Book of Common Prayer
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.
132 Lord, remember David
And all his afflictions;
2 How he swore to the Lord,
(A)And vowed to (B)the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
4 I will (C)not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I (D)find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it (E)in Ephrathah;
(F)We found it (G)in the fields of [a]the woods.
7 Let us go into His tabernacle;
(H)Let us worship at His footstool.
8 (I)Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and (J)the ark of Your strength.
9 Let Your priests (K)be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
10 For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your [b]Anointed.
11 (L)The Lord has sworn in truth to David;
He will not turn from it:
“I will set upon your throne (M)the [c]fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”
13 (N)For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His [d]dwelling place:
14 “This(O) is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 (P)I will abundantly bless her [e]provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 (Q)I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
(R)And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 (S)There I will make the [f]horn of David grow;
(T)I will prepare a lamp for My [g]Anointed.
18 His enemies I will (U)clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
God’s Mercy Remembered
7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord
And the praises of the Lord,
According to all that the Lord has bestowed on us,
And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies,
According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.
8 For He said, “Surely they are My people,
Children who will not lie.”
So He became their Savior.
9 (A)In all their affliction He was [a]afflicted,
(B)And the Angel of His Presence saved them;
(C)In His love and in His pity He redeemed them;
And (D)He bore them and carried them
All the days of old.
10 But they (E)rebelled and (F)grieved His Holy Spirit;
(G)So He turned Himself against them as an enemy,
And He fought against them.
11 Then he (H)remembered the days of old,
Moses and his people, saying:
“Where is He who (I)brought them up out of the sea
With the [b]shepherd of His flock?
(J)Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,
12 Who led them by the right hand of Moses,
(K)With His glorious arm,
(L)Dividing the water before them
To make for Himself an everlasting name,
13 (M)Who led them through the deep,
As a horse in the wilderness,
That they might not stumble?”
14 As a beast goes down into the valley,
And the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest,
So You lead Your people,
(N)To make Yourself a glorious name.
A Prayer of Penitence
15 (O)Look down from heaven,
And see (P)from Your habitation, holy and glorious.
Where are Your zeal and Your strength,
The yearning (Q)of Your heart and Your mercies toward me?
Are they restrained?
16 (R)Doubtless You are our Father,
Though Abraham (S)was ignorant of us,
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O Lord, are our Father;
Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
Christ Born of Mary(A)
18 Now the (B)birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child (C)of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being [a]a just man, and not wanting (D)to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, (E)for that which is [b]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 (F)And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name [c]Jesus, (G)for He will save His people from their sins.”
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 (H)“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and [d]did not know her till she had brought forth (I)her[e] firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God
A Psalm of David (A)when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
34 I will (B)bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
4 I (C)sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 (D)The [a]angel of the Lord (E)encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
8 Oh, (F)taste and see that the Lord is good;
(G)Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no [b]want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
(H)But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
(I)I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 (J)Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking (K)deceit.
14 (L)Depart from evil and do good;
(M)Seek peace and pursue it.
15 (N)The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 (O)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
(P)To [c]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and (Q)the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 (R)The Lord is near (S)to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as [d]have a contrite spirit.
19 (T)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
(U)But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
(V)Not one of them is broken.
21 (W)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be [e]condemned.
22 The Lord (X)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
Appreciation of the Mystery
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the (A)Father [a]of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, (B)according to the riches of His glory, (C)to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in (D)the inner man, 17 (E)that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, (F)being rooted and grounded in love, 18 (G)may be able to comprehend with all the saints (H)what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled (I)with all the fullness of God.
20 Now (J)to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly (K)above all that we ask or think, (L)according to the power that works in us, 21 (M)to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.