2 Samuel 7:4,8-16
But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.
Romans 4:13-18
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.”
Psalm 89:1-29 or 89:1-4, 26-29
1 Lord, I will sing for ever of your loving-kindnesses *
my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness throughout all generations.
2 I have said of your loving-kindness that it is built for ever *
you have established your faithfulness in the heavens.
3 The Lord said ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen *
I have sworn an oath to my servant David.
4 ‘I will establish your line for ever *
and build up your throne for all generations.’
[5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord *
and let your faithfulness be sung in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who amidst the clouds can be compared to the Lord *
or who is like the Lord among the sons of heaven?
7 A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones *
great and terrible above all that are around him.
8 O Lord God of hosts, who is like you? *
your power and your faithfulness are all about you.
9 You rule the raging of the sea *
when its waves surge, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcase *
you scattered your enemies by your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are yours, so also is the earth *
you founded the world and all that is in it.
12 You created the north and the south *
Tabor and Mount Hermon shall sing of your name.
13 Mighty is your arm *
strong is your hand, and your right hand is lifted high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne *
loving-kindness and faithfulness attend your presence.
15 Happy the people who know the triumphal shout *
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance.
16 They rejoice all the day long because of your name *
because of your righteousness they are exalted.
17 For you are their glory and their strength *
and our heads are uplifted by your favour.
18 Our king belongs to the Lord *
he that rules over us to the Holy One of Israel.
19 You spoke once in a vision *
and said to your faithful one,
20 ‘I have set a youth above a warrior *
I have exalted a young man out of the people.
21 ‘I have found my servant David *
and anointed him with my holy oil.
22 ‘My hand shall uphold him *
and my arm shall strengthen him.
23 ‘No enemy shall deceive him *
no evil man shall hurt him.
24 ‘I will crush his adversaries before him *
and strike down those that hate him.
25 ‘My faithfulness and loving-kindness shall be with him *
and through my name his head shall be lifted high.]
26 ‘I will set the hand of his dominion upon the Western Sea *
and his right hand shall stretch to the streams of Mesopotamia.
27 ‘He will call to me “You are my Father *
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.”
28 ‘I will make him my first-born son *
and highest among the kings of the earth.
29 ‘I will ever maintain my loving-kindness toward him *
and my covenant with him shall stand firm.
Luke 2:41-52
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
Morning Prayer
Psalm 132
1 Lord, remember David and all his trouble *
how he swore an oath to the Lord,
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob;
2 I will not enter the shelter of my house *
nor climb into the comfort of my bed;
3 ‘I will not give sleep to my eyes *
or slumber to my eyelids,
4 ‘Till I find out a place for the ark of the Lord *
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.’
5 Lo, we heard of it at Ephrathah *
we found it in the fields of Ja-ar.
6 Let us go to the place of his dwelling *
let us fall upon our knees before his footstool.
7 Arise, O Lord, into your resting-place *
you, and the ark of your might.
8 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness *
and let your faithful ones shout for joy.
9 For the sake of David your servant *
do not turn away the face of your anointed.
10 The Lord has sworn to David *
an oath which he will not break;
11 ‘One who is the fruit of your body *
I will set upon your throne.
12 ‘If your children will keep my covenant
and the commands which I teach them *
their children also shall sit upon your throne for ever.’
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion for himself *
he has desired it for his habitation.
14 ‘This shall be my resting-place for ever *
here will I dwell, for my delight is in her.
15 ‘I will bless her provisions with abundance *
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 ‘I will clothe her priests with salvation *
and her faithful ones shall shout for joy.
17 ‘There will I make a horn to sprout for the family of David *
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18 ‘As for his enemies, I will cover them with shame *
but upon his head shall his crown be bright.’
Isaiah 63:7-16
I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
and the great favour to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, ‘Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely’;
and he became their saviour
in all their distress.
It was no messenger or angel
but his presence that saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled
and grieved his holy spirit;
therefore he became their enemy;
he himself fought against them.
Then they remembered the days of old,
of Moses his servant.
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put within them
his holy spirit,
who caused his glorious arm
to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for himself an everlasting name,
who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.
Like cattle that go down into the valley,
the spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
Thus you led your people,
to make for yourself a glorious name.
Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The yearning of your heart and your compassion?
They are withheld from me.
For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our father;
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
Evening Prayer
2 Chronicles 6:12-17
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands towards heaven. He said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant in steadfast love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart— you who have kept for your servant, my father David, what you promised to him. Indeed, you promised with your mouth and this day have fulfilled with your hand. Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant, my father David, that which you promised him, saying, “There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children keep to their way to walk in my law as you have walked before me.” Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant David.
Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.