+ DAILY PRAYER +
Job Continues to Argue His Case with God “A human being born of a woman is short of days and full of troubles. 2 Like a flower he comes up, and he withers away; and he flees like a shadow, but he does not last. 3 Even on such a one you fix your eyes, and you bring me into judgment with you. “Who can bring a clean thing from an unclean thing? No one!…
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 58:1-8
Psa 58:1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
Psa 58:2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
Psa 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
Psa 58:4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
Psa 58:5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
Psa 58:6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
Psa 58:7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
Psa 58:8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
Reading for Tuesday September 10th Job 14
Job Continues to Argue His Case with God
14 “A human being born of a woman
is short of days and full of troubles.
2 Like a flower he comes up, and he withers away;
and he flees like a shadow, but he does not last.
3 Even on such a one you fix your eyes,
and you bring me into judgment with you.
4 “Who can bring a clean thing from an unclean thing?
No one!
5 If his days are determined, the number of his months is with you;
you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross them.
6 Look away from him, and let him desist
until he enjoys his days like a laborer.
7 “Indeed, there is hope for a tree:
if it is cut down, then it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not cease;
8 though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stump dies in the dust,
9 at the scent of water it will bud,
and it will put forth branches like a young plant.
10 “But a man dies, and he dwindles away;
thus a human being passes away, and where is he?
11 As water disappears from a lake,
and a river withers away and dries up,
12 ?so? a man lies down, and he does not arise.
?Until the heavens are no more?, they will not awaken,
and they will not be roused out of their sleep.
13 “?O that? you would conceal me in Sheol,
that you would hide me ?until your wrath is past?,
that you would appoint a set time for me and remember me.
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my compulsory service I will wait,
until the coming of my relief.
15 You would call, and I myself would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hand.
16 For then you would count my steps,
but you would not keep watch over my sin.
17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag,
and you would cover over my guilt.
18 “But a mountain falls; it crumbles away,
and a rock moves away from its place.
19 Water wears away stones;
its torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of human beings.
20 You overpower him forever, and he passes away;
you change ?his countenance?, ?then? you send him away.
21 His children may come to honor, but he does not know it;
or they may become lowly, but he does not realize it.
22 He feels only the pain of his own body,
and his inner self mourns for him.”
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Lord Jesus, light of the world, You shine with the brightness of the sun in the darkness of our crooked and twisted generation. Give us strength to shine as lights in the world as we live out our baptismal life by serving our neighbors with thanksgiving and joy as sacrificial offerings of mercy and love; for You live and reign with the Father 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.
