Home > Reading > Daily Reading – January 1, 2022

Isaiah 62:1–5 (Listen)

Zion’s Coming Salvation

62:1   For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
    and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
  until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
    and her salvation as a burning torch.
  The nations shall see your righteousness,
    and all the kings your glory,
  and you shall be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the LORD will give.
  You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,
    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
  You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
  but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
    and your land Married;
  for the LORD delights in you,
    and your land shall be married.
  For as a young man marries a young woman,
    so shall your sons marry you,
  and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
    so shall your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 62:10–12 (Listen)

10   Go through, go through the gates;
    prepare the way for the people;
  build up, build up the highway;
    clear it of stones;
    lift up a signal over the peoples.
11   Behold, the LORD has proclaimed
    to the end of the earth:
  Say to the daughter of Zion,
    “Behold, your salvation comes;
  behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.”
12   And they shall be called The Holy People,
    The Redeemed of the LORD;
  and you shall be called Sought Out,
    A City Not Forsaken.

Revelation 19:11–16 (Listen)

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Matthew 1:19–25 (Listen)

19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23   “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 48 (Listen)

Zion, the City of Our God

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

48:1   Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
  His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
  Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
  Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.
  For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
  As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
  Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
  By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
  As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the LORD of hosts,
  in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever. Selah
  We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
10   As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
  Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11     Let Mount Zion be glad!
  Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!
12   Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
13   consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
  that you may tell the next generation
14     that this is God,
  our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

Psalm 149 (Listen)

Sing to the Lord a New Song

149:1   Praise the LORD!
  Sing to the LORD a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the godly!
  Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
  Let them praise his name with dancing,
    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
  For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.
  Let the godly exult in glory;
    let them sing for joy on their beds.
  Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
  to execute vengeance on the nations
    and punishments on the peoples,
  to bind their kings with chains
    and their nobles with fetters of iron,
  to execute on them the judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
  Praise the LORD!

Evening Psalms

Psalm 99 (Listen)

The Lord Our God Is Holy

99:1   The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble!
    He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
  The LORD is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the peoples.
  Let them praise your great and awesome name!
    Holy is he!
  The King in his might loves justice.
    You have established equity;
  you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
  Exalt the LORD our God;
    worship at his footstool!
    Holy is he!
  Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
    They called to the LORD, and he answered them.
  In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.
  O LORD our God, you answered them;
    you were a forgiving God to them,
    but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
  Exalt the LORD our God,
    and worship at his holy mountain;
    for the LORD our God is holy!

Psalm 8 (Listen)

How Majestic Is Your Name

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

8:1   O LORD, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
  You have set your glory above the heavens.
    Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
  you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
  what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
  all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
  the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
  O LORD, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

This daily prayer and Bible reading guide, Devoted to Prayer (based on Acts 2:42), was conceived and prepared by the Rev. Andrew S. Ames Fuller, director of communications for the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). After a challenging year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been provided with a unique opportunity to revitalize the ancient practice of daily prayer and Scripture reading in our homes. While the Reading the Word of God three-year lectionary provided a much-needed and refreshing calendar for our congregations to engage in Scripture reading, this calendar includes a missing component of daily devotion: prayer. This guide is to provide the average layperson and pastor with the simple tools for sorting through the busyness of their lives and reclaiming an act of daily discipleship with their Lord. The daily readings follow the Lutheran Book of Worship two-year daily lectionary, which reflect the church calendar closely. The commemorations are adapted from Philip H. Pfatteicher’s New Book of Festivals and Commemorations, a proposed common calendar of the saints that builds from the Lutheran Book of Worship, but includes saints from many of those churches in ecumenical conversation with the NALC. The introductory portion is adapted from Christ Church (Plano)’s Pray Daily. Our hope is that this calendar and guide will provide new life for congregations learning and re-learning to pray in the midst of a difficult and changing world.

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