Morning Prayer: Wednesday 2 December 2020

Wednesday 2 December 2020

Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, 1673
Anticipation

Week 1 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 144
1 Blessed be the Lord my rock!*
who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle;

2 My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer,*
my shield in whom I trust,
who subdues the peoples under me.

3 O Lord, what are we that you should care for us?*
mere mortals that you should think of us?

4 We are like a puff of wind;*
our days are like a passing shadow.

5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;*
touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

6 Hurl the lightning and scatter them;*
shoot out your arrows and rout them.

7 Stretch out your hand from on high;*
rescue me and deliver me from the great waters,
from the hand of foreign peoples,

8 Whose mouths speak deceitfully*
and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.

9 O God, I will sing to you a new song;*
I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre.

10 You give victory to kings*
and have rescued David your servant.

11 Rescue me from the hurtful sword*
and deliver me from the hand of foreign peoples,

12 Whose mouths speak deceitfully*
and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.

13 May our sons be like plants well nurtured from their youth,*
and our daughters like sculptured corners of a palace.

14 May our barns be filled to overflowing with all manner of crops;*
may the flocks in our pastures increase by thousands
and tens of thousands; may our cattle be fat and sleek.

15 May there be no breaching of the walls, no going into exile,*
no wailing in the public squares.

16 Happy are the people of whom this is so!*
happy are the people whose God is the Lord!

Glory to the Father...

Generous and bountiful God, give compassion to the prosperous and comfort to the needy, that all people may come to love and praise you, through 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 2.1-11

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come the mountain of the Lord"s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! For you have forsaken the ways of your people, O house of Jacob. Indeed they are full of diviners from the east and of soothsayers like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. And so people are humbled, and everyone is brought low- do not forgive them! Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty. The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low, and the pride of everyone shall be humbled; and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.

1 Thessalonians 2.13-20

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God"s word, which is also at work in you believers. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God"s wrath has overtaken them at last. As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you-in person, not in heart-we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. For we wanted to come to you-certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again-but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? Yes, you are our glory and joy!

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:

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:

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 your power, Lord, and come:
that, with you as our protector,
we may be rescued from our sins;
and with you as our deliverer,
we may be set free;
for you live and reign with God the Father,
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.