⁵ My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,^[a]
    and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
⁶ when I think of you on my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
⁷ for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
⁸ My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

⁹ But those who seek to destroy my life
    shall go down into the depths of the earth;
¹⁰ they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
    they shall be prey for jackals.
¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who swear by him shall exult,
    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven…

³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But there is forgiveness with you,
    so that you may be revered.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord
    more than those who watch for the morning,
    more than those who watch for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
⁸ It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
⁴ those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;
    our lips are our own—who is our master?”

⁵ “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
    I will now rise up,” says the Lord;
    “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
⁶ The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
    silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

⁷ You, O Lord, will protect us;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among humankind.

Prayer

Eternal God, we rejoice today for the gift of life, which we have received by your grace, and the new life you give in Jesus Christ.  Especially we thank you for the love of our families…
the affection of our friends…
strength and abilities to serve your purpose today…
this community in which we live…
opportunities to give as we have received…
(offer other prayers of thanksgiving)
God of Grace, we offer our prayers for the needs of others and commit ourselves to serve them even as we have been served in Jesus Christ.  Especially we pray for those closest to us, families, friends, and neighbors…
refugees and homeless men, women, and children…
the outcast and the persecuted…
those from whom we are estranged…
the church in Africa…
(offer other prayers of intercession).

AMEN.

⁴ For they have no pain;
    their bodies are sound and sleek.
⁵ They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not plagued like other people.
⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace;
    violence covers them like a garment.
⁷ Their eyes swell out with fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸ They scoff and speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹ They set their mouths against heaven,
    and their tongues range over the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore the people turn and praise them,^[b]
    and find no fault in them.^[c]
11 And they say, “How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹² Such are the wicked;
    always at ease, they increase in riches.
¹³ All in vain I have kept my heart clean
    and washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ For all day long I have been plagued,
    and am punished every morning.

¹⁵ If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
    I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
¹⁶ But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me a wearisome task,
¹⁷ until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I perceived their end.
¹⁸ Truly you set them in slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹ How they are destroyed in a moment,
    swept away utterly by terrors!
²⁰ They are^[d] like a dream when one awakes;
    on awaking you despise their phantoms.

²¹ When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
²² I was stupid and ignorant;
    I was like a brute beast toward you.
²³ Nevertheless I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.
²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me with honor.^[e]
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength^[f] of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁷ Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
    you put an end to those who are false to you.
²⁸ But for me it is good to be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my refuge,
    to tell of all your works.

Prayer

Out of the depths of who we are, draw us close to you. May we rise up to meet the challenges of the day. May we find your way through any darkness and find joy in serving you. In Christ we pray. Amen

³ For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
    I am like those who have no help,
⁵ like those forsaken among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
⁶ You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves.Selah

⁸ You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
⁹     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the shades rise up to praise you?Selah
¹¹ Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³ But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ O Lord, why do you cast me off?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.^[a]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dread assaults destroy me.
¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long;
    from all sides they close in on me.
¹⁸ You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
    my companions are in darkness.

Prayer (from Daily Prayers)

Eternal God, we praise you for your mighty love given in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and the new life we have received by his resurrection.  Especially we thank you for the presence of Christ in our weakness and suffering; the ministry of Word and Sacrament; all who work to help and heal; sacrifices made for our benefit; opportunities for our generous giving. (Offer other prayers of thanksgiving)

God of grace, let our concern for others reflect Christ’s self-giving love, not only in our prayers, but also in or practice.  Especially we pray for those subjected to tyranny and oppression; wounded and injured people; those who face death; those who may be our enemies; the church of Latin America. (Offer other prayers of intercession).  Amen.

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
⁶ The Lord protects the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷ Return, O my soul, to your rest,
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸ For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
⁹ I walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁰ I kept my faith, even when I said,
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹ I said in my consternation,
    “Everyone is a liar.”

¹² What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
¹⁶ O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷ I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹ in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer (published in Common Prayer:  A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro.  Published by Zondervan Press, 2010)

God, give us discomfort at the easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that instead we may live deep within our hearts.  Grant us anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may wish for justice, freedom, and peace.  Bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.  Amen.

⁵ By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
    O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas.
⁶ By your^[a] strength you established the mountains;
    you are girded with might.
⁷ You silence the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples.
⁸ Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it,
    you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
    you provide the people with grain,
    for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
    and blessing its growth.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they shout and sing together for joy.

³ Do not put your trust in princes,
    in mortals, in whom there is no help.
⁴ When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
    on that very day their plans perish.

⁵ Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God,
⁶ who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
⁷     who executes justice for the oppressed;
    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
⁸     the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the strangers;
    he upholds the orphan and the widow,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer

We offer thanks for all the ways we know peace and stability; for our loved ones who support us throughout our lives; for shelter and sustenance; for love and forgiveness.
We lift up our prayers today for those who know no peace; who are oppressed and grieving; who fear and hate; who are in harms way; who are enemies.
May your Spirit lead us to solve the ills of this world which seem to have no end.  Transform our hearts and minds to nurture the love you have for all of humanity. Help us to make true peace in the face of chaos. Help us grow past our own sins as we work to share the gospel. Amen.