Luke 1:68-79; Genesis 12:1-3; Gen 22:16-17; Psalm 18/LXX 17:3; 2 Samuel/Kingdoms 7:1-17; 2 Samuel/Kingdoms 22:3; Isaiah 9:2, Malachi 3:1; 4:2-5 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our…
Canticle 9, first part (Luke 1:46-55); 1 Sam 2:1-10; 2 Cor 10:15; Gen 22:17-18 The first part of canticle 9, called the Magnificat, has been beloved for centuries. It is the song of rejoicing and triumph of our Mother, and stands in an initial place of Luke’s Gospel, as well as studding our worship services. Many of us also use it in personal worship, because it informs us with godly trust and…
Canticle 8 (Dan 3:57-88 LXX) Last time we considered Old Testament Canticle Seven, with its vulnerable and striking confession of Azariah, with the story of how he and his friends are cast into the furnace, and with the beginning of the song of the Three Youths. Their song opens, as we saw, with the sight of the LORD high and lifted up, yet looking into the very depths of the earth. The…
Canticle 7 (Dan 3:25-56); 2 King 19:15-20:6; Genesis 22:15-18 The seventh and eighth Biblical canticles, comprising the confession of Azariah and the song of his three friends in the fiery furnace, are everywhere present in holy week. Indeed, their exhortation to “praise the Lord and highly exalt Him forever” finds its way into the mouth of the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, as we hear her story in one of the…
Jonah 2:2-9; Matt 12:39-41; Job 41; Psalm 104/LXX 103:26; Psalm 139/LXX 138: 8-12; Psalm 148:7 The song of Jonah, Old Testament Canticle 6, is notable for its poignancy and substance. Jonah gives voice to the desolation of those who know themselves to be at the brink of death, crying out to the Lord from the depths, and also from the depths of their being. It is a heart-cry of longing, coupled with…
Isaiah 26:9-20; Psalm 119; Romans 8:22-39; 2 Peter 1:19 The fifth Biblical Ode, taken from the song in Isaiah 26:9-20, is both challenging, and encouraging. It begins practically, with a description of human vigilance before God, and ends pragmatically, with a reminder that human beings are given by the LORD a time of rest, for He is the main Actor in our world. Between these bookends, we hear of righteousness and judgment,…
Habakkuk 2:1-4 3:1-19; Joshua 10; Exodus 15 For several years, as we sang the fourth Ode of the Paschal canon, I was mystified at the prominent role given to a relatively obscure prophet, who wrote three short chapters of our Old Testament. We sing: The inspired Prophet Habakkuk now stands with us in Holy Vigil. He is like a shining angel, crying out with a piercing voice: ‘Today salvation has come to…
