The Daily Office for August 16, 2012
Scriptures
Psalm 105:1-22
Judges 14:1-19
Acts 6:15-7:16
John 4:27-42
Reading (Psalm 105:1-22)
Reflection
Like the two which precede it, this psalm and the next are a pair; and they conclude Book IV of the Psalter. Together they are closely related to Psalm 78. Psalm 105 tells how God treated Israel; Psalm 106 tells how Israel treated God. The keynote of the first psalm is the Lord’s grace; the keynote of the second is the people’s disgrace. In Psalm 105 our eyes are continually fixed on the magnificence of the works of the Lord. In Psalm 106 they are fixed on Israel’s ingratitude and impenitence. In Psalm 78 both these approaches are blended by emphasizing that God’s mighty works and the proper responses to them are to be taught to every generation.
Collect for the Day
Let your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please you; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.