Praying Advent: Day 9
Praise
Lauds (Traditional hour: dawn/waking up)Laudate, omnes gentes, laudate Dominum! [Sing praises, all people, sing praises to the Lord!]We greet the new day by praising the Creator.
Opening:
Praise the Lord, O my soul:Praise God’s holy name.
Scripture
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,*the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there,and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,*but it shall be for God’s people;*no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;they shall obtain joy and gladness,and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,*the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there,and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,*but it shall be for God’s people;*no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;they shall obtain joy and gladness,and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
-Isaiah 35:1-10 NRSV
Meditation
Choose to take a different route to work, to school, or to play today. Who or what did you encounter differently?
Prayers
Come, Emmanuel, come dwell with me.Hope of the world and Word of life:Come, Emmanuel, come dwell with me.
Going Out
Praise the Lord, O my soul:Praise God’s holy name.
Prayer form adapted from:1Daily prayer for all seasons. (2014). New York, N.Y.: Church Publishing.