23rd March 2025 Evening Prayer

The Psalter

I HATE them that imagine evil things; * but thy law do I love.

Thou art my defence and shield; * and my trust is in thy word.

Away from me, ye wicked; * I will keep the commandments of my God.

O stablish me according to thy word, that I may live; * and let me not be disappointed of my hope.

Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe; * yea, my delight shall be ever in thy statutes.

Thou hast trodden down all them that depart from thy statutes; * for they imagine but deceit.

Thou puttest away all the ungodly of the earth like dross; * therefore I love thy testimonies.

My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; * and I am afraid of thy judgments.

I DEAL with the thing that is lawful and right; * O give me not over unto mine oppressors.

Make thou thy servant to delight in that which is good, * that the proud do me no wrong.

Mine eyes are wasted away with looking for thy health, * and for the word of thy righteousness.

O deal with thy servant according unto thy loving mercy, * and teach me thy statutes.

I am thy servant; O grant me understanding, * that I may know thy testimonies.

It is time for thee, LORD, to lay to thine hand; * for they have destroyed thy law.

For I love thy commandments * above gold and precious stones.

Therefore hold I straight all thy commandments; * and all false ways I utterly abhor.

Psalm 143

Domine exaudi

HEAR my prayer, O LORD, and consider my desire; * hearken unto me for thy truth and righteousness' sake.

And enter not into judgment with thy servant; * for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; * he hath laid me in the darkness, as the men that have been long dead.

Therefore is my spirit vexed within me, * and my heart within me is desolate.

Yet do I remember the time past; I muse upon all thy works; * yea, I exercise myself in the works of thy hands.

I stretch forth my hands unto thee; * my soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land.

Hear me, O LORD, and that soon; for my spirit waxeth faint: * hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

O let me hear thy loving-kindness betimes in the morning; for in thee is my trust: * show thou me the way that I should walk in; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies; * for I flee unto thee to hide me.

Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee; for thou art my God: * let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness.

Quicken me, O LORD, for thy Name's sake; * and for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.

And of thy goodness slay mine enemies, * and destroy all them that vex my soul; for I am thy servant.

The First Lesson

Amos5:4-15

For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:

That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

The Second Lesson

Gal5:16-24

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

The Third Sunday in Lent

We beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty to be our defence against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.