The Daily Office for August 19, 2012
Scriptures
Psalm 145
Judges 16:15-31
2 Corinthians 13:1-11
Mark 5:25-34
Reading (Psalm 145)
Reflection
This Psalm is David’s alphabetical hymn of praise to the glory and greatness of God. It is perhaps the richest selection in the Psalter. It has been appropriately called "a magnificent ode of praise" and other equally fitting plaudits to its beauty and brilliance. It is the last of the psalms ascribed to David and is the first of the final group of psalms (Psalm 145–150) in the Psalter. This psalm alone bears the title tehilah, meaning “a Praise,” a word that in the plural is given to the whole Psalter (Heb tehilīm). Psalm 145 is the capstone of all the acrostic, or alphabetic, psalms (see also 9–10; 25; 34; 37; 111–112; 119). Like four other acrostic psalms (9–10; 25; 34), this one is incomplete: the Hebrew alphabet having twenty-two letters, only twenty-one verses appearing in this psalm.
Collect for the Day
O God, you declare your almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity: mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace, that we, running the way of your commandments, may receive your gracious promises, and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure; 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.