December 11, 2023

Evening Prayer

Monday after Second Sunday in Advent

Our Father, whichwho art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done inon earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them thatthose who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, open thou our lips.
And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
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.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord's Name be praised.

PSALM 59.

Deliver me from mine enemies, O God; defend me from them that rise up against me.
O deliver me from the wicked doers, and save me from the bloodthirsty men.
For lo, they lie waiting for my soul; the mighty men are gathered against me, without any offence or fault of me, O Lord.
They run and prepare themselves without my fault; arise thou therefore to help me, and behold.
Stand up, O Lord God of hosts, thou God of Israel, to visit all the heathen, and be not merciful unto them that offend of malicious wickedness.
They go to and fro in the evening, they grin like a dog, and run about through the city.
Behold, they speak with their mouth, and swords are in their lips; for who doth hear?
But thou, O Lord, shalt have them in derision, and thou shalt laugh all the heathen to scorn.
My strength will I ascribe unto thee; for thou art the God of my refuge.
God sheweth me his goodness plenteously; and God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
Slay them not, lest my people forget it; but scatter them abroad among the people, and put them down, O Lord, our defence.
For the sin of their mouth, and for the words of their lips, they shall be taken in their pride: and why? their preaching is of cursing and lies.
Consume them in thy wrath, consume them, that they may perish; and know that it is God that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of the world.
And in the evening they will return, grin like a dog, and will go about the city.
They will run here and there for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.
As for me, I will sing of thy power, and will praise thy mercy betimes in the morning; for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.
Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing; for thou, O God, art my refuge, and my merciful God.
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 60.

O God, thou hast cast us out, and scattered us abroad: thou hast also been displeased; O turn thee unto us again.
Thou hast moved the land, and divided it: heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh.
Thou hast shewed thy people heavy things; thou hast given us a drink of deadly wine.
Thou hast given a token for such as fear thee, that they may triumph because of the truth.
Therefore were thy beloved delivered: help me with thy right hand, and hear me.
God hath spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice, and divide Sichem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine, and Manasses is mine: Ephraim also is the strength of my head; Judah is my lawgiver;
Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; Philistia, be thou glad of me.
Who will lead me into the strong city? who will bring me into Edom?
Hast not thou cast us out, O God? wilt not thou, O God, go out with our hosts?
O be thou our help in trouble; for vain is the help of man.
Through God will we do great acts; for it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
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 61.

Hear my crying, O God; give ear unto my prayer.
From the ends of the earth will I call upon thee, when my heart is in heaviness.
O set me up upon the rock that is higher than I; for thou hast been my hope, and a strong tower for me against the enemy.
I will dwell in thy tabernacle for ever, and my trust shall be under the covering of thy wings.
For thou, O Lord, hast heard my desires, and hast given an heritage unto those that fear thy Name.
Thou shalt grant the King a long life, that his years may endure throughout all generations.
He shall dwell before God for ever: O prepare thy loving mercy and faithfulness, that they may preserve him.
So will I always sing praise unto thy Name, that I may daily perform my vows.
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.
Here beginneth the 36th chapter of Isaiah.
Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? the Lord said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Here endeth the first lesson.
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me; and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy, hath holpen his servant Israel; as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.
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.
Here beginneth the 4th chapter of James.
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Here endeth the second lesson.
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
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.

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience, and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies, may pass our time in rest and quietness, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.