Morning Prayer - September 19, 2025

Today's Readings

Psalm 69:1-23

2 Kings 1:2-17

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Matthew 5:11-16

Ordinary Time
Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Psalm 43:3

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

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter
Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen Alleluia

Venite

ⓘ 'Venite' is Latin for 'O Come,' the opening word of Psalm 95: Venite exultemus Domino ('O Come, let us sing to the LORD').

Psalm 95:1 to 7
Come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
   and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
   and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,
   and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
    Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

The Antiphon:

ⓘ A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

The earth is the Lord's for he made it: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 69

⁽¹⁾ Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.⁽²⁾ I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me.⁽³⁾ I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.⁽⁴⁾ Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.

⁽⁵⁾ O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You.⁽⁶⁾ Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.⁽⁷⁾ Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face.⁽⁸⁾ I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother's children;

⁽⁹⁾ Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.⁽¹⁰⁾ When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach.⁽¹¹⁾ I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them.⁽¹²⁾ Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards.

⁽¹³⁾ But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.⁽¹⁴⁾ Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters.⁽¹⁵⁾ Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.⁽¹⁶⁾ Hear me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.

⁽¹⁷⁾ And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily.⁽¹⁸⁾ Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies.⁽¹⁹⁾ You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; My adversaries are all before You.⁽²⁰⁾ Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.

⁽²¹⁾ They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.⁽²²⁾ Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap.⁽²³⁾ Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

2 Kings Chapter 1

⁽²⁾ Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, 'Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.'⁽³⁾ But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, 'Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?'⁽⁴⁾ Now therefore, thus says the LORD: 'You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.' ' So Elijah departed.⁽⁵⁾ And when the messengers returned to him, he said to them, 'Why have you come back?'

⁽⁶⁾ So they said to him, 'A man came up to meet us, and said to us, 'Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.' ' ' '⁽⁷⁾ Then he said to them, 'What kind of man was it who came up to meet you and told you these words?'⁽⁸⁾ So they answered him, 'A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.' And he said, 'It is Elijah the Tishbite.'⁽⁹⁾ Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. So he went up to him; and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: 'Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down!' '

⁽¹⁰⁾ So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, 'If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.' And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.⁽¹¹⁾ Then he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he answered and said to him: 'Man of God, thus has the king said, 'Come down quickly!' '⁽¹²⁾ So Elijah answered and said to them, 'If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.' And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.⁽¹³⁾ Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: 'Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.

⁽¹⁴⁾ Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your sight.'⁽¹⁵⁾ And the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, 'Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.' So he arose and went down with him to the king.⁽¹⁶⁾ Then he said to him, 'Thus says the LORD: 'Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.' '⁽¹⁷⁾ So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. Because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians Chapter 3

⁽¹⁶⁾ Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?⁽¹⁷⁾ If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.⁽¹⁸⁾ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.⁽¹⁹⁾ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, 'He catches the wise in their own craftiness';

⁽²⁰⁾ and again, 'The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.'⁽²¹⁾ Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours:⁽²²⁾ whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come -- all are yours.⁽²³⁾ And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 5

⁽¹¹⁾ Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.⁽¹²⁾ Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.⁽¹³⁾ You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.⁽¹⁴⁾ You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.⁽¹⁶⁾ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Second Song of Isaiah Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living 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.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer

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.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

Suffrages

ⓘ A simple prayer to God for help, mercy, or intercession, rooted in the Latin word for support.

Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us by your Holy Spirit.

Seasonal Collect: Proper 19 The Sunday closest to September 14
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others.

Closing Prayers

Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory, and, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13