Morning Prayer

The Minister reads one or more of these sentences of Scripture:

Worship the Lord in raiment of holiness, let the whole earth stand in awe of him.

Psalm 96.9

Beloved in Christ, we are here in the presence of the living God and of the whole company of heaven, to offer to him, through our Lord Jesus Christ, our worship and praise and thanksgiving; that we may know more truly the greatness of his love, and that his grace may bear fruit in our lives. We have come to hear and receive God’s holy Word, to seek the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit, and to pray for ourselves and all mankind that we may be given those things which are necessary for our true well-being. But first let us confess our sins, and seek our Father’s pardon and peace:

KNEEL

We confess to God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. Wherefore we pray God to have mercy upon us. Almighty God have mercy upon us, forgive us all our sins and deliver us from evil, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and bring us to life everlasting. Amen.

The Minister (if a Priest) says:

Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE OFFICE — STAND

O Lord, open thou our lips;

And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.

O God, make speed to save us;

O Lord, make haste to help us.

STAND

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Praise ye the Lord;

The Lord’s Name be praised.

O come let us sing unto the Lord: let us heartily rejoice in the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving: and sing loudly unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God: and a great King above all gods. In his hand are all the deep places of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his and he made it: and his hands prepared the dry land. O come let us worship and bow down: and kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God, and we are his people and the sheep of his pasture: today, if ye will hear his voice, ye shall know his power. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Psalm 119.97-120

⁹⁷Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

⁹⁸Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.

⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

¹⁰⁰I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

¹⁰¹I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.

¹⁰²I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.

¹⁰³How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

¹⁰⁴Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

¹⁰⁶I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.

¹⁰⁷I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!

¹⁰⁸Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your rules.

¹⁰⁹I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.

¹¹⁰The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.

¹¹¹Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

¹¹²I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

¹¹³I hate the double-minded, but I love your law.

¹¹⁴You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

¹¹⁵Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.

¹¹⁶Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!

¹¹⁷Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!

¹¹⁸You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.

¹¹⁹All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies.

¹²⁰My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The first lesson is read from the Old Testament or the Apocrypha.

1 Kings 1:5-31

The reader names the book, the chapter, and the verse. After each lesson the reader says: Here ends the first (or second) lesson.

⁵Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

⁶His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.

⁷He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him.

⁸But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah.

⁹Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah,

¹⁰but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother.

¹¹Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it?

¹²Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.

¹³Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’

¹⁴Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king).

¹⁶Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?”

¹⁷She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’

¹⁸And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it.

¹⁹He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited.

²⁰And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

²¹Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”

²²While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

²³And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground.

²⁴And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?

²⁵For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

²⁶But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited.

²⁷Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

²⁸Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king.

²⁹And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity,

³⁰as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.”

³¹Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for he hath visited, and redeemed his people; And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us: in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets: which have been since the world began; That we should be saved from our enemies: and from the hands of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers: and to remember his holy covenant; To perform the oath which he swore to our forefather Abraham; That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies: might serve him without fear; In holiness and righteousness before him: all the days of our life; And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people: for the remission of their sins; Through the tender mercy of our God: whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us; To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The second lesson is read from the New Testament.

1 Corinthians 11:17-end

The reader names the book, the chapter, and the verse. After each lesson the reader says: Here ends the first (or second) lesson.

¹⁷But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.

¹⁸For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,

¹⁹for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

²⁰When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.

²¹For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.

²²What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

²³For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁵In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

²⁷Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

³⁰That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

³¹But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

³²But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

³³So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another —

³⁴if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home — so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.

We praise thee, O God: we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee: the Father everlasting. To thee all angels cry aloud: the heavens and all the powers therein. To thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy: Lord God of hosts; Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory. The glorious company of the apostles praise thee: the goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee. The noble army of martyrs praise thee: the holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee, the Father of an infinite majesty; thine honourable, true and only Son; also the Holy Ghost the Comforter. Thou art the King of glory, O Christ: thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man: thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death: thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God: in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge. We therefore pray thee help thy servants: whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy saints: in glory everlasting.

THE APOSTLES’ CREED — STAND

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

KNEEL. Let us pray.

The Lord be with you;

And with your spirit.

Let us pray.

Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Versicles and Responses

O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;

And grant us thy salvation.

Endue thy ministers with righteousness;

And make thy chosen people joyful.

O Lord, save thy people;

And bless thine inheritance.

O Lord, save the Queen;

And give her counsellors wisdom.

Give peace in our time, O Lord;

And evermore mightily defend us.

Make clean our hearts, O God;

And renew a right spirit within us.

Collect of the Day

Monday after the 14th Sunday after Trinity

Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Second Collect, for Peace

Almighty God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom stands our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: defend us thy servants in all dangers and adversities, that, surely trusting in thy defence, we may serve thee without fear; through the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Third Collect, for Grace

Heavenly Father, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day: defend us with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always what is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.