Lent Daybook 8: I Have Been Silent; I'm Getting Ready To Speak
Look: Le Baiser de Judas (The Kiss of Judas), Arcabas - Source
Listen*: Psalm 50, Seraphim Bit-Kharibi- Spotify | YouTube
You might also enjoy this beautiful live version of the chant. Take a moment to read a bit more about Father Seraphim here.
Read**: Psalm 50; Genesis 39:1-23; 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:15; Mark 2:1-12
Excerpts:
"Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.
But to the wicked God says: 'What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.
'You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.'
'Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!'"
*
"Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. ...
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. ...
Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”
As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison."
*
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
*
"And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
- Psalm 50:7-23 * Genesis 39:1-4, 6-12, 16-21 * 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 * Mark 2:5-12 (ESV)
Pray: I wrote a confession and petition based on today's Psalm for us to pray today.
From Psalm 50:1-7,16-17, 22-23 (MSG)
God, the Mighty One, the one who speaks welcome and the sun rises in the east and speaks farewell and the sun sets in the west
We your children confess that we are both desperate to hear your voice and afraid - very afraid. You say that you are taking your people to court, that you'll summon heaven and earth as your jury. We are afraid of judgment even though you and the whole cosmos attests to the fairness of a court where you, God, are the judge.
We're afraid to be judged, but we're even more afraid that you will not judge. We feel desperate for you to finally bring to trial the slanderers and cheats, betrayers and liers, false accusers and false witnesses who've run rampant and only seem to gain strength while the falsely accused and those who have no voice wither and suffer in silence. We confess that we've also been guilty of not saying anything when you've given us the authority of Christ to speak for those who have no voice. We've kept silent and blamed you. Please forgive us, cleanse us, and teach us to boldly call for your salvation for all who are in trouble.
You ask if we are listening, and we confess we're afraid - very afraid. We're afraid that you will speak, but we're even more afraid that you, God, will remain silent. So many have treated your words like garbage, using your perfect, timeless, beautiful words as weapons of power against the weak, to gain leverage and false status among the powerful. Misusing your words, we've stabbed our brothers in the back and taken advantage of our sisters. We've played fast and loose with your words and blamed You. Please forgive us, cleanse us, and teach us the beauty of a quiet heart and mind that makes space for listening to you, the world around us, and even our own selves. Teach us to embody the loving silence of your faithful presence on behalf of all who live in the fearful silence of shame and condemnation.
Most of all, let our words spread for you a banquet of praise. Let our mouths be full of kept promises, benediction, and thanksgiving. May the words we speak and the silence we keep echo your goodness, truth, and beauty. Make us like the whole earth, rising and resting each day to the sound of your voice. Amen.
Do: This week, fast from television (or another form of entertainment). Feast on reading instead!
Suggested reading to feast on this week:
Pray for God to give you a rested mind and an enlarged imagination to notice His good gifts in the world.
* Listen to my entire playlist on Spotify - Lent: Songs For Everyone. Add it to your account by clicking ‘Save to My Library.’
** Sunday Scripture readings are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (Year 2).