December 10

Exodus 3:1-6, 13:17-22

3 1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God…

13 17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt." 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here." 20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Grant, Almighty God,
since we are in danger every day and every moment,
not merely from the cruelty of a single tyrant,
but from the devil, who excites the whole world
against us, arming the princes of this world and
impelling them to destroy us –
Grant, I pray Thee, that we may feel and demonstrate,
by experience, that our life is in Thy hand,
and that under Thy faithful guardianship
Thou wilt not suffer one hair of our heads to fall.
Do Thou also so defend us that the impious themselves
may acknowledge that we do not boast this day in vain
in Thy name, nor invoke Thee without success.
And when we have experienced Thy paternal anxiety,
through the whole course of our life,
may we arrive at that blessed immortality that Thou
hast promised us and that is laid up for us in heaven,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.