Holston Presbytery

• Daily Lectionary Readings for May 23, 2012
  

  Morning Psalm 99

  ¹   The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
  
            He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
  
  ²   The LORD is great in Zion;
  
            he is exalted over all the peoples.
  
  ³   Let them praise your great and awesome name.
  
            Holy is he!
  
  ⁴   Mighty King, lover of justice,
  
            you have established equity;
  
       you have executed justice
  
            and righteousness in Jacob.
  
  ⁵   Extol the LORD our God;
  
            worship at his footstool.
  
            Holy is he!

  ⁶   Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
  
            Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
  
            They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
  
  ⁷   He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
  
            they kept his decrees,
  
            and the statutes that he gave them.

  ⁸   O LORD our God, you answered them;
  
            you were a forgiving God to them,
  
            but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
  
  ⁹   Extol the LORD our God,
  
            and worship at his holy mountain;
  
            for the LORD our God is holy.

  Morning Psalm 147:1-11

  ¹   Praise the Lord!
  
            How good it is to sing praises to our God;
  
            for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
  
  ²   The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
  
            he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
  
  ³   He heals the brokenhearted,
  
            and binds up their wounds.
  
  ⁴   He determines the number of the stars;
  
            he gives to all of them their names.
  
  ⁵   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
  
            his understanding is beyond measure.
  
  ⁶   The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
  
            he casts the wicked to the ground.

  ⁷   Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
  
            make melody to our God on the lyre.
  
  ⁸   He covers the heavens with clouds,
  
            prepares rain for the earth,
  
            makes grass grow on the hills.
  
  ⁹   He gives to the animals their food,
  
            and to the young ravens when they cry.
  
  ¹⁰  His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
  
            nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
  
  ¹¹  but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
  
            in those who hope in his steadfast love.

  First Reading Isaiah 4:2-6

  ²On that day the branch
  of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the
  fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the
  survivors of Israel. ³Whoever is left in Zion and
  remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who
  has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, ⁴once the Lord has washed away the
  filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the
  bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of
  judgment and by a spirit of burning. ⁵Then the LORD will create over the
  whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly
  a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming
  fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a
  canopy. ⁶It will serve
  as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge
  and a shelter from the storm and rain.

  Second Reading Ephesians 4:1-16

  ¹I therefore, the
  prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of
  the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness,
  with patience, bearing with one another in love,
  ³making every effort to
  maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
  ⁴There is one body and
  one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of
  your calling, ⁵one
  Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is
  above all and through all and in all.

  ⁷But each of us was
  given grace according to the measure of Christ’s
  gift. ⁸Therefore it is
  said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity
  itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.”
  ⁹(When it says,
  “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he
  had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
  ¹⁰He who descended is
  the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so
  that he might fill all things.) ¹¹The gifts he gave were that some
  would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some
  pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work
  of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
  ¹³until all of us come
  to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
  of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature
  of Christ. ¹⁴We must no
  longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by
  every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by
  their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love,
  we must grow up in every way into him who is the head,
  into Christ, ¹⁶from
  whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every
  ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is
  working properly, promotes the body’s growth in
  building itself up in love.

  Gospel Matthew 8:28-34

  ²⁸When he came to the
  other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two
  demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so
  fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹Suddenly they shouted, “What
  have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to
  torment us before the time?” ³⁰Now a large herd of swine was
  feeding at some distance from them. ³¹The demons begged him, “If
  you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”
  ³²And he said to them,
  “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine;
  and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank
  into the sea and perished in the water. ³³The swineherds ran off, and on
  going into the town, they told the whole story about what
  had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴Then the whole town came out to
  meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to
  leave their neighborhood.

  Evening Psalm 9

  ¹   I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
  
            I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
  
  ²   I will be glad and exult in you;
  
            I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

  ³   When my enemies turned back,
  
            they stumbled and perished before you.
  
  ⁴   For you have maintained my just cause;
  
            you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

  ⁵   You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
  
            you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
  
  ⁶   The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
  
            their cities you have rooted out;
  
            the very memory of them has perished.

  ⁷   But the LORD sits enthroned forever,
  
            he has established his throne for judgment.
  
  ⁸   He judges the world with righteousness;
  
            he judges the peoples with equity.

  ⁹   The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
  
            a stronghold in times of trouble.
  
  ¹⁰  And those who know your name put their trust in you,
  
            for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

  ¹¹  Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion.
  
            Declare his deeds among the peoples.
  
  ¹²  For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
  
            he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

  ¹³  Be gracious to me, O LORD.
  
            See what I suffer from those who hate me;
  
            you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,
  
  ¹⁴  so that I may recount all your praises,
  
            and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
  
            rejoice in your deliverance.

  ¹⁵  The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
  
            in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.
  
  ¹⁶  The LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment;
  
            the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.               Higgaion.
  
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
       Selah

  ¹⁷  The wicked shall depart to Sheol,
  
            all the nations that forget God.

  ¹⁸  For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
  
            nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

  ¹⁹  Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail;
  
            let the nations be judged before you.
  
  ²⁰  Put them in fear, O LORD;
  
            let the nations know that they are only human.                                   Selah

  Evening Psalm 118

  ¹   O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
  
            his steadfast love endures forever!

  ²   Let Israel say,
  
            “His steadfast love endures forever.”
  
  ³   Let the house of Aaron say,
  
            “His steadfast love endures forever.”
  
  ⁴   Let those who fear the LORD say,
  
            “His steadfast love endures forever.”

  ⁵   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
  
            the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
  
  ⁶   With the LORD on my side I do not fear.
  
            What can mortals do to me?
  
  ⁷   The LORD is on my side to help me;
  
            I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
  
  ⁸   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
  
            than to put confidence in mortals.
  
  ⁹   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
  
            than to put confidence in princes.

  ¹⁰  All nations surrounded me;
  
            in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
  
  ¹¹  They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
  
            in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
  
  ¹²  They surrounded me like bees;
  
            they blazed like a fire of thorns;
  
            in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
  
  ¹³  I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
  
            but the LORD helped me.
  
  ¹⁴  The LORD is my strength and my might;
  
            he has become my salvation.

  ¹⁵  There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
  
       “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;
  
  ¹⁶       the right hand of the LORD is exalted;
  
            the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.”
  
  ¹⁷  I shall not die, but I shall live,
  
            and recount the deeds of the LORD.
  
  ¹⁸  The LORD has punished me severely,
  
            but he did not give me over to death.

  ¹⁹  Open to me the gates of righteousness,
  
            that I may enter through them
  
            and give thanks to the LORD.

  ²⁰  This is the gate of the LORD;
  
            the righteous shall enter through it.

  ²¹  I thank you that you have answered me
  
            and have become my salvation.
  
  ²²  The stone that the builders rejected
  
            has become the chief cornerstone.
  
  ²³  This is the LORD’s doing;
  
            it is marvelous in our eyes.
  
  ²⁴  This is the day that the LORD has made;
  
            let us rejoice and be glad in it.
  
  ²⁵  Save us, we beseech you, O LORD!
  
            O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!

  ²⁶  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
  
            We bless you from the house of the LORD.
  
  ²⁷  The LORD is God,
  
            and he has given us light.
  
       Bind the festal procession with branches,
  
            up to the horns of the altar.

  ²⁸  You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
  
            you are my God, I will extol you.

  ²⁹  O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
  
            for his steadfast love endures forever.

Weekly Church

Reedy Creek Presbyterian Church 6044 Orebank Road Kingsport TN

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