Antiphon
Chant: https://tinyurl.com/y9a62bf3
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit;
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Key of David and throne of glory,
you open the way to the future and no one closes;
you close the way to the past and no one opens.
Release us and all your people from the oppressions of the past,
that we may face the future with boldness and purpose—
through the merits of the Son of David, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. WS2
Music: https://tinyurl.com/ycn4djk5
O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will declare your praise.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Praise to you, O Christ, Alleluia!
HYMN: Timothy Dudley-Smith ©
Tune: Woodlands https://tinyurl.com/ykte4vz3
1 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!
Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice;
tender to me the promise of his Word;
in God my Savior shall my heart rejoice.
2 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name!
Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;
his mercy sure, from age to age the same;
his holy name, the Lord, the Mighty One.
3 Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!
Powers and dominions lay their glory by.
Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,
the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.
4 Tell out, my soul, the glories of his Word!
Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
to children’s children and forevermore!
PSALMS
Psalm 104 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/uaqp2t4)
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul *
O Lord my God, thou art become exceeding glorious;
thou art clothed with majesty and honour.
2 Thou deckest thyself with light as it were with a garment *
and spreadest out the heavens like a curtain.
3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters *
and maketh the clouds his chariot,
and walketh upon the wings of the wind.
4 He maketh his angels spirits *
and his ministers a flaming fire.
5 He laid the foundations of the earth *
that it never should move at any time.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep like as with a garment *
the waters stand in the hills.
7 At thy rebuke they flee *
at the voice of thy thunder they are afraid.
8 They go up as high as the hills, and down to the valleys beneath *
even unto the place which thou hast appointed for them.
9 Thou hast set them their bounds which they shall not pass *
neither turn again to cover the earth.
10 He sendeth the springs into the rivers *
which run among the hills.
11 All beasts of the field drink thereof *
and the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Beside them shall the fowls of the air have their habitation *
and sing among the branches.
13 He watereth the hills from above *
the earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
14 He bringeth forth grass for the cattle *
and green herb for the service of men;
15 That he may bring food out of the earth,
and wine that maketh glad the heart of man *
and oil to make him a cheerful countenance,
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord also are full of sap *
even the cedars of Libanus which he hath planted;
17 Wherein the birds make their nests *
and the fir-trees are a dwelling for the stork.
18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats *
and so are the stony rocks for the conies.
19 He appointed the moon for certain seasons *
and the sun knoweth his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness that it may be night *
wherein all the beasts of the forest do move.
21 The lions roaring after their prey *
do seek their meat from God.
22 The sun ariseth, and they get them away together *
and lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour *
until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works *
in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches.
25 So is the great and wide sea also *
wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships, and there is that Leviathan *
whom thou hast made to take his pastime therein.
27 These wait all upon thee *
that thou mayest give them meat in due season.
28 When thou givest it them they gather it *
and when thou openest thy hand they are filled with good.
29 When thou hidest thy face they are troubled *
when thou takest away their breath they die,
and are turned again to their dust.
30 When thou lettest thy breath go forth they shall be made *
and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
31 The glorious Majesty of the Lord shall endure for ever *
the Lord shall rejoice in his works.
32 The earth shall tremble at the look of him *
if he do but touch the hills, they shall smoke.
33 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live *
I will praise my God while I have my being.
34 And so shall my words please him *
my joy shall be in the Lord.
35 As for sinners, they shall be consumed out of the earth,
and the ungodly shall come to an end *
praise thou the Lord, O my soul, praise the Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
Psalm 104 (LSB Tone J: http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-104-LSB.mp3)
1Bless the LORD, O my soul!*
O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,*
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;*
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,*
his ministers a flaming fire.
5He set the earth on its foundations,*
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;*
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;*
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8The mountains rose, the valleys sank down*
to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,*
so that they might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;*
they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;*
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;*
they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;*
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,*
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine*
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
16The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,*
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;*
the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;*
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;*
the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,*
when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,*
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away*
and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work*
and to his labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;*
the earth is full of your creatures.
25Here is the sea, great and wide,*
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,*
and Leviathan, which you formed to | play in it.
27 These all | look to you,*
to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;*
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;*
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit,
they are created,*
and you renew the face | of the ground.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;*
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,*
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;*
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,*
for I rejoice | in the LORD.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more!*
Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son* and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the be ginning,* is now, and will be forever. Amen.
PRAYER
Blessed are you, God of hope;
you restore the fallen
and rebuild the broken walls.
Teach us the song of thanksgiving,
for you are the strength of your people;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BCW
THE WORD OF GOD
On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his dwelling will be glorious.
On that day, the Lord will extend his hand a second time to reclaim the survivors of God’s people who are left from Assyria and from Egypt, from Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
God will raise a signal for the nations and gather the outcast men of Israel.
God will collect the dispersed women of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Ephraim’s jealousy will cease,
and Judah’s harassment will be eliminated.
Ephraim won’t be jealous of Judah,
and Judah won’t harass Ephraim.
But they will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
Edom and Moab will be under their power,
and the Ammonites will be their subjects.
The Lord will split the tongue of the Egyptian sea. God will wave a hand over the Euphrates with a powerful wind and break it into seven streams so that it can be crossed in sandals. Then there will be a highway from Assyria for the survivors of God’s people who are left from Assyria, just as there was for Israel on the day they went up from the land of Egypt.
HYMN: Georg Weissel; trans. Catherine Winkworth
Tune: Truro https://tinyurl.com/2p8tkmuu
1 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates!
Behold the King of glory waits;
the King of kings is drawing near,
the Savior of the world is here.
2 A helper just, he comes to thee,
his chariot is humility,
his kingly crown is holiness,
his scepter, pity in distress.
3 O blest the land, the city blest,
where Christ the Ruler is confessed!
O happy hearts and happy homes
to whom this King in triumph comes!
4 Fling wide the portals of your heart;
make it a temple, set apart
from earthly use for heav’n’s employ,
adorned with prayer and love and joy.
5 Redeemer, come! I open wide
my heart to thee; here, Lord, abide!
Let me thy inner presence feel;
thy grace and love in me reveal.
6 So come, my Sov’reign, enter in!
Let new and nobler life begin!
Thy Holy Spirit, guide us on,
until the glorious crown be won.
Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless. Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his remarks are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist them to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him belongs glory now and forever. Amen.
HYMN: Horatius Bonar
Tune: Moseley https://tinyurl.com/pptub4kx
1 O love that casts out fear,
O love that casts out sin,
tarry no more without,
but come and dwell within.
2 True sunlight of the soul,
surround us as we go;
so shall our way be safe,
our feet no straying know.
3 Great love of God, come in!
Well-spring of heavenly peace;
thou Living Water, come!
Spring up, and never cease.
4 Love of the living God,
of Father and of Son;
love of the Holy Ghost,
fill thou each needy one.
When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!” She was confused by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son. Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible for God.” Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
CANTICLE Isaiah 9; Isaiah 40:1-9; 1 John 1
(Dan Schutte: https://tinyurl.com/ybrvb259)
Awake from your slumber! Arise from your sleep!
A new day is dawning for all those who weep
The people in darkness have seen a great light
The Lord of our longing has conquered the night
Refrain:
Let us build the city of God
May our tears be turned into dancing!
For the Lord, our light and our love
Has turned the night into day!
We are sons of the morning; we are daughters of day
The One who has loved us has brightened our way. Refrain
God is light; in him there is no darkness
Let us walk in his light, his children, one and all. Refrain
O comfort my people; make gentle your words
Proclaim to my city the day of her birth. Refrain
PRAYER Iona
You keep us waiting.
You, the God of all time,
want us to wait
for the right time in which to discover
who we are, where we must go,
who will be with us, and what we must do.
Thank you . . . for the waiting time.
You keep us looking.
You, the God of all space,
want us to look in all the right and wrong places
for signs of hope,
for people who are hopeless,
for visions of a better world which will appear
among the disappointments of the world we know.
Thank you . . . for the looking time.
You keep us loving.
You, the God whose name is love,
want us to be like you—
to love the loveless and the unlovely and the unloveable;
to love without jealousy or design or threat;
and, most difficult of all,
to love ourselves.
Thank you . . . for the loving time.
And in all this,
you keep us.
Through hard questions with no easy answers;
through failing where we hoped to succeed
and making an impact when we felt we were useless;
through the patience and the dreams and the love of others;
and through Jesus Christ and his spirit,
you keep us.
Thank you . . . for the keeping time,
and for now, and for ever. Amen.
(Karin Simmons: https://tinyurl.com/y7vwp7dd)
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
God of impossible love,
you needed Mary
to give consent,
to bear the scandal,
to carry your word within herself:
may her courage give hope
to women and men
who yearn to sing
new songs of justice
and find the world
a dwelling place for God;
through Jesus Christ, the one who is to come. Amen. PIC
Music: https://tinyurl.com/y9efvwm5
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen. 2 Cor. 13:14
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BCW Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 1993.
WS2 The Worship Sourcebook, 2nd edition, © 2013, Faith Alive Christian Resources
Iona as found in CGP Celebrating God’s Presence. © United Church of Canada.
The main scripture readings are © 2011 Common English Bible.
The traditional language psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer (1662). Psalm 69 is in the version sung by Karl Kohlhase http://www.k4communications.com/karl/index.html. Psalm 70 is from The Book of Common Prayer (1979) and is chanted by Ryland Angel.
Musical links are usually either to artists’ albums posted on Spotify or to recordings made available at smallchurchmusic.com. Audio stripped from YouTube videos is footnoted accordingly above.
Compilation © 2023 Stephen T. Benner. All links worked at the time they were created, but I cannot accept responsibility for their content or any damage resulting from their use. The linked content is under the control of the respective content creators and is subject to change at any time. Any copyright texts included in this compilation are provided for non-commercial purposes related to study or worship. Please contact the respective copyright holders for permission to use the texts in other contexts.
Oremus 