Sunday, September 22 | St. Andrew's Anglican Church

Psalm 34

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
³Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!
⁴I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.
⁸Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
¹¹Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹²What man is there who desires life
    and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³Keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.
¹⁵The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.
¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
²¹Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²²The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Psalm 93

¹ The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
    the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
²Your throne is established from of old;
    you are from everlasting.
³The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
    the floods have lifted up their voice;
    the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
    mightier than the waves of the sea,
    the Lord on high is mighty!
⁵Your decrees are very trustworthy;
    holiness befits your house,
    O Lord, forevermore.

Psalm 96

¹ Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth!
²Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
³Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
⁴For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
⁶Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
⁷Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
⁸Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts!
⁹Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth!
¹⁰Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.”
¹¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹²let the field exult, and everything in it!
    Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³before the Lord, for he comes,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
    He will judge the world in righteousness,
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Esther 3:1-4:3

¹ After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. ²And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. ³Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” ⁴And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. ⁵And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. ⁶But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. ⁷In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. ⁸Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. ⁹If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” ¹⁰So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” ¹²Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. ¹⁴A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. ¹⁵The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion. ^4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. ²He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. ³And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

James 1:19-27

¹⁹Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ²¹Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. ²⁶If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

¹ “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. ²“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ⁵“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. … ¹⁶“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.