+ DAILY PRAYER +
Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz “Does not ?a human being have hard service? on earth? And are not his days like the days of a laborer? 2 Like a slave he longs for the shadow, and like a laborer he waits for his wages…
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 72:1-7
Psa 72:1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
Psa 72:2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
Psa 72:3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
Psa 72:4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
Psa 72:5 May they fear you while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
Psa 72:6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
Psa 72:7 In his days may the righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
Reading for Tuesday August 27th Job 7
Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
7 “Does not ?a human being have hard service? on earth?
And are not his days like the days of a laborer?
2 Like a slave he longs for the shadow,
and like a laborer he waits for his wages.
3 So ?I had to inherit? months of worthlessness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I rise?’
But the night is long,
and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.
5 My body is clothed with maggots and clods of dust;
my skin hardens, then it gives way again.
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and they come to an end ?without hope?.
7 Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will not return to see good.
8 The eye of the one seeing me will not see me;
your eyes are upon me, but ?I will be gone?.
9 A cloud vanishes, and it goes away,
so he who goes down to Sheol will not come up.
10 He does not return again to his house,
and his place does not recognize him again.
11 “Even I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in my spirit’s anguish;
I will complain in my inner self’s bitterness.
12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
and my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then you terrify me with dreams,
and with visions you terrify me.
15 So my inner self will choose strangling—
death more than my ?existence?.
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever;
depart from me, for my days are a breath.
17 “What is a human being that you make him great
and that ?you fix your mind on him?,
18 so that you visit him ?every morning?,
you test him ?every moment??
19 ?How long? will you not turn away from me?
Or not leave me alone until I swallow my spit?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me as a target for yourself,
so that I have become a burden to myself?
21 And why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my guilt?
For now I shall lie in the dust,
and you will seek me, but ?I will be no more?.”
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
O Lord, You strengthened Your patient servant Monica through spiritual discipline to persevere in offering her love, her prayers, and her tears for the conversion of her husband and of Augustine, their son. Deepen our devotion to bring others, even our own family, to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, who with You and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to direct and rule us to do Your will, to comfort us in all our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
