Daily Office - Dec 7

Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Teacher of the Faith, 397

Psalm 25
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies triumph over me.
Let none who look to you be put to shame,
but let the treacherous be shamed and frustrated.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you have I hoped all the day long.
Remember, Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions,
but think on me in your goodness, O Lord,
according to your steadfast love.
Gracious and upright is the Lord;
therefore shall he teach sinners in the way.
He will guide the humble in doing right
and teach his way to the lowly.

All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
For your name’s sake, O Lord,
be merciful to my sin, for it is great.

Who are those who fear the Lord?
Them will he teach in the way that they should choose.
Their soul shall dwell at ease and their offspring shall inherit the land.
The hidden purpose of the Lord is for those who fear him
and he will show them his covenant.
My eyes are ever looking to the Lord,
for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am alone and brought very low.
The sorrows of my heart have increased;
O bring me out of my distress.
Look upon my adversity and misery and forgive me all my sin.
Look upon my enemies, for they are many and they bear a violent hatred against me.
O keep my soul and deliver me;
let me not be put to shame, for I have put my trust in you.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,  for my hope has been in you.
Deliver Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

Psalm 26

Give judgement for me, O Lord, for I have walked with integrity;
I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.
Test me, O Lord, and try me; examine my heart and my mind.
For your love is before my eyes; I have walked in your truth.
I have not joined the company of the false,
nor consorted with the deceitful.

I hate the gathering of evildoers and I will not sit down with the wicked.
I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord,
that I may go about your altar,
To make heard the voice of thanksgiving
and tell of all your wonderful deeds.

Lord, I love the house of your habitation
and the place where your glory abides.
Sweep me not away with sinners,
nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
Whose hands are full of wicked schemes
and their right hand full of bribes.

As for me, I will walk with integrity;
redeem me, Lord, and be merciful to me.
My foot stands firm; in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

Isaiah 44:9-23
All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame.

The blacksmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, ‘Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!’ The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it, and worships it; he prays to it and says, ‘Save me, for you are my god!’

They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, ‘Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’ He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?’

Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and will be glorified in Israel.

Revelation 21:22-22:5
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations.
But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever.

The Collect
God of hosts,
who called Ambrose from the governor's throne to be a bishop in your Church and an intrepid champion of your faithful people:
mercifully grant that, as he did not fear to rebuke rulers,
so we, with like courage,
may contend for the faith we have received;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.