April 4, 2023 :: Evening Prayer
Tuesday after Palm Sunday
Here beginneth the 12th chapter of 1 Samuel.
And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.
And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
Behold, here I am: witness against me before the And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.
Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
And he said unto them, The Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.
Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
And when they forgat the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
And they cried unto the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.
And the Lord your God was your king.
And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord hath set a king over you.
Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God:
If ye will fear the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.
But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord will do before your eyes.
Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.
Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
So Samuel called unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.
And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart;
And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.
For the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
Only fear the But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
Here endeth the first lesson.
Here beginneth the 6th chapter of Hebrews.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
And this will we do, if God permit.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.