Thursday in Lent — Open Word

FIRST READING

Isaiah 30:15-18

Verse 15. For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence — but you were not willing.” Verse 16. “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster. Verse 17. A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill. Verse 18. Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

PSALM

Psalm 51:1-12

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.

Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.

Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

SECOND READING

Hebrews 4:1-13

Verse 1. Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it. Verse 2. For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it. Verse 3. Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world. Verse 4. For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.” Verse 5. And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.” Verse 6. Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience, Verse 7. God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David as was just stated: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Verse 8. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. Verse 9. There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Verse 10. For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Verse 11. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. Verse 12. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Verse 13. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.