Friday Morning Devotion

Psalm 40:10-21

In the volume of the book it is written of me, that I should fulfil thy will, O my God *

 I am content to do it; yea, thy law is within my heart.

  I have declared thy righteousness in the great congregation *

 lo, I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, and that thou knowest.

  I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart *

 my talk hath been of thy truth, and of thy salvation.

  I have not kept back thy loving mercy and truth *

 from the great congregation.

  Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me, O Lord *

 let thy loving-kindness and thy truth alway preserve me.

  For innumerable troubles are come about me; my sins have taken such hold upon me that I am not able to look up *

 yea, they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart hath failed me.

  O Lord, let it be thy pleasure to deliver me *

 make haste, O Lord, to help me.

  Let them be ashamed, and confounded together, that seek after my soul to destroy it *

 let them be driven backward, and put to rebuke, that wish me evil.

  Let them be desolate, and rewarded with shame *

 that say unto me, Fie upon thee, fie upon thee.

  Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee *

 and let such as love thy salvation say alway, The Lord be praised.

  As for me, I am poor and needy *

 but the Lord careth for me.

  Thou art my helper and redeemer *

 make no long tarrying, O my God.

(Translation: Coverdale)

A Reading

(Nehemiah 2:1-20)

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,

And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.

And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

(Translation: Authorized Version)

A period of silence may follow.

Canticle

Quaerite Dominum

Isaiah 55:6-11

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, *
    call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, *
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
And let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him; *
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, *
    neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, *
    so are my ways higher than your ways,
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, *
    and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,
And maketh it bring forth and bud, *
    that it may give seed to the sower,
    and bread to the eater:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: *
    it shall not return unto me void,
But it shall accomplish that which I please, *
    and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
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.

(Source: Anglican Service Book)

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

    maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;

    who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

    born of the Virgin Mary,

    suffered under Pontius Pilate,

    was crucified, dead, and buried.

    He descended into hell.

    The third day he rose again from the dead.

    He ascended into heaven,

    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.

    From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost,

    the holy catholic Church,

    the communion of saints,

    the forgiveness of sins,

    the resurrection of the body,

    and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers for Ourselves and Neighbors

Almighty and everliving God, I pray unto Thee for thy Universal Church and all her members, past, present and yet to come:

Silence or add individual intentions here

Christ, the ruler of all the nations, I pray for the health and well-being of my nation and all the nations and leaders of the earth:

Silence or add individual intentions here

God, the Holy Ghost, I pray Thee to be poured out upon all who are sick and suffering in body, mind, or spirit, that Thy healing grace may be infused in them and in myself:

Silence or add individual intentions here

Heavenly Father, I commend unto Thee those who are departed, that they may be judged with magnanimity and see Thy Heavenly Kingdom:

Silence or add individual intentions here

And now, I gather my all prayers in the words Thy Son hath taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And 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.

A Collect for Fridays

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.