Monday, August 5 | St. Andrew's Anglican Church

Psalm 77

¹ I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
²In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
³When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints.
⁴You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
⁶I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
⁷“Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
⁸Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”
¹⁰Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
¹¹I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
¹²I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
¹³Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
¹⁴You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
¹⁵You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph.
¹⁶When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
¹⁷The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
¹⁸The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
¹⁹Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
²⁰You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 79

¹ O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple;
    they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
²They have given the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
³They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there was no one to bury them.
⁴We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
    mocked and derided by those around us.
⁵How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    Will your jealousy burn like fire?
⁶Pour out your anger on the nations
    that do not know you,
    and on the kingdoms
    that do not call upon your name!
⁷For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.
⁸Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are brought very low.
⁹Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
    deliver us, and atone for our sins,
    for your name’s sake!
¹⁰Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
    Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!
¹¹Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
¹²Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
    the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
¹³But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Psalm 80

¹Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
    You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
²Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
    stir up your might
    and come to save us!
³Restore us, O God;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!
⁴O Lord God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
⁶You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
    and our enemies laugh among themselves.
⁷Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!
⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹You cleared the ground for it;
    it took deep root and filled the land.
¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹It sent out its branches to the sea
    and its shoots to the River.
¹²Why then have you broken down its walls,
    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
¹³The boar from the forest ravages it,
    and all that move in the field feed on it.
¹⁴Turn again, O God of hosts!
    Look down from heaven, and see;
    have regard for this vine,
¹⁵ the stock that your right hand planted,
    and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
¹⁶They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
    may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
¹⁷But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
    the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
¹⁸Then we shall not turn back from you;
    give us life, and we will call upon your name!
¹⁹Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
    Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Judges 6:25-40

²⁵That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it ²⁶and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” ²⁷So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. ²⁸When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. ²⁹And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” ³⁰Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” ³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” ³²Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar. ³³Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. ³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. ³⁶Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” ³⁸And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Acts 2:37-47

³⁷Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” ⁴¹So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. ⁴²And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ⁴³And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ⁴⁴And all who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

John 1:1-18

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. ⁹The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹²But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.