out of the depths
He answered my call, he answered my call

The waters closed in over me
They came to bring me death
I was covered up by the deep
Weeds choked out my breath
I sank down to the mountain roots
The earth had locked me in
Just as the grave sealed up its gates
You saved me from the pit Refrain

As my life fainted away
I remembered you my God
All those who hope in idols vain
Forsake their hope of loveI called to God in my distress
He has heard my voice
I cried to him out of the depths
He answered my call

So with my voice I will give thanks
A sacrifice to you
What I have vowed I now will pay
Salvation comes from you
Salvation comes from you
Salvation comes from you

THE PRAYERS ^BCW

Great and wonderful God, we praise and thank you for the gift of renewal in Jesus
Christ. Especially we thank you for
opportunities for rest and recreation . . .
the regenerating gifts of the Holy Spirit . . .
activities shared by young and old . . .
fun and laughter . . .
every service that proclaims your love. . . .

You make all things new, O God, and we offer our prayers for the renewal of the
world and the healing of its wounds. Especially we pray for
those who have no leisure . . .
people enslaved by addictions . . .
those who entertain and enlighten . . .
those confronted with temptation . . .
the church in North America. . . .

(Plainsong Mode 2: https://tinyurl.com/yctqq8cf)^DL

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the bread of life;
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.

Ancient Gardener,
your holy word is planted in our hearts
as good seed in fertile soil.
So nurture us
that we may bear fruit abundantly.  Amen. ^RCLP

Music: https://tinyurl.com/y9efvwm5
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen. 2 Cor. 13:14

---

^BCW Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 1993.

^EH Exciting Holiness, Ed. Brother Tristram SSF © European Province of the Society of Saint Francis, 1997

^RCLP Revised Common Lectionary Prayers. © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress.

^DL © Daniel Lawson; used with permission.

¹ Adam Bartlett, Simple English Propers; audio from https://musicasacra.com/additional-publications/sep-practice-videos/ ©

The three main scripture readings are from the The New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Edition, The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer (1662).

Musical links are usually either to artists’ albums posted on Spotify or to recordings made available at smallchurchmusic.com. Audio stripped from YouTube videos is footnoted accordingly above.

Compilation © 2020 Stephen T. Benner. All links worked at the time they were created, but I cannot accept responsibility for their content or any damage resulting from their use. The linked content is under the control of the respective content creators and is subject to change at any time. Any copyright texts included in this compilation are provided for non-commercial purposes related to study or worship. Please contact the respective copyright holders for permission to use the texts in other contexts.