Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Ascents
The Lord Lives in Zion
132 Lord, remember in David’s favor
all of his troubles;
2 how he swore an oath to the Lord,
vowing to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter[a] my house,
or lie down on[b] my bed,
4 or let myself go to sleep[c]
or even take a nap,[d]
5 until I locate a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard about it[e] in Ephrata;[f]
we found it in the fields of Jaar.[g]
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place
and worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, Lord,
and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness
and may your godly ones shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord made an oath to David
from which he will not retreat:
“One of your sons
I will set in place on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my statutes that I will teach them,
then their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion,
desiring it as his dwelling place.
14 “This is my resting place forever.
Here I will live,
because I desire to do so.
15 I will bless its provisions abundantly;
I will satiate its poor with food.[h]
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation
and its godly ones will shout for joy.
17 There I will create a power base[i] for David—
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with disgrace,
but on him his crown will shine.”
God’s Grace to Israel
7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his gracious love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who won’t act falsely.”
And so he became their savior.
9 In all their distress he wasn’t distressed,[a]
but the angel of his presence saved them;
in his acts of love[b] and in his acts[c] of pity he redeemed them;
he carried them and lifted them up[d] all the days of old.
10 Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
so he changed and became their enemy,
and[e] he himself fought against them.
11 Then they[f] remembered the days of old,
of Moses his servant.
Where is the one who brought up[g] out of the sea
the[h] shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put his Holy Spirit among them,
12 and[i] who made his glorious arm[j] march at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters in front of them
to win[k] an everlasting name,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the open desert,
they did not stumble;
14 like cattle that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
For[l] you led your people,
to win for yourself a glorious name.
God the Father
15 Look down from heaven, and see
from your holy and glorious dwelling.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Where are the yearning of your heart and your compassion?
They are held back from me.
The Birth of Jesus(A)
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[a] happened in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged[b] to Joseph, before they lived together she was discovered to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to disgrace her, decided to divorce her secretly.
20 After he had thought about it, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” he said, “don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[c] because he is the one who will save his people from their sins.”
22 Now all this happened to fulfill what was declared by the Lord through the prophet when he said,
23 “See, a virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,”[d]
which means, “God with us.” 24 When Joseph got up from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary as[e] his wife. 25 He did not have marital relations with[f] her until she had given birth to a son;[g] and he named him Jesus.
By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away. So David[a] left.
Learning about God’s Deliverance
34 [b]I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will be in my mouth continuously.
2 My soul will glorify the Lord;
the humble will hear about it and rejoice.
3 Magnify the Lord with me!
Let us lift up his name together!
4 I sought the Lord and he answered me;
he delivered me from all of my fears.
5 Look to him and be radiant;
and you[c] will not be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard
and delivered him from all of his distress.
7 The angel of the Lord surrounds those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good!
How blessed is the person who trusts in him!
9 Fear the Lord, you holy ones of his;
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Young lions lack and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord will never lack any good thing.
11 Come, children, listen to me,
and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who among you[d] desires life,
and wants long life in order to see good?
13 Then keep your tongue from doing evil
and your lips from spreading lies.
14 Avoid evil and do good!
Seek peace and pursue it!
15 The[e] Lord looks on the righteous,
and he listens to their cries.
16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do evil,
and he will remove people’s recollection of them from the earth.
17 The Lord hears those who cry out,
and he delivers them from all their distress.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he delivers those whose spirit has been crushed.
19 A righteous person will have many troubles,
but the Lord will deliver him from them all.
20 God[f] protects all his bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate the righteous will be held guilty.
22 The Lord redeems the lives of his servants;
and none of those who trust in him will be held guilty.
To Know the Messiah’s Love
14 This is the reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[a] 15 from whom every family[b] in heaven and on earth receives its name. 16 I pray[c] that he would give you, according to his glorious riches, strength in your inner being and power through his Spirit, 17 and that the Messiah[d] would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you will be able to understand, along with all the saints, what is wide, long, high, and deep— 19 that is, you will know the love of the Messiah[e]— which transcends knowledge, and will be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among[f] us— 21 to him be glory in the church and in the Messiah[g] Jesus to all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
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