Oremus for Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman is a familiar and revered name in American history. But many are unfamiliar with the details of her remarkable story, the depth of her character, and the inner motivations that drove her. Born into slavery in Maryland in the 1820s, Harriet Tubman’s resolute Christian faith would compel her to extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice. Through her selfless efforts, hundreds of African-American slaves escaped to freedom. Tubman’s tenacious trust in God and love for others earned her the title “the Moses of her people.” She died on this day in 1913. ²

Antiphon¹

Ant. You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.
V. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *
born of the house of his servant David. Luke 1

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/ufxekitx

God, come to my assistance.
Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory 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.

HYMN: Spiritual
Tune: https://tinyurl.com/dbkehbxz

1 When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
Let my people go,
oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go.

Refrain:
Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land,
tell old Pharaoh: Let my people go.

2 The Lord told Moses what to do,
Let my people go,
to lead the Hebrew children through,
Let my people go. [Refrain]

3 As Israel stood by the waterside,
Let my people go,
at God’s command it did divide,
Let my people go. [Refrain]

4 When they had reached the other shore,
Let my people go,
they let the song of triumph soar,
Let my people go. [Refrain]

5 Lord, help us all from bondage flee,
Let my people go,
and let us all in Christ be free,
Let my people go. [Refrain]

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

Psalm 50 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/yaptmvbw)

1  The Lord, even the most mighty God, hath spoken *
and called the world, from the rising up of the sun,
unto the going down thereof.
2  Out of Sion hath God appeared *
in perfect beauty.
3  Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence *
there shall go before him a consuming fire,
and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about him.
4  He shall call the heaven from above *
and the earth, that he may judge his people.
5  Gather my saints together unto me *
those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice.
6  And the heaven shall declare his righteousness *
for God is Judge himself.
7  Hear, O my people, and I will speak *
I myself will testify against thee, O Israel; for I am God, even thy God.
8  I will not reprove thee because of thy sacrifices, or for thy burnt-offerings *
because they were not alway before me.
9  I will take no bullock out of thine house *
nor he-goat out of thy folds.
10  For all the beasts of the forest are mine *
and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11  I know all the fowls upon the mountains *
and the wild beasts of the field are in my sight.
12  If I be hungry, I will not tell thee *
for the whole world is mine, and all that is therein.
13  Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls’ flesh *
and drink the blood of goats?
14  Offer unto God thanksgiving *
and pay thy vows unto the most Highest.
15  And call upon me in the time of trouble *
so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise me.
16  But unto the ungodly said God *
Why dost thou preach my laws, and takest my covenant in thy mouth;
17  Whereas thou hatest to be reformed *
and hast cast my words behind thee?
18  When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him *
and hast been partaker with the adulterers.
19  Thou hast let thy mouth speak wickedness *
and with thy tongue thou hast set forth deceit.
20  Thou satest, and spakest against thy brother *
yea, and hast slandered thine own mother’s son.
21  These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue,
and thou thoughtest wickedly, that I am even such a one as thyself *
but I will reprove thee, and set before thee the things that thou hast done.
22  O consider this, ye that forget God *
lest I pluck you away, and there be none to deliver you.
23  Whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me *
and to him that ordereth his conversation right
will I shew the salvation of God.
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 51 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/yb6rfjqo)

1  Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness *
according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences.
2  Wash me throughly from my wickedness *
and cleanse me from my sin.
3  For I acknowledge my faults *
and my sin is ever before me.
4  Against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight *
that thou mightest be justified in thy saying,
and clear when thou art judged.
5  Behold, I was shapen in wickedness *
and in sin hath my mother conceived me.
6  But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts *
and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.
7  Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean *
thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8  Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness *
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9  Turn thy face from my sins *
and put out all my misdeeds.
10  Make me a clean heart, O God *
and renew a right spirit within me.
11  Cast me not away from thy presence *
and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
12  O give me the comfort of thy help again *
and stablish me with thy free Spirit.
13  Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked *
and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14  Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God,
thou that art the God of my health *
and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness.
15  Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord *
and my mouth shall shew thy praise.
16  For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it thee *
but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings.
17  The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit *
a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise.
18  O be favourable and gracious unto Sion *
build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19  Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness,
with the burnt-offerings and oblations *
then shall they offer young bullocks upon thine altar.
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 52 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/ycgabjj9)

1  Why boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant *
that thou canst do mischief;
2  Whereas the goodness of God *
endureth yet daily?
3  Thy tongue imagineth wickedness *
and with lies thou cuttest like a sharp razor.
4  Thou hast loved unrighteousness more than goodness *
and to talk of lies more than righteousness.
5  Thou hast loved to speak all words that may do hurt *
O thou false tongue.
6  Therefore shall God destroy thee for ever *
he shall take thee, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling,
and root thee out of the land of the living.
7  The righteous also shall see this, and fear *
and shall laugh him to scorn;
8  Lo, this is the man that took not God for his strength *
but trusted unto the multitude of his riches,
and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
9  As for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God *
my trust is in the tender mercy of God for ever and ever.
10  I will always give thanks unto thee for that thou hast done *
and I will hope in thy Name, for thy saints like it well.
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

Sovereign God,
you cut down trees that bear no fruit,
and prune fruitful trees that they may bear more.
Make us grow like rich olive trees in your kingdom,
firmly rooted in the power and mercy
of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ^BCW

THE WORD OF GOD

Reading: Hosea 2:15b-25

There your mother shall respond as in the days of her youth,
   as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband’, and no longer will you call me, ‘My Baal’. For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will take you for my wife for ever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.
On that day I will answer, says the Lord,
   I will answer the heavens
   and they shall answer the earth;
and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
   and they shall answer Jezreel;
   and I will sow him for myself in the land.
And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah,
   and I will say to Lo-ammi, ‘You are my people’;
   and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’

HYMN: A. L. Hatter
Tune: https://tinyurl.com/5bxanc69

1 We shall walk through the valley in peace;
We shall walk through the valley in peace;
If Jesus Himself shall be our Leader,
We shall walk through the valley in peace.

2 There will be no sorrow there;
There will be no sorrow there.
If Jesus Himself shall be our Leader,
We shall walk through the valley in peace.

3 There will be no dying there;
There will be no dying there.
If Jesus Himself shall be our Leader,
We shall walk through the valley in peace

Reading: Hebrews 10:11-25

And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God’, and since then has been waiting ‘until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.’ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds’,
he also adds,
‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

HYMN: Fanny Crosby
Tune: https://tinyurl.com/s52awcv4

1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2 Perfect communion, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight.
Angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest.
I in my Savior am happy and bless’d,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain]

Reading: Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.” But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’

CANTICLE Isaiah 12:2-6
(Uptown Worship Band: https://tinyurl.com/y8q877og)

Refrain:
Surely, it is God who saves;
I will and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my sure defense,
and he will be my Savior.

Therefore you shall draw water
and rejoice from the salvation spring.
On that day you shall say,
give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name. Refrain

Make his deeds known among the people;
they remember his Name on high.
Sing praise to the Lord, for he has done great things,
and this is known in all the world. Refrain

Cry aloud, O Zion, ring out your joy,
for the great one in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

LITANY OF CONFESSION ^CW:TS

We pray to the Lord for courage to give up other things
and to give ourselves to him this Lent.

Give your Church the courage
to give up her preoccupation with herself
and to give more time to your mission in the world.