Morning Prayer, Saturday before Fifth Sunday in Lent — April 1, 2017

Opening

O Lord, open my lips,
     and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. (Psalm 51:15)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son
     and to the Holy Spirit:
     as it was in the beginning, is now,
     and will be forever. Amen.

Invitatory

The Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings. (Malachi 4:2)
Oh, come, let us worship and praise.

Psalm 95:1-7

Come, let us sing to the Lord:
     let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving
     and raise a loud shout to the Lord with psalms.
For you, Lord, are a great God,
     and a great ruler above all gods.
Come, let us sing to the Lord:
     let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
In your hand are the caverns of the earth;
     the heights of the hills are also yours.
The sea is yours, for you made it;
     and your hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us sing to the Lord:
     let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
Come, let us worship and bow down;
     let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
For the Lord is our God,
     and we are the people of God’s pasture
     and the sheep of God’s hand.
Come, let us sing to the Lord:
     let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.

Invitatory

The Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings.
Oh, come, let us worship and praise.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths
    I cry to you, O Lord;
O Lord, hear my voice!
    Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If you were to keep watch over sins,
    O Lord, who could stand?
Yet with you is forgiveness,
    in order that you may be feared.
I wait for you, O Lord; my soul waits;
    in your Word is my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord more than those who keep watch for the morning,
    more than those who keep watch for the morning.
O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love;
    with the Lord there is plenteous redemption.
For the Lord shall redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us all from sin and death. Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in Christ and serve you in righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Song - “Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow” (ELW 327)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSwohI33rxo

1  Through the night of doubt and sorrow,
    onward goes the pilgrim band,
    singing songs of expectation,
    marching to the promised land.
    Clear before us through the darkness
    gleams and burns the guiding light;
    pilgrim clasps the hand of pilgrim
    stepping fearless through the night.

2  One the light of God's own presence
    on the ransomed people shed,
    chasing far the gloom and terror,
    bright'ning all the path we tread.
    One the object of our journey,
    one the faith which never tires,
    one the earnest looking forward,
    one the hope our God inspires.

3  One the strain that lips of thousands
    lift as from the heart of one;
    one the conflict, one the peril,
    one the march in God begun.
    One the gladness of rejoicing
    on the far eternal shore,
    where the one almighty Father
    reigns in love forevermore.

4  Onward, therefore, sisters, brothers;
    onward, with the cross our aid.
    Bear its shame, and fight its battle
    till we rest beneath its shade.
    Soon shall come the great awak'ning;
    soon the rending of the tomb!
    Then the scatt'ring of all shadows,
    and the end of toil and gloom.

Ezekiel 37:1-14
Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones is a promise that Israel as a nation, though dead in exile, will live again in their land through God’s life-giving spirit. Three times Israel is assured that through this vision they will know that “I am the Lord.”

     The hand of the Lord came upon me, and brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. The Lord led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. The Lord said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then the Lord said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
     So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then the Lord said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as the Lord commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
     Then the Lord said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

Word of God. Word of life. Thanks be to God.

Reflection - Sizohamba naye” (Swaziland traditional, Zulu)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dH9u4FfHv0

Sizohamba naye, wo wo wo
Sizohamba naye,
Sizohamba naye, wo wo wo
Sizohamba naye,
Ngomhla wenjabulo, sizohamba naye
Ngomhla wenjabulo, sizohamba naye

We will walk with God, my brothers
We will walk with God.
We will walk with God, my sisters
We will walk with God.
We will go rejoicing ’til the kingdom has come
We will go rejoicing ’til the kingdom has come

Scriptural Dialogue 

You have been born anew
     through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)

Gospel Canticle “Song of Zechariah”

In the tender compassion of our God
     the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel,
     you have come to your people and set them free.
You have raised up for us a mighty Savior,
     born of the house of your servant David.
In the tender compassion of our God
     the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

Through your holy prophets, you promised of old
     to save us from our enemies,
     from the hands of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our forebears,
     and to remember your holy covenant.
This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham:
     to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship you without fear, holy and righteous
     before you, all the days of our life.
In the tender compassion of our God
     the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
     for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God's people knowledge of salvation
     by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
     the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
     and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
In the tender compassion of our God
     the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

Prayers

The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Let us pray. We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have protected us through the night from all harm and danger. We ask that you would also protect us today from sin and all evil, so that our life and actions may please you. Into your hands we commend ourselves: our bodies, our souls, and all that is ours. Let your holy angels be with us, so that the wicked foe may have no power over us. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

Blessing

May God who has called us forth from the dust of the earth, and claimed us as children of the light, strengthen you on your journey into life renewed. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord’s face shine upon you with grace and mercy. The Lord look upon you with favor
and give you + peace. Amen.

A greeting of peace may be shared by all. 

Copyright © 2017 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS011448. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Bread for the Day: Daily Bible Readings and Prayers 2017. Augsburg Fortress Sundays and Seasons series. “Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow” (ELW 327) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSwohI33rxo Text: Bernhardt S. Ingemann; tr. Sabine Baring-Gould. “Sizohamba naye” (Swaziland traditional, Zulu) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dH9u4FfHv0