Arise, shine; for thy light is come, And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee: Thy gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; That men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and their kings led with them. For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together; To beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. And the sons of them that atflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; And all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; And they shall call thee The city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, desolation nor destruction within thy borders; But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: But the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself. For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever. The branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in its time. SELECTION 54 THANKSGIVING FOR NATIONAL PROSPERITY Ps. 147. Praise the Lord; for it is good ye to sing praises unto our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is comely. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem; he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he giveth them all their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite. The Lord lifteth up the meek; he casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises upon the harp unto our God, Who covereth the heavens with clouds, Who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He maketh peace in thy borders; He filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. He sendeth out his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation; and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. I Chron. 29. Blessed be thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou rulest over all; and in thine hand is power and might: O Lord God of our fathers. Keep this forever in the thoughts of this thy people, And prepare their heart unto thee, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, throughout all generations. SELECTION 55 THANKSGIVING DAY I Chron. 16. Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name; All thy works shall give thanks unto thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of Make known his doings among thy kingdom, and talk of thy the people, Sing unto him, sing praises unto him, talk ye of all his marvellous works. Glory ye in his holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Ps. 145. I will extol thee, my God, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. Of the glorious majesty of thine honor, and of thy wondrous works will I meditate. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts; and I will declare thy greatness. They shall utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works. power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glory of the majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that are bowed down. The eyes of all wait for thee; and thou givest them their food in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. SELECTION 56 NATIONAL THANKSGIVING Deut. 28. And it shall come to pass, if thou shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, To observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, That the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, And blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, mandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground. In the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: Deut. 8. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of The increase of thy kine, and brooks of water, of fountains and the flocks of thy sheep. springs, flowing forth in valleys Blessed shall be thy basket and and hills; thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto: And he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee for an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; A land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; A land of olive trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper. And thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath If thou shalt keep the com- given thee. Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of thine house: Thy children like olive plants, round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children. Peace be upon Israel. Deut. 6. Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgements, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, That ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it: That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, Which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, As the Lord, the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, And with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, And when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, And they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates. |