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		</div><div style="text-align:center;">Lenten Meditation Day 14</div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:red;">Psalm 55:2-15, 17-24<br />Against a friend proved traitor </span><br /><i>Jesus was seized with fear and distress</i> (Mark 14:33). </div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:red;">I</span></div>
<div style="text-align:center;">O God, listen to my prayer,<br />do not hide from my pleading,<br />attend to me and reply;<br />with my cares, I cannot rest.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">I tremble at the shouts of the foe,<br />at the cries of the wicked;<br />for they bring down evil upon me.<br />They assail me with fury.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">My heart is stricken within me,<br />death’s terror is on me,<br />trembling and fear fall upon me<br />and horror overwhelms me.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">O that I had wings like a dove<br />to fly away and be at rest.<br />So I would escape far away<br />and take refuge in the desert.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">I would hasten to find a shelter<br />from the raging wind,<br />from the destructive storm, O Lord,<br />and from their plotting tongues.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">For I can see nothing but violence<br />and strife in the city.<br />Night and day they patrol<br />high on the city walls.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">It is full of wickedness and evil;<br />it is full of sin.<br />Its streets are never free<br />from tyranny and deceit.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:<br /><span style="color:red;">—</span> as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.</div>
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<div style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:red;">II</span></div>
<div style="text-align:center;">If this had been done by an enemy<br />I could bear his taunts.<br />If a rival had risen against me,<br />I could hide from him.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">But it is you, my own companion,<br />my intimate friend!<br />How close was the friendship between us.<br />We walked together in harmony<br />in the house of God.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">As for me, I will cry to God<br />and the Lord will save me.<br />Evening, morning and at noon<br />I will cry and lament.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">He will deliver my soul in peace<br />in the attack against me:<br />for those who fight me are many,<br />but he hears my voice.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">God will hear and will humble them,<br />the eternal judge:<br />for they will not amend their ways.<br />They have no fear of God.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">The traitor has turned against his friends;<br />he has broken his word.<br />His speech is softer than butter,<br />but war is in his heart.<br />His words are smoother than oil,<br />but they are naked swords.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">Entrust your cares to the Lord<br />and he will support you.<br />He will never allow<br />the just man to stumble.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">But you, O God, will bring them down<br />to the pit of death.<br />Deceitful and bloodthirsty men<br />shall not live half their days.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">O Lord, I will trust in you.</div>
<div style="text-align:center;">Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:<br /><span style="color:red;">—</span> as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.</div>
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<div style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:red;">Psalm-prayer</span></div>
<div style="text-align:center;">Lord Jesus, you were rejected by your people, betrayed by the kiss of a friend, and deserted by your disciples. Give us the confidence that you had in the Father, and our salvation will be assured.</div>

