Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5.16-18
Glory to God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.
A poem: Song of the Shepherd
The Lord is my shepherd:
therefore can I lack nothing.
He shall make me lie down in green pastures:
and lead me beside still waters.
He shall refresh my soul:
and guide me in right pathways for his name’s sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff comfort me.
You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me:
you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
Surely your goodness and loving-kindness
shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalm 23
The opening prayer
By night and by day we worship the Lord; let us pray with one heart and mind.
We remember God’s presence and pause in silence.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever. Amen.
The readings
Isaiah 38.1-6, 21-22, 7-8
In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD: ‘Remember now, O LORD, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: ‘Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city.
Now Isaiah had said, ‘Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.’ Hezekiah also had said, ‘What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?’
‘This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: See, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.’ So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
Isaiah 38.10-16
I said: In the noontide of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
I said, I shall not see the LORD
in the land of the living;
I shall look upon mortals no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night you bring me to an end;
I cry for help until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
Like a swallow or a crane I clamour,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upwards.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security!
But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled
because of the bitterness of my soul.
O Lord, by these things people live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.
O restore me to health and make me live!
Matthew 12.1-8
At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen.
This week’s prayer:
O Lord, we beseech you
mercifully to receive the prayers of your people who call upon you,
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power
faithfully to fulfil them;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We thank God for what we have and pray for what we need.
Today we pray for ourselves, that God would give us compassionate hearts for those who suffer poverty. In our local church, we ask God to strengthen their marriages of the couples who have been married in our church, and give them the gift of faith. In our world, we pray for the leader of the government in our nation and all who serve to make laws for our country. We remember before God those who have asked for our prayers, or who are in need of them.
A prayer for the day
God of grace, we thank you for all your gifts to us: grant us to accept both pain and joy in faith and hope, and never to fail in love to you and to our sisters and brothers; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
The Lord be with us
now and forever.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Peace be to us all, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ephesians 6.23