Daily Lectionary in Poetry Wednesday 11th February 2015

Psalm 102:12-28 

But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
    your name endures to all generations.
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
    for it is time to favour it;
    the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold its stones dear,
    and have pity on its dust.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
    and all the kings of the earth your glory.
16 For the Lord will build up Zion;
    he will appear in his glory.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
    and will not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
19 that he looked down from his holy height,
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die;
21 so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion,
    and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
23 He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.
24 “O my God,” I say, “do not take me away
    at the midpoint of my life,
you whose years endure
    throughout all generations.”
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you endure;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
27     but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28 The children of your servants shall live secure;
    their offspring shall be established in your presence.
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Lord your name will last forever
It is time for you to build up your nations
Your servants are ready
Release the imprisoned
Gather them all
Through all generations
We will all be here for your glory

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Job 6:1-13

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
6 Then Job answered:

2 “O that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty[a] are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild ass bray over its grass,
    or the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any flavour in the juice of mallows?[b]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are like food that is loathsome to me.[c]
8 “O that I might have my request,
    and that God would grant my desire;
9 that it would please God to crush me,
    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my consolation;
    I would even exult[d] in unrelenting pain;
    for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
    And what is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones,
    or is my flesh bronze?
13 In truth I have no help in me,

    and any resource is driven from me.

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Oh God I'm in pain
I am hurting and needy
Please save me from this horror
I can wait very little
No strength do I have
Please God come help me
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Mark 3:7-12

A Multitude at the Seaside
7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; 8 hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; 10 for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
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Jesus left with his disciples
But they kept following him
They heard what he was doing
And they wanted to experience it
Jesus got on a boat
So they would not crush him
The unclean spirits left
When they were in his presence
And yet he told them all
Do not speak of what I do

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