OPENING SENTENCES

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel; my heart teaches me, night after night. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not fall. Psalm 16:7, 8

CONFESSION OF SIN

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Evening Examen: What was the most draining part of my day? What was the most life-giving part of my day? Let God guide you as you reflect on your day by asking him for light, grace, and gratitude.

O God, make speed to save us. *
O Lord, make haste to help us.

EVENING PSALM

Psalm 135

Hallelujah!
Praise the Name of the LORD; *
give praise, you servants of the LORD.

You who stand in the house of the LORD, *
in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; *
sing praises to his Name, for it is lovely.

For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself *
and Israel for his own possession.

For I know that the LORD is great, *
and that our Lord is above all gods.

The LORD does whatever pleases him, in heaven and on earth, *
in the seas and all the deeps.

He brings up rain clouds from the ends of the earth; *
he sends out lightning with the rain,
and brings the winds out of his storehouse.

It was he who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, *
the firstborn both of man and beast.

He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, *
against Pharaoh and all his servants.

He overthrew many nations *
and put mighty kings to death:

Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, the kingdoms of Bashan, *
and all the kings of Canaan.

He gave their land to be an inheritance, *
an inheritance for Israel his people.

O LORD, your Name is everlasting; *
your renown, O LORD, endures from age to age.

For the LORD gives his people justice *
and shows compassion to his servants.

The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, *
the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but they cannot speak; *
eyes have they, but they cannot see.

They have ears, but they cannot hear; *
neither is there any breath in their mouth.

Those who make them are like them, *
and so are all who put their trust in them.

Bless the LORD, O house of Israel; *
O house of Aaron, bless the LORD.

Bless the LORD, O house of Levi; *
you who fear the LORD, bless the LORD.

Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, *
who dwells in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

Lord God, you are great and have done mighty deeds; you have shattered the powers of darkness and have shown compassion to your servants. Keep us from being deceived by idols, for there is no god like you, and your renown endures from age to age. Blessed be the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit; *
as it was in the beginning
is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

EVENING SONG

Draw Near (Psalm 69) - Wendell Kimbrough

EVENING LESSONS

Numbers 23:11-26

Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.” He answered, “Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?”

So Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.” So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there. The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.” When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?” Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying: “Rise, Balak, and hear; listen to me, O son of Zippor: God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? See, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, acclaimed as a king among them. God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘See what God has done!’ Look, a people rising up like a lioness, and rousing itself like a lion! It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.” Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do’?”

Romans 8:1-11

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

In the evening, pray for:

peace
individuals and their needs

Conclude with the Lord's Prayer and/or the following Collect:

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord. *
Thanks be to God!

The Almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless us and keep us. Amen.