Evening
Prayer
Psalm
73. Quam bonus Israel!
Antiphon:
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, * and after that receive me with glory.
TRULY God is loving unto Israel: * even unto such
as are of a clean heart.
2 Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone, * my
treadings had well-nigh slipt.
3 And why? I was grieved at the wicked: * I do
also see the ungodly in such prosperity.
4 For they are in no peril of death; * but are
lusty and strong.
5 They come in no misfortune like other folk; *
neither are they plagued like other men.
6 And this is the cause that they are so holden
with pride, * and cruelty covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell with fatness, * and they do
even what they lust.
8 They corrupt other, and speak of wicked
blasphemy; * their talking is against the Most High.
9 For they stretch forth their mouth unto the
heaven, * and their tongue goeth through the world.
10 Therefore fall the people unto them, * and
thereout suck they no small advantage.
11 Tush, say they, how should God perceive it? *
is there knowledge in the Most High?
12 Lo, these are the ungodly, * these prosper in
the world, and these have riches in possession:
13 And I said, Then have I cleansed my heart in
vain, * and washed my hands in innocency.
14 All the day long have I been punished, * and chastened
every morning.
15 Yea, and I had almost said even as they; * but
lo, then I should have condemned the generation of thy children.
16 Then thought I to understand this; * but it
was too hard for me,
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God: * then
understood I the end of these men;
18 Namely, how thou dost set them in slippery
places, * and castest them down, and destroyest them.
19 O how suddenly do they consume, * perish, and come
to a fearful end!
20 Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh; *
so shalt thou make their image to vanish out of the city.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, * and it went even through
my reins.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant, * even as it
were a beast before thee.
23 Nevertheless, I am alway by thee; * for thou
hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, * and
after that receive me with glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? * and there is
none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth; * but God is
the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
27 For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish; *
thou hast destroyed all them that are unfaithful unto thee.
28 But it is good for me to hold me fast by God,
to put my trust in the Lord GOD, * and to speak of all thy works in the gates
of the daughter of Sion.
Psalm
74. Ut quid, Deus?
Antiphon:
Arise, O God, * maintain thine own cause.
O GOD, wherefore art thou absent from us so long?
* why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 O think upon thy congregation, * whom thou hast
purchased, and redeemed of old.
3 Think upon the tribe of thine inheritance, *
and Mount Sion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
4 Lift up thy feet, that thou mayest utterly
destroy every enemy, * which hath done evil in thy sanctuary.
5 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy
congregations, * and set up their banners for tokens.
6 He that hewed timber afore out of the thick
trees, * was known to bring it to an excellent work.
7 But now they break down all the carved work
thereof * with axes and hammers.
8 They have set fire upon thy holy places, * and
have defiled the dwelling-place of thy Name, even unto the ground.
9 Yea, they said in their hearts, Let us make
havoc of them altogether: * thus have they burnt up all the houses of God in
the land.
10 We see not our tokens; there is not one
prophet more; * no, not one is there among us, that understandeth any more.
11 O God, how long shall the adversary do this dishonour?
* shall the enemy blaspheme thy Name for ever?
12 Why withdrawest thou thy hand? * why pluckest thou
not thy right hand out of thy bosom to consume the enemy?
13 For God is my King of old; * the help that is
done upon earth, he doeth it himself.
14 Thou didst divide the sea through thy power; *
thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
15 Thou smotest the heads of leviathan in pieces,
* and gavest him to be meat for the people of the wilderness.
16 Thou broughtest out fountains and waters out
of the hard rocks; * thou driedst up mighty waters.
17 The day is thine, and the night is thine; *
thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
18 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; *
thou hast made summer and winter.
19 Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy hath rebuked;
* and how the foolish people hath blasphemed thy Name.
20 O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto
the multitude of the enemies; * and forget not the congregation of the poor for
ever.
21 Look upon the covenant; * for all the earth is
full of darkness and cruel habitations.
22 O let not the simple go away ashamed; * but
let the poor and needy give praise unto thy Name.
23 Arise, O God, maintain thine own cause; *
remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee daily.
24 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: * the
presumption of them that hate thee increaseth ever more and more.
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