Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Ps) July 13th

Psalm 119:145-160

¹⁴⁵   With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!

I will keep your statutes.

¹⁴⁶   I call to you; save me,

that I may observe your testimonies.

¹⁴⁷   I rise before dawn and cry for help;

I hope in your words.

¹⁴⁸   My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,

that I may meditate on your promise.

¹⁴⁹   Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;

O Lord, according to your justice give me life.

¹⁵⁰   They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;

they are far from your law.

¹⁵¹   But you are near, O Lord,

and all your commandments are true.

¹⁵²   Long have I known from your testimonies

that you have founded them forever.

¹⁵³   Look on my affliction and deliver me,

for I do not forget your law.

¹⁵⁴   Plead my cause and redeem me;

give me life according to your promise!

¹⁵⁵   Salvation is far from the wicked,

for they do not seek your statutes.

¹⁵⁶   Great is your mercy, O Lord;

give me life according to your rules.

¹⁵⁷   Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,

but I do not swerve from your testimonies.

¹⁵⁸   I look at the faithless with disgust,

because they do not keep your commands.

¹⁵⁹   Consider how I love your precepts!

Give me life according to your steadfast love.

¹⁶⁰   The sum of your word is truth,

and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

The Sixth Petition

And lead us not into temptation.

What is this? Answer:

It is true that God tempts no one, but we ask in this prayer that God would preserve and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice, and that, although we may be attacked by them, we may finally prevail and gain the victory.

The Seventh Petition

But deliver us from evil.

What is this? Answer:

We ask in this prayer, as in a summary, that our Father in heaven may deliver us from all kinds of evil—affecting body or soul, property or reputation—and at last, when our final hour comes, may grant us a blessed end and take us by grace from this valley of tears to himself in heaven.

Gracious God, our heavenly Father, Your mercy attends us all our days.  Be our strength and support amid the wearisome changes of this world, and at life’s end grant us Your promised rest and the full joys of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.