Praying the O Antiphons, day 4: December 20- O Clavis David (Key of David)

To be prayed at Evening Prayer or Vespers with the Magnificat

Questions for meditation
How does Jesus serve as a key to unlock our understanding of God—and the universal love of God-- in new and radical ways?
Where do you hear references to the Magnificat in the Antiphon or its scriptural sources?

Antiphon
O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel: You open and no man closes; you close and no man opens. Come, and deliver from the chains of darkness those from the chains of prison who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Then pray the Magnificat:
And Mary said,
My soul overflows with your greatness, O Adonai;
        My spirit rejoices in you, O Savior of All the Nations!
For the light of your countenance has dawned over me
        despite my humble state.
From now and throughout eternity
        even those yet born will call me Blessed
                and sing of the great things you have done for me,
                exulting in the holiness of your Name.
You pour out your mercy on those who stand in awe of you,
        those who revere you,
                from ages untold to ages yet to come.
Your strong arm shields the humble
        and levels the proud in their isolating conceit.
You have razed the thrones of those who rule by might
        while setting the lowly and gentle upon seats of honor.
You have satisfied the hungry with abundant delights
        while giving the rich a begging bowl, 

        sending them away empty-handed.
You have come to the aid of your people unfailingly
        fulfilling your promises to our ancestors,
                to the children of Hagar, Sarah, and Abraham forever,

                standing among us from time immemorial.

Repeat the antiphon
O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel: You open and no man closes; you close and no man opens. Come, and deliver from the chains of darkness those from the chains of prison who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.



Prayer references for the antiphon:
Isaiah 22:22
I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.

Revelation 3:7
‘And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of the holy one, the true one,
who has the key of David,
who opens and no one will shut,
who shuts and no one opens:

Numbers 24:17
I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near—
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the borderlands* of Moab,
and the territory* of all the Shethites.

Psalm 107:

Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in misery and in irons...