Do Not Take Your Kingdom from Us--Dec. 5, 2013

 Holy One, you form the mountains, create the wind, reveal

your thoughts to mortals, and make the morning darkness;

you tread on the heights of the earth.

You are our rock, fortress, and deliverer--our shield

and the horn of our salvation, our stronghold.

We wait for new heavens and a new earth,  

where righteousness is at home.

Do not take your kingdom from us,

but be with us, that we may be a people

that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 18:1-20; 147:12-20; 126; 62

Amos 4:6-13

2 Peter 3:11-18

Matt. 21:33-46

Selected Verses

Ps. 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,

            my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,

            my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Amos 4:13

For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,

            reveals his thoughts to mortals,

makes the morning darkness,

            and treads on the heights of the earth —

the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name!

2 Peter 3:13

But, in accordance with [God's] promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

Matt. 21:43

"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.  …"  [Jesus to the chief priests and elders].