Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Victory over Enemies.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
20 [a]May the Lord answer you (David) in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high [and defend you in battle]!
2
May He send you help from the sanctuary (His dwelling place)
And support and strengthen you from Zion!
3
May He remember all your meal offerings
And accept your burnt offering. Selah.
4
May He grant you your heart’s desire
And fulfill all your plans.
5
We will sing joyously over your victory,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6
Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.
7
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
But we will remember and trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8
They have bowed down and fallen,
But we have risen and stood upright.
9
O Lord, save [the [b]king];
May the [c]King answer us in the day we call.
Praise for Help.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
21 O Lord the king will delight in Your strength,
And in Your salvation how greatly will he rejoice!
2
You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
3
For You meet him with blessings of good things;
You set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4
He asked life of You,
And You gave it to him,
Long life forever and evermore.
5
His glory is great because of Your victory;
Splendor and majesty You bestow upon him.
6
For You make him most blessed [and a blessing] forever;
You make him joyful with the joy of Your presence.(A)
7
For the king [confidently] trusts in the Lord,
And through the lovingkindness (faithfulness, goodness) of the Most High he will never be shaken.
8
Your hand will reach out and defeat all your enemies;
Your right hand will reach those who hate you.
9
You will make them as [if in] a blazing oven in the time of your anger;
The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire will devour them.
10
Their offspring You will destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from the sons of men.
11
For they planned evil against You;
They devised a [malevolent] plot
And they will not succeed.
12
For You will make them turn their backs [in defeat];
You will aim Your bowstring [of divine justice] at their faces.
13
Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
We will sing and praise Your power.
The Lord Gives Dominion to the King.
A Psalm of David.
110 The Lord (Father) says to my Lord (the Messiah, His Son),
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet [subjugating them into complete submission].”(A)
2
The Lord will send the scepter of Your strength from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”(B)
3
Your people will offer themselves willingly [to participate in Your battle] in the day of Your power;
In the splendor of holiness, from the womb of the dawn,
Your young men are to You as the dew.
4
The Lord has sworn [an oath] and will not change His mind:
“[a]You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”(C)
5
The Lord is at Your right hand,
He [b]will crush kings in the day of His wrath.
6
He will execute judgment [in overwhelming punishment] among the nations;
He will fill them with corpses,
He will crush the chief men over a broad country.(D)
7
He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head [triumphantly].
Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.
116 I love the Lord, because He hears [and continues to hear]
My voice and my supplications (my pleas, my cries, my specific needs).
2
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
3
The cords and sorrows of death encompassed me,
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
4
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, please save my life!”
5
Gracious is the Lord, and [consistently] righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
6
[a]The Lord protects the simple (childlike);
I was brought low [humbled and discouraged], and He saved me.
7
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.(A)
8
For You have rescued my life from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from stumbling and falling.
9
I will walk [in submissive wonder] before the Lord
In the land of the living.
10
I believed [and clung to my God] when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”(B)
11
I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars.”
12
What will I give to the Lord [in return]
For all His benefits toward me?
[How can I repay Him for His precious blessings?]
13
I will lift up the cup of salvation
And call on the name of the Lord.
14
I will pay my vows to the Lord,
Yes, in the presence of all His people.
15
[b]Precious [and of great consequence] in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones [so He watches over them].
16
O Lord, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid;
You have unfastened my chains.
17
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call on the name of the Lord.
18
I will pay my vows to the Lord,
Yes, in the presence of all His people,
19
In the courts of the Lord’s house (temple)—
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
A Psalm of Praise.
117 O praise the Lord, all you nations!
Praise Him, all you people!(C)
2
For His lovingkindness prevails over us [and we triumph and overcome through Him],
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
17 Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Kinsmen, though I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our fathers, yet I was turned over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 After they had interrogated me, they were ready to release me because I was not guilty of any offense deserving death. 19 But when the Jews objected [to my release], I was forced to appeal to Caesar (Emperor Nero), not because I had any charge to make against my nation. 20 For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel (the Messiah, the resurrection) that I am bound with this chain.” 21 They said to him, “We have not received [any] letters about you from Judea, nor have any of the [Jewish] brothers come here and reported or said anything bad about you. 22 But we would like to hear from you what your views are [that is, exactly what you believe]; for in regard to this sect (Christianity), we are fully aware that it is denounced everywhere.”
23 When they had set a day for Paul, they came to his lodging in large numbers. And he carefully explained [Christianity] to them from morning until evening, solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, both from the Law of Moses and from the [writings of the] Prophets. 24 Some were persuaded by what he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and they began to leave after Paul had made one last statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, 26 ‘Go to this people and say,
“You will keep on hearing, but will not understand,
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
27
“For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has become dull (calloused),
And with their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have shut their eyes [to the truth];
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return [to Me],
And I would heal them.”’(A)
28 Therefore let it be known to you that [this message of] the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they indeed will listen!”(B) 29 [a][And when he had said these things, the Jews left, arguing among themselves.]
30 And Paul lived there for two full years [at his own expense] in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him, 31 preaching and proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness and boldness, unhindered and unrestrained.
37 On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.(A) 38 And a man from the crowd shouted for help, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only child; 39 and a spirit seizes him, and suddenly he cries out, and it throws him into a convulsion so that he foams at the mouth; and only with [great] difficulty does it leave him, mauling and bruising him as it leaves. 40 I begged Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverted generation! How long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here [to Me].” 42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon slammed him down and threw him into a [violent] convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 They were all amazed [practically overwhelmed] at the [evidence of the] greatness of God and His majesty and His wondrous work.(B)
But while they were still awed by everything Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is going to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies].” 45 However, they did not understand this statement. Its meaning was kept hidden from them so that they would not grasp it; and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
The Test of Greatness
46 An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest [surpassing the others in esteem and authority].(C) 47 But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and had him stand beside Him, 48 and He told them, “Whoever welcomes this child in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me [also] welcomes Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you [that is, the one who is genuinely humble—the one with a realistic self-view]—he is the one who is [truly] great.”
49 John replied, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name; and we tried to stop him because he does not follow along with us.”(D) 50 But Jesus told him, “Do not stop him; for he who is not against you is for you.”(E)
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