Morning Prayer
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentence
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Morning readings
Psalm 19:1-6 NLT:
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.
Judges 21:16-25 NLT:
So the elders of the assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God’s curse.”
Then they thought of the annual festival of the Lord held in Shiloh, south of Lebonah and north of Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards. When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife! And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ‘Please be sympathetic. Let them have your daughters, for we didn’t find wives for all of them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not actually give your daughters to them in marriage.’”
So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.
Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes.
In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
1 Corinthians 7:9-12 NLT:
But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.
But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband. But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.
Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a Christian man has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her.
Reflection/Prayer:
The last chapters of the book of Judges can ve summed up in the final verse: they did what seemed to be right in their own eyes. It is a pantomime of neglect, abuse, reprisals, massacre, hasty oaths and back-pedalling.
The 600 Benjamite men were given 400 virgins from Jabesh Gilead – the only survivors respectively from both areas, but that left 200 Benjamites still needing wives, and all the other Israelites had sworn not to give their own daughters to a Benjamite.
Instead they turned a blind eye, and let the Benjamites hide nearby when the young girls came out to dance through the vineyards at harvest-time. We read of no complaints: their families were satisfied, the couples returned to larger portions of land, and were never able to be divorced. However hastily, some of the couples at least had chance to decide for themselves who’d be carried off by whom. Today ‘Tu B’Av’ is celebrated as the Festival of Love.
At a Jewish wedding ceremony the marrying couple exchange vows under a very special canopy known as a ‘hupah’. The rods at the four corners are either able to stand on the ground or are held by the groom’s attendants. The top of the canopy is his own prayer tallit (a fringed shawl). The symbolism is that he is taking the bride under his roof and she is becoming part of his house.
A song shall be heard in the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem
a song of joy, a cry of gladness
a song of the Bridegroom,
a song of the Bride.
Jeremiah 33:10-11
Canticle
Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.
Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com.
The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.
The Peanut Gallery 