Selection 45- Christmas THE MAGNIFICAT. LUKE I., 46–55. I AND Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 2 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 3 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: 4 For behold, from henceforth all generations shall called me blessed. 5 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. 6 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 7 He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 8 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 9 He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away. 10 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 11 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. PART II. THE BENEDICTUS. LUKE I., 68-79. I BLESSED be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 2 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David: 3 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 4 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us: 5 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 6 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, 7 That we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 8 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 9 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest. 10. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; II To give knowledge of salvation unto his people, by the remission of their sins, 12 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us, 13 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 14 To guide our feet into the way of peace. Selection 46 - Easter PSALM XXIV.; ISA. LII.; ISA. XII. I LIFT up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 2 Who is this King of glory? 3 The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. 4 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. 5 Who is this King of glory? 6 The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; 8 That bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 9 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they sing : 10 For they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. II Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem! 12 For the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 13 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; 14 And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 15 Behold, God is my salvation; I I will trust and not be afraid. 16 For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 17 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. 18 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name. 19 Declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted: 20 Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. 21 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, 22 For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Selection 47 - Thanksgiving I OH, give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. 2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him talk ye of all his wondrous works. 3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 4 Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. 5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; 6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. 7 He is the Lord our God: his judg ments are in all the earth. 8 He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: 12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. 13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; 14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 16 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: 17 And gave them the lands of the heathen and they inherited the labor of the people; 18 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord. (In Concert.) A General Thanksgiving. ALMIGHTY GOD, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we may show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen. Selection 48- Children's Service ECCLESIASTES XII. I REMEMBER now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, 2 While the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, 3 When thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 4 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened. 5 Nor the clouds return after the rain: 6 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, 7 And the strong men shall bow themselves, 8 And the grinders cease because they are few, 9 And those that look out of the windows be darkened, 10 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, II When the sound of the grinding is low, 12 And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, 13 And all the daughters of music shall be brought low; 14 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, 15 And fears shall be in the way, 16 And the almond tree shall flourish, 17 And the grasshopper shall be a burden, 18 And desire shall fail: 19 Because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 20 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, 21 Or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 22 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: 23 And the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. 24 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. I WINE is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 2 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh : 3 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 4 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 5 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 6 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 7 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 8 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! 9 And the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. 10 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: II Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 12 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also. 13 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 14 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Selection 50 - Charity I CORINTHIANS XIII. I THOUGH I Speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Selection 51- Watcb-Higbt PSALM XC., 1–12, 14, 16, 17. I LORD, thou hast been our dwellingplace in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. 7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath we are troubled. 8 Thou has set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath we spend our years as a tale that is told. 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten: and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. II Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 13 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 14 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 15 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. Selection 52 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. And God spake all these words, saying, I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. III. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. IV. Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it. V. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. VI. Thou shalt not kill. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. Selection 53 THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM. THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Selection 54 THE BEATITudes. BLESSED are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. |