The following reflections are provided for individual or communal reflection in preparation for praying the Liturgy of the Hours.
Morning Prayer -> Evening Prayer -> How to Pray
Morning Prayer
Psalm 43 -> Isaiah 38:10-14, 17-20 -> 65
As we move through the week, the psalmody this morning invites us to renew our hope in God.
Psalm 43 invites us to turn from anything that weighs us down towards the God that we can surely find hope in. Psalm 43 invites us to a threefold movement of the soul. First is lament, then we are invited to turn towards God in a petition for help, and then a vow of praise when God delivers us. Is there something we need to be delivered from as we move through the week? Are we ready to move from lament to our own petition for God’s help? Will we offer praise to God when He answers?
Isaiah 38:10-14, 17-20 gives praise to God for deliverance from death. Where in your life has God delivered you “from the pit of destruction?” Does a recollection of this invite you to place renewed trust in the God who will deliver you from that which threatens this week?
Psalm 65 praises God for His dominion over all creation. As John Brook notes, it is a psalm of praise in thanksgiving for deliverance from famine[1]. We too can be grateful for not just for how God has delivered us in the past, but also how God cares for creation today.
Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:28-30
Evening Prayer II
Psalm 49 -> Revelation 4:11; 5:9; 10, 12
As we prepare to close another day, we are invited to take the efforts of our day and place them in the hands of God.
Psalm 49 speaks of the futility of wealth and self-reliance. We are completely dependent on God. What are we trying to solve ourselves and how might God be inviting us to turn it over to Him?
This sentiment is affirmed in Revelation 4:11; 5:9; 10, 12 as we attribute all to God who is above all. This enables us to renew our trust in Him for our salvation.
[1] John Brook, The School of Prayer: An Introduction to The Divine Office for All Christians (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1990), 248.
