Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night: to you be praise and glory forever. As darkness falls, you renew your promise to reveal among us the light of your presence. By the light of Christ, your living Word, dispel the darkness of our hearts that we may walk as children of light and sing your praise throughout the world.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn
Jesus, Thine All-Victorious Love
Confession of Sin
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
Psalm 18
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
I love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
so shall I be saved from my enemies.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me.
The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD,
and cried for help to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
and my cry to Him reached His ears.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Then the earth shook and trembled;
the foundations of the hills also quaked,
because He was angry.
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
and devouring fire from His mouth;
coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens and came down;
darkness was under His feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew;
He flew swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His secret place;
His pavilion surrounding Him
was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Out of the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed
with hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered His voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
He sent out His arrows and scattered the enemy;
He shot out lightnings and vanquished them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
the foundations of the world were uncovered
at Your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
He also brought me forth into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all His decrees were before me,
and I did not put away His statutes from me.
I was also upright before Him,
and I kept myself from my iniquity.
Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
with the blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
with the pure You will show Yourself pure;
and with the crooked You will show Yourself shrewd.
For You will save the humble people,
but will bring down haughty eyes.
For You will light my lamp;
the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
For by You I can outrun a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
As for God, His way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield
to all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
It is God who girds me with strength,
and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
and sets me on my high places.
He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
𝙍: The LORD my God enlightens my darkness.
You have given me the shield of Your salvation,
and Your right hand has held me up,
and Your gentleness has made me great.
You widened my path for my steps under me,
so my feet did not slip.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not return until they were consumed.
I wounded them, and they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
For You girded me with strength for the battle;
You subdued under me those who rose up against me.
You gave me the necks of my enemies,
that I might destroy those who hate me.
𝙍: The LORD my God enlightens my darkness.
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
Then I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.
You have delivered me from strife with the people,
and You have made me the head of the nations;
a people whom I have not known serve me.
As soon as they hear of me, they obey me;
the foreigners submit to me.
The foreigners lose heart,
and come trembling from their strongholds.
𝙍: The LORD my God enlightens my darkness.
The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
It is God who avenges me
and subdues the peoples under me;
He delivers me from my enemies.
You exalt me above those who rise up against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the nations,
and sing praises to Your name.
Great deliverance He gives to His king,
and shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
to David and to his descendants forevermore.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
𝙍: The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Psalm prayer
From your royal throne, O God, you sent your living Word to pierce the gloom of oppression; so, in our souls’ night, come with your saving help and penetrate our darkness with the rays of your glory in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:16
Moreover, I observed what was under the sun:
In the place of justice, there was wickedness;
and in the place of righteousness, there was wickedness.
I thought in my heart:
“God will bring judgment
to the righteous and the wicked,
for there is an appropriate time
for every matter and deed.”
Then I thought in my heart, “Regarding the account of people, God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For there is an event for people and an event for animals, one fate for them both; as one dies, so does the other; there is one breath for all of them. There is no advantage for people over animals, for everything is vanity. All go to one place; everything came from dust, and returns to dust. Who has experienced the spirit of people ascending above, or the spirit of animals descending below the earth?”
So I saw that there is nothing better than that people take joy in their labor, for that is their reward. Who will bring a person to see what will happen after his life?
Again I turned and observed all types of oppression that are done under the sun:
Behold, the tears of the oppressed,
and no one was there to comfort them.
There was force from the hand of the oppressors,
and no one was there to comfort them.
And I thought that the dead,
who had already died,
were more fortunate than the living,
who were still alive.
But better than both
is the one who has not been,
who will not observe the evil deeds
that are done under the sun.
Then I observed that all labor and skill of work come one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
The fool folds his hands for slothfulness,
and eats his flesh for lack of food.
Better is a full hand of quietness
than handfuls of toil and a chasing after wind.
Again, I turned and observed what was vanity under the sun:
There is a person who is alone,
having neither son nor brother;
there is not an end to all his toil,
and his eyes are not satisfied with riches. He asks,
“For whom do I labor
and cause my life to lack good things?”
This also is vanity
and a burdensome task.
Two are better than one,
because there is a good reward for their labor together.
For if they fall,
then one will help up his companion.
But how tragic for the one who falls
and has no one to help him up.
Again, if two people lie together, they will keep warm;
but how can one keep warm by himself?
And if someone might overpower another,
two people can withstand him.
A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who no longer knows how to receive a warning. He went from prison to a throne, although in his eventual kingdom he was born in poverty. Then I observed all those who live and walk under the sun, follow the youth who will replace the king. There was no limit to all the people, to all who were before him. But all those who were to come later would not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 18:1-11
When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley. There was a garden which He and His disciples entered.
Now Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples. So Judas, having taken a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
Jesus therefore, knowing everything that would happen to Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them. When He said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Again Jesus asked them, “Whom do you seek?”
They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He. So then let these go their way if you are looking for Me.” This was to fulfill the word which He had spoken, “I have lost none of those whom You have given Me.”
Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
Then Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded
the low estate of His servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy,
as He spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
Brief silence.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Prayers may include the following concerns:
Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges, and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
As our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Conclusion
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.
Amen.