December 24 - Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord

Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29

The favors of the Lord I will sing forever; through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.

For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”; in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.

I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant

Forever will I confirm your posterity and establish your throne for all generations.

He shall say of me, “You are my father, my God, the Rock, my savior. Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him and my covenant with him stands firm.

Reflection

Take time to recall the miracles that have occurred in your day.

December 23 - Confident prayer for forgiveness and guidance

Psalm 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your path, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.

Good and upright is the Lord; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble in his way.

All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear him, and his covenant, for their instruction

Reflection

How can you more completely rely on God’s guidance in your life?

December 22 - My heart exults in the Lord

1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd

My heart exults in the Lord, my horn is exalted in my God. I have swallowed up my enemies; I rejoice in my victory

The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil.

The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes. The Lord puts to death and gives life; he casts down to the nether world; he raises up again.

The Lord makes poor and makes rich, he humbles, he also exalts. He raises the needy from the dust; he humbles, he also exalts. To seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage.

Reflection

Given the ups and downs of human existence, how do you stay firm in the knowledge that God is working in your life?

December 21 - Praise of the Lord's Power and Providence

Psalm 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21

Give thanks to the Lord on the harp; with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.

Sing to him a new song; pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.

But the plan of the Lord stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations.

Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield, For in him our hears rejoice; in his holy name we trust

Reflection

How do you praise God for the divine plan he has made for you in your prayer life?

December 20 - in Procession to Zion

Psalm 24:1-7, 10b

(R.) Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness;

the world and those who dwell in it.

For he founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the rivers.

(R.) Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord?

or who may stand in his holy place?

He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,

who desires not what is vain.

(R.) Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,

a reward from God his savior.

Such is the race that seeks for him,

that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

(R.) Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

Reflection

O Key of David, opening the gates of God's eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!

December 19 - God is Our Hope in Affliction

Psalm 71:3-6, 8, 16-17

(R.) My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!

Be my rock of refuge,

a stronghold to give me safety,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.

(R.) My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!

For you are my hope, O Lord;

my trust, O God, from my youth.

On you I depend from birth;

from my mother’s womb you are my strength.

(R.) My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!

I will treat of the mighty works of the Lord;

O God, I will tell of your singular justice.

O God, you have taught me from my youth,

and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

(R.) My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory!

Reflection

God's love will guide us through our difficulties.  Have I called on God to help me today?

December 18 - Remaining Faithful

Psalm  89:2-5, 27, 29

(R.) Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

The promises of the Lord I will sing forever;

through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.

For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;

in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.

(R.) Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David my servant:

forever will I confirm your posterity

and establish your throne for all generations.”

(R.) Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,

my God, the Rock, my savior.’

Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,

and my covenant with him stands firm.”

(R.) Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Reflection

God fulfilled his promise to send a Savior.  What have we promised God?

December 17 - A Prayer for the King

Psalm 72:1-4, 7-8, 17

(R.) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

O God, with your judgment endow the king,

and with your justice, the king’s son;

He shall govern your people with justice

and your afflicted ones with judgment.

(R.) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

The mountains shall yield peace for the people,

and the hills justice.

He shall defend the afflicted among the people,

save the children of the poor.

(R.) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

Justice shall flower in his days,

and profound peace, till the moon be no more.

May he rule from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

(R.) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

May his name be blessed forever;

as long as the sun his name shall remain.

In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;

all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.

(R.) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

Reflection

As a sovereign in a democracy, do I contribute to the fulfillment of His Will as we move to His Kingdom?

December 16 - Remembering Blessings

Psalm 67:2-5, 7-8

(R.) O God, let all the nations praise you!

May God have pity on us and bless us;

may he let his face shine upon us.

So may your way be known upon earth;

among all nations, your salvation.

(R.) O God, let all the nations praise you!

May the nations be glad and exult

because you rule the peoples in equity;

the nations on the earth you guide.

(R.) O God, let all the nations praise you!

The earth has yielded its fruits;

God, our God, has blessed us.

May God bless us,

and may all the ends of the earth fear him!

(R.) O God, let all the nations praise you!

Reflection

Do I thank God for the Blessings he has sent to me, to ushis people, and to all nations?

December 15 - Thanksgiving for Deliverance

Psalm 30: 2, 4-6, 11-13

(R.) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

I will extol you, O Lord, for you drew me clear

and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O Lord, you brought me up from the nether world;

you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.

(R.) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Sing praise to the Lord, you his faithful ones,

and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger lasts but a moment;

a lifetime, his good will.

At nightfall, weeping enters in,

but with the dawn, rejoicing.

(R.) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

“Hear, O Lord, and have pity on me;

O Lord, be my helper.”

You changed my mourning into dancing;

O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

(R.) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Reflection

From my troubled world, Lord, have I allowed You to ‘turn mymourning into dancing’?