Evening Prayer

Order of Service

The light shines in the darkness; 
and the darkness has not overcome it.
Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.
The glory of God gives your city light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of your brightness. Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of your wisdom. All our desire is known to you, so perfect what you have begun, and what your Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek your face; turn your face toward us and show us your glory. Then our longing will be satisfied, and our peace will be perfect. Amen (Augustine)

The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns"
Text: John Brownlie; Tune: "Farrant CM" by Richard Farrant

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light triumphant breaks;
When beauty gilds the eastern hills,
And life to joy awakes.

Not as of old, a little child
To bear, and fight, and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun,
That lights that morning sky.

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And earth’s dark night is past;
O haste the rising of that morn,
That day that aye shall last.

And let the endless bliss begin,
By weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong,
And truth shall be extolled.

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light and beauty brings;
Hail, Christ the Lord! Thy people pray
Come quickly, King of kings.

Readings

• Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on an ass,
on a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9 RSV)

• Learn from these words what takes place when God begins to make us godly, and what is the first step in becoming so. There is no other beginning until your King comes to you and begins to work in you. It is done in this way: the gospel comes first and must be preached and heard. In it you hear and learn how all your works count for nothing before God and that everything that you work and do is sinful. Your King must first be in you and rule you. Here is the beginning of your salvation; you relinquish your works and despair of yourself, because you see and hear that all you do is sin and amounts to nothing, as the gospel tells you. You receive your King in faith, cling to him, implore his grace and find consolation in his mercy alone.

But when you hear and accept this it is not your power, but God’s grace, that renders the gospel fruitful in you, so that you believe that you and your works are nothing. For you see how few there are who accept it, so that Christ weeps over Jerusalem. Nor is it by virtue of your power and your merit that the gospel is preached and your King comes. God must send him out of pure grace.

Hence, no greater wrath of God exists than where he does not send the gospel; there is only sin, error and darkness, there man may do what he will. Again, there is no greater grace than where he sends his gospel, for there must be grace and mercy in its train, even if not all, perhaps only a few, receive it.

This is what is meant by “Thy King cometh unto thee.” You do not seek nor find him; he seeks and finds you. The preachers and their sermons come from him, not from you; your faith and everything that your faith works in you comes from him, not from you; when he does not come, you remain outside; where there is no gospel, there is no God, but only sin and damnation. Therefore you should not ask where to begin to be godly; there is no beginning, except where the King is proclaimed and enters.

Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 423–424.

Prayers

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that you would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.