Morning Prayer: Friday 18 December 2020

Friday 18 December 2020

Friday after Third Sunday of Advent
Anticipation

Week 3 of Advent

O Lord, open our lips:
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;*
as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever.
Amen.

PSALMODY

Antiphon: Show your servants your works and your splendour to their children.(Psalm 90.16)

Opening

VENITE

1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
"Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
'They shall not enter my rest.'"
Glory to the Father... (may be said by all)


Glory to the Father
or a suitable Hymn
(Or from 90)

1 Lord, you have been our refuge*
from one generation to another.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born,*
from age to age you are God.

3 Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning;*
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

4 Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us*
and the years in which we suffered adversity.

Glory to the Father...
or a suitable hymn

Psalm 94
1 O Lord God of vengeance,*
O God of vengeance, show yourself.

2 Rise up, O Judge of the world;*
give the arrogant their just deserts.

3 How long shall the wicked, O Lord,*
how long shall the wicked triumph?

4 They bluster in their insolence;*
all evildoers are full of boasting.

5 They crush your people, O Lord,*
and afflict your chosen nation.

6 They murder the widow and the stranger*
and put the orphans to death.

7 Yet they say, "The Lord does not see,*
the God of Jacob takes no notice."

8 Consider well, you dullards among the people;*
when will you fools understand?

9 He that planted the ear, does he not hear?*
he that formed the eye, does he not see?

10 He who admonishes the nations, will he not punish?*
he who teaches all the world, has he no knowledge?

11 The Lord knows our human thoughts;*
how like a puff of wind they are.

12 Happy are they whom you instruct, O Lord!*
whom you teach out of your law;

13 To give them rest in evil days,*
until a pit is dug for the wicked.

14 For the Lord will not abandon his people,*
nor will he forsake his own.

15 For judgement will again be just,*
and all the true of heart will follow it.

16 Who rose up for me against the wicked?*
who took my part against the evildoers?

17 If the Lord had not come to my help,*
I should soon have dwelt in the land of silence.

18 As often as I said, "My foot has slipped,"*
your love, O Lord, upheld me.

19 When many cares fill my mind,*
your consolations cheer my soul.

20 Can a corrupt tribunal have any part with you,*
one which frames evil into law?
21 They conspire against the life of the just*
and condemn the innocent to death.

22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,*
and my God the rock of my trust.

23 He will turn their wickedness back upon them
and destroy them in their own malice;*
the Lord our God will destroy them.

Glory to the Father...

O just Judge of all the world, when the dark power of evil threatens your creation, may we, through your strength within us, maintain the sure knowledge of your love and mercy, which we see in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Conclusion

Isaiah 2.2-5

1 In days to come, the mountain where the Lord dwells*
will be lifted high above all the mountains
and raised above the hills.
2 All the nations will flock to it;*
countless peoples will come to it.
3 And they will say, Come let us go to the mountain of the Lord,*
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
4. who will teach us his ways,*
and we will walk in his paths;
5. who will sit in judgement over the nations;*
be arbiter among many peoples.
6. They will beat their swords into ploughshares,*
and their spears into sickles;
7. nation shall not lift up sword against nation,*
nor ever again prepare for war.
8. O people of Jacob come,*
let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Glory to the Father...

Show your servants your works, and your splendour to their children.

READING(S)

Isaiah 42.1-12

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the tops of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands.

Ephesians 6.10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Silence

Response Psalm (96.1)

Tell it out among the nations: 'The Lord is King!'
Tell it out among the nations: 'The Lord is King!'
He will judge the peoples with equity.
The Lord is King.'
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Tell it out among the nations: 'The Lord is King!'

BENEDICTUS

Benedictus antiphon: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted (Isaiah 61.1)

1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,* for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,* born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old* that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,* and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:* to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,* holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,* for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation* by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God* the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,* and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father... (may be said by all)

Benedictus antiphon: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted (Isaiah 61.1)

PRAYERS

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

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.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.

Amen



Collect of the Day

Stir up our prayers, Lord, and hear us:
that they who are sorrowful and suffering
may rejoice at the Advent of your only-begotten Son;
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Amen

God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen

Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!

The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.