OPENING SENTENCES
Worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. Psalm 96:9
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: When did I feel most dissatisfied and restricted today? What events, relationships, or thoughts of the day drew me closer to God?
O God, make speed to save us. *
O Lord, make haste to help us.
EVENING PSALM
Psalm 78:40-72
How often the people disobeyed him in the wilderness *
and offended him in the desert!
Again and again they tempted God *
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember his power *
in the day when he ransomed them from the enemy;
How he wrought his signs in Egypt *
and his omens in the field of Zoan.
He turned their rivers into blood, *
so that they could not drink of their streams.
He sent swarms of flies among them, which ate them up, *
and frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave their crops to the caterpillar, *
the fruit of their toil to the locust.
He killed their vines with hail *
and their sycamores with frost.
He delivered their cattle to hailstones *
and their livestock to hot thunderbolts.
He poured out upon them his blazing anger: *
fury, indignation, and distress,
a troop of destroying angels.
He gave full rein to his anger;
he did not spare their souls from death; *
but delivered their lives to the plague.
He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, *
the flower of manhood in the dwellings of Ham.
He led out his people like sheep *
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
He led them to safety, and they were not afraid; *
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
He brought them to his holy land, *
the mountain his right hand had won.
He drove out the Canaanites before them
and apportioned an inheritance to them by lot; *
he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
But they tested the Most High God, and defied him, *
and did not keep his commandments.
They turned away and were disloyal like their fathers; *
they were undependable like a warped bow.
They grieved him with their hill-altars *
they provoked his displeasure with their idols.
When God heard this, he was angry *
and utterly rejected Israel.
He forsook the shrine at Shiloh, *
the tabernacle where he had lived among his people.
He delivered the ark into captivity, *
his glory into the adversary's hand.
He gave his people to the sword *
and was angered against his inheritance.
The fire consumed their young men; *
there were no wedding songs for their maidens.
Their priests fell by the sword, *
and their widows made no lamentation.
Then the LORD woke as though from sleep, *
like a warrior refreshed with wine.
He struck his enemies on the backside *
and put them to perpetual shame.
He rejected the tent of Joseph *
and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
He chose instead the tribe of Judah *
and Mount Zion, which he loved.
He built his sanctuary like the heights of heaven, *
like the earth which he founded for ever.
He chose David his servant, *
and took him away from the sheepfolds.
He brought him from following the ewes, *
to be a shepherd over Jacob his people
and over Israel his inheritance.
So he shepherded them with a faithful and true heart *
and guided them with the skillfulness of his hands.
Lord Jesus Christ, shepherd of your Church, to strengthen our faith and to lead us to the kingdom, you renewed and surpassed the marvels of the old covenant. Through the uncertainties of this earthly journey, lead us home to the everlasting pastures, where we may praise you 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
We Long to See You (Psalm 24) - Wendell Kimbrough
EVENING LESSONS
2 Kings 5:19-27
He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance,
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something out of him.” So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything all right?” He replied, “Yes, but my master has sent me to say, ‘Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” Naaman said, “Please accept two talents.” He urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi. When he came to the citadel, he took the bags from them, and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they left. He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.” But he said to him, “Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept money and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your descendants forever.” So he left his presence leprous, as white as snow.
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Should you not rather have mourned, so that he who has done this would have been removed from among you? For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present I have already pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?
Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
In the evening, pray for:
peace
individuals and their needs
Conclude with the Lord's Prayer and/or the following Collect:
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; 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.