The Tenth Sunday after Trinity

The Tenth Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 119.73-80

Manus tuae fecerunt me

THY hands have made me and fashioned me: O give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

74. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me : because I have put my trust in thy word.

75. I know, O Lord, that thy judgements are right : and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled.

76. O let thy merciful kindness be my comfort : according to thy word unto thy servant.

77. O let thy loving mercies come unto me, that I may live : for thy law is my delight.

78. Let the proud be confounded, for they go wickedly about to destroy me : but I will be occupied in thy commandments.

79. Let such as fear thee, and have known thy testimonies : be turned unto me.

80. O let my heart be sound in thy statutes : that I be not ashamed.

The Collect.

LET thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Lamentations 1.1-12

Psalter: Psalm 61, 62 | 48, 49

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 12.1-11

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 19.41-46

Toon: “We know that God, the LORD, is pure SPIRIT and does not have a body. However, in our thinking about him, and in our addressing of him, we use familiar language as though he has a body, but we do so realising that we use language in a special way. God the Father has no human ears but he can hear! And since God the Father is the God of mercy and grace he hears our prayers from within that mercy. Thus he has merciful ears!

In this prayer we petition our Father in heaven that his merciful ears will be open to the supplications we bring. We have been taught that God delights in hearing our prayers and, in terms of our requests, we know that he delights in those which are for the glorifying of his name, the extension of his kingdom, the doing of his will, the conversion of sinners, the edification of the people of God, the sanctification of individual believers and such-like themes.

We have also been taught that God’s ears are closed - or not readily opened - when the prayers are from the proud and the arrogant, the unrepentant and the hard-hearted. He listens to the prayers of the humble and meek, the repentant and the obedient. Yet he does not necessarily grant all the requests even of thy humble servants.

Even the humble and meek have to learn from the Word of God written, the Holy Scriptures, from the experience and teaching of saints, and from their own knowledge of God, what petitions and intercessions actually are pleasing to God. Not everything that seems good and right to the sincere pastor or believer is so according to the will and purposes of God. As the children of God grow in discernment and mature in faith, hope and charity, they come to see what delights God’s heart and thus what are the proper themes of intercessory and petitionary prayer. And, of course, such prayers are only a part of prayer for there are also the large themes of adoration, praise and thanksgiving to consider and engage in.

Finally, all prayer to the Father is addressed to him through his Son, the Mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ through the presence and power of the Holy Ghost, our Advocate.

From the Epistle, we learn that while spiritual gifts are important and are to be desired in order to serve the Lord more faithfully, it is also possible to be led astray in the search for and the manifestation of such gifts. In and of themselves these gifts do not produce holiness of heart or a fervent desire to prayer for they can become an end in themselves!

In the Gospel, we see the heart of Jesus expressed in his compassion for his own people and also his commitment to prayer as the primary means of the expression of spiritual union between man and God. He is our model for prayer” (http://www.pbs.org.uk/the-bcp/tenth-sunday-after-trinity).