+ DAILY PRAYER +
Betrayal of a Friend and Trust in God For the music director, with stringed instruments. A maskil of David. 1 Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and do not hide yourself from my plea. 2 Attend to me and answer me. I am restless in my lamenting and I groan, 3 because of the voice of an enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked, because they bring down evil on me, and in anger they hold a grudge against me. 4 My heart trembles within me, and deathly terrors fall on me…
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 36:1-6, 10
Psa 36:1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God before his eyes.
Psa 36:2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
Psa 36:3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
Psa 36:4 He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
Psa 36:5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Psa 36:6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.
Psa 36:10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
Reading for Thursday January 16th Psalm 55
Betrayal of a Friend and Trust in God
55 For the music director, with stringed instruments.
A maskil of David.
1 Give ear, O God, to my prayer,
and do not hide yourself from my plea.
2 Attend to me and answer me.
I am restless in my lamenting and I groan,
3 because of the voice of an enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked,
because they bring down evil on me,
and in anger they hold a grudge against me.
4 My heart trembles within me,
and deathly terrors fall on me.
5 Fear and trembling come on me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 So I say, “?Oh, that? I had wings like a dove.
I would fly away and be at rest.
7 Look, I would flee far away.
I would dwell in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hurry to my refuge
from the raging wind and storm.”
9 Confuse, O Lord; divide their speech,
because I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are in its midst.
11 Destruction is within it,
and oppression and deceit
do not depart from its public square.
12 For it is not an enemy that taunts me,
or I could bear it.
It is not one who hates me that magnifies himself over me,
or I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man my equal,
my friend and confidant.
14 We who would take sweet counsel together;
in the house of God
we would walk with the throng.
15 Let death deceive them. May they descend to Sheol alive,
because evil is in their home and ?heart?.
16 As for me, I will call to God,
and Yahweh will save me.
17 ?Morning, noon and night? I will lament and groan loudly,
and he will hear my voice.
18 He safely redeems my life from the battle against me,
because those standing against me are among many.
19 God will hear and answer them,
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
Because they do not change,
and they do not fear God.
20 He has put forth his hands against ?his friends?;
he has defiled his covenant.
21 The ?buttery words? of his mouth were smooth,
but there was battle in his heart.
His words were smoother than oil,
but they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on Yahweh,
and he will sustain you.
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, you will bring them down to the pit of corruption.
The men of bloodshed and deceit will not live half their days,
but I will trust you.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, You are always more ready to hear than we to pray and always ready to give more than we either desire or deserve. Pour down on us the abundance of Your mercy, forgive us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and give us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask except by the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, 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.
