Oremus for Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Antiphon¹

Ant. Seek first the kingdom of God,
and the rest will be given to you in addition, says the Lord.
V. Do not fret because of the wicked; *
do not envy those who do evil,
Trust in the Lord and do good; *
then you will dwell in the land and safely pasture. Matthew 6; Psalm 37

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: James Quinn ©
Tune: Duke Street https://tinyurl.com/229vagqf

1 Forth in the peace of Christ we go;
Christ to the world with joy we bring;
Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips,
Christ in our hearts, the world’s true king.

2 King of our hearts, Christ reigns in us;
kingship with him his servants gain;
with Christ, the Servant-Lord of all,
Christ’s world we serve to share Christ’s reign.

3 Priests of the world, Christ sends us forth
this world of time to consecrate,
our world of sin by grace to heal,
Christ’s world in Christ to re-create.

4 Prophets of Christ, we hear his word:
he claims our minds, to search his ways;
he claims our lips, to speak his truth;
he claims our hearts, to sing his praise.

5 We are his Church, he makes us one:
here is one hearth for all to find;
here is one flock, one Shepherd-King;
here is one faith, one heart, one mind.

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

Psalm 47 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/sk7c3h7)

1  Clap your hands together, all ye people *
 O sing unto God with the voice of melody.
2  For the Lord is high, and to be feared *
 he is the great King upon all the earth.
3  He shall subdue the people under us *
 and the nations under our feet.
4  He shall choose out an heritage for us *
 even the worship of Jacob, whom he loved.
5  God is gone up with a merry noise *
 and the Lord with the sound of the trump.
6  O sing praises, sing praises unto our God *
 O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.
7  For God is the King of all the earth *
 sing ye praises with understanding.
8  God reigneth over the heathen *
 God sitteth upon his holy seat.
9  The princes of the people are joined
unto the people of the God of Abraham *
 for God, which is very high exalted,
doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield.
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.

Psalm 48 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/rhcanfm)

1  Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised *
 in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill.
2  The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth *
 upon the north-side lieth the city of the great King;
God is well known in her palaces as a sure refuge.
3  For lo, the kings of the earth *
 are gathered, and gone by together.
4  They marvelled to see such things *
 they were astonished, and suddenly cast down.
5  Fear came there upon them, and sorrow *
 as upon a woman in her travail.
6  Thou shalt break the ships of the sea *
 through the east-wind.
7  Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God *
 God upholdeth the same for ever.
8  We wait for thy loving-kindness, O God *
 in the midst of thy temple.
9  O God, according to thy Name, so is thy praise unto the world’s end *
 thy right hand is full of righteousness.
10  Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughter of Judah be glad *
 because of thy judgements.
11  Walk about Sion, and go round about her *
 and tell the towers thereof.
12  Mark well her bulwarks, set up her houses *
 that ye may tell them that come after.
13  For this God is our God for ever and ever *
 he shall be our guide unto death.
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.

Psalm 49 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/v8qpz99)

1  O hear ye this, all ye people *
 ponder it with your ears, all ye that dwell in the world;
2  High and low, rich and poor *
 one with another.
3  My mouth shall speak of wisdom *
 and my heart shall muse of understanding.
4  I will incline mine ear to the parable *
 and shew my dark speech upon the harp.
5  Wherefore should I fear in the days of wickedness *
 and when the wickedness of my heels compasseth me round about?
6  There be some that put their trust in their goods *
 and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
7  But no man may deliver his brother *
 nor make agreement unto God for him;
8  For it cost more to redeem their souls *
 so that he must let that alone for ever;
9  Yea, though he live long *
 and see not the grave.
10  For he seeth that wise men also die, and perish together *
 as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for other.
11  And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever *
 and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation to another;
and call the lands after their own names.
12  Nevertheless, man will not abide in honour *
 seeing he may be compared unto the beasts that perish;
this is the way of them.
13  This is their foolishness *
 and their posterity praise their saying.
14  They lie in the hell like sheep, death gnaweth upon them,
and the righteous shall have domination over them in the morning *
 their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre out of their dwelling.
15  But God hath delivered my soul from the place of hell *
 for he shall receive me.
16  Be not thou afraid, though one be made rich *
 or if the glory of his house be increased ;
17  For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth *
 neither shall his pomp follow him.
18  For while he lived, he counted himself an happy man *
 and so long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.
19  He shall follow the generation of his fathers *
 and shall never see light.
20  Man being in honour hath no understanding *
 but is compared unto the beasts that perish.
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

Giver of all wisdom,
deliver us from the folly of betraying our eternal birthright
for temporal gain.
Teach us to hold firmly to you
so that we may not treasure things,
but show the imperishable riches of your love
in Jesus Christ. Amen. ^BCW

THE WORD OF GOD

Reading: 2 Kings 8:1-6

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, ‘Get up and go with your household, and settle wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years.’ So the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God; she went with her household and settled in the land of the Philistines for seven years. At the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she set out to appeal to the king for her house and her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, ‘Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.’ While he was telling the king how Elisha had restored a dead person to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, ‘My lord king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.’ When the king questioned the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, ‘Restore all that was hers, together with all the revenue of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.’

HYMN: Jane Parker Huber ©
Tune: St Thomas https://tinyurl.com/c2ld7hxd

1 Let justice flow like streams
of sparkling water, pure,
enabling growth, refreshing life,
abundant, cleansing, sure.

2 Let righteousness roll on
as others’ cares we heed,
an ever-flowing stream of faith
translated into deed.

3 So my God’s plumb line, straight,
define our measure true,
and justice, right, and peace pervade 
this world our whole life through.

Reading: Acts 15:36-41

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.’ Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

CANTICLE Colossians 1:12-20
(Chant by John Michael Talbot https://tinyurl.com/ya95yzto)

Ant. He is the first born of all creation,
in every way the primacy is his.

Let us give thanks to the Father
for having made you worthy
to share the lot of the saints in light.
He rescued us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.
Through him we have redemption,
the forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creatures.
In him everything in heaven and on earth was created,
things visible and invisible.
All were created through him; all were created for him.
He is before all else that is.
In him everything continues in being.
It is he who is head of the body, the church!
He who is the beginning, the first-born of the dead,
so that primacy may be his in everything.
It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him
and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person,
both on earth and in the heavens,
making peace through the blood of his cross.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

THE PRAYERS ^BCW

Eternal God, we rejoice today in the gift of life, which we have received
by your grace, and the new life you give in Jesus Christ.
Especially we thank you for
the love of our families . . .
the affection of our friends . . .
strength and abilities to serve your purpose today . . .
this community in which we live . . .
opportunities to give as we have received. . . .

God of grace, we offer our prayers for the needs of others and commit ourselves
to serve them even as we have been served in Jesus Christ. Especially we pray for
those closest to us, families, friends, neighbors . . .
refugees and homeless men, women and children . . .
the outcast and persecuted . . .
those from whom we are estranged . . .
the church in Africa. . . .

(Karin Simmons: https://tinyurl.com/y7vwp7dd)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

O God of light,
your searching Spirit reveals and illumines
your presence in creation.
Shine your radiant holiness into our lives,
that we may offer our hands and hearts to your work:
to heal and shelter,
to feed and clothe,
to break every yoke and silence evil tongues. 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.

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

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.