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Today I am sharing the Psalms readings from the Book of Common Prayer for December 25, 2019. If you’d like to read the Daily Office all year, here is the link.

You can choose your favorite Bible version and rite, and you will see the Old Testament and Gospel readings as well.

But today, you will notice that if you read these throughout the day, you will praise the Lord without ceasing!

The Morning Psalms

Psalm: 2
¹ Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.”
⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision.
⁵ Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶ “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”
⁷ I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.
⁸ Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear, with trembling
¹² kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm: 85
¹ LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
² You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin.
³ You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
⁴ Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us.
⁵ Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
⁶ Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
⁷ Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
⁸ Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
⁹ Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
¹⁰ Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
¹¹ Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
¹² The LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
¹³ Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.

The Evening Psalms

Psalm: 110:1-5(6-7)
¹ The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
( ⁶ He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head. )

Psalm: 132
¹ O LORD, remember in David’s favor all the hardships he endured;
2 how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house or get into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.”
8 Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy.
10 For your servant David’s sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne.”
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation:
14 “This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread.
16 Its priests I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy.
17 There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 His enemies I will clothe with disgrace, but on him, his crown will gleam.”

Merry Christmas!