The Daily Lectionary for Wednesday, May 24, 2023

 

The Daily Lectionary
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Psalm 99; 1 Kings 8:54-65; John 3:31-36
(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)

A Psalm and A Prayer
Responsive Readings from the Psalms and Prayers
for Public Worship and Private Devotions
Psalm 99
Priests and people praise God
Dominus regnavit

The LORD is King;
    let the people tremble; *
  he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
    let the earth shake.

The LORD is great in Zion; *
  he is high above all peoples.

Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; *
  he is the Holy One.

“O mighty King, lover of justice,
    you have established equity; *
  you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”

Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
    and fall down before his footstool; *
  he is the Holy One.

Moses and Aaron among his priests,
    and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *
  they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.

He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *
  they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.

“O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; *
  you were a God who forgave them,
    yet punished them for their evil deeds.”

Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
    and worship him upon his holy hill; *
  for the LORD our God is the Holy One.

Father in heaven, we thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. On the first Palm Sunday, He declared that He was the long expected Messiah. But by the end of the week, the crowds who adored Him called for His crucifixion. However, You raised Him from the dead, and You proved that He did all things well according to Your will. Father, we adore You and love You for the great sacrifice You and Your Son made in our behalf, that You could extend mercy to us justly. Fill us now with Your Holy Spirit that we might be guided and empowered to live holy for You. And now we pray together as Jesus taught us to pray:

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Kings 8:54-65
Solomon offers sacrifice

When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the Lord.

On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all.

John 3:31-36
The Son and the Father

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets.]

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Responsive Readings from the Common Book of Prayer (1789).

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2023, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2022 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Daily Lectionary for Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Psalm 99; 1 Kings 8:54-65; John 3:31-36