Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House (Temple). A Psalm of David.
30 I will extol and praise You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2
O Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You have healed me.
3
O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).
4
Sing to the Lord, O you His godly ones,
And give thanks at the mention of His holy name.
5
For His anger is but for a moment,
[a]His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may endure for a night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.(A)
6
As for me, in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be moved.”
7
By Your favor and grace, O Lord, you have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was horrified.
8
I called to You, O Lord,
And to the Lord I made supplication (specific request).
9
“What profit is there in my blood (death), if I go down to the pit (grave)?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness [to man]?
10
“Hear, O Lord, be gracious and show favor to me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
11
You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;
You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. A skillful [a]song, or a didactic or reflective poem.
32 Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven,
And whose sin is covered.
2
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.(A)
3
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all the day long.
4
For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me;
My [b]energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah.
5
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my wickedness;
I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
6
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found;
Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.
7
You are my hiding place; You, Lord, protect me from trouble;
You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah.
8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you [who are willing to learn] with My eye upon you.
9
Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bridle and rein to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in and relies on the Lord shall be surrounded with compassion and lovingkindness.
11
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous [who actively seek right standing with Him];
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Book Two
Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.
To the Chief Musician. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks,
So my [a]soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.
2
My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God.
When will I come and see the face of God?(A)
3
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4
These things I [vividly] remember as I pour out my soul;
How I used to go along before the great crowd of people and lead them in procession to the house of God [like a choirmaster before his singers, timing the steps to the music and the chant of the song],
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a great crowd keeping a festival.
5
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
6
O my God, my soul is in despair within me [the burden more than I can bear];
Therefore I will [fervently] remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of [Mount] Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7
Deep calls to deep at the [thundering] sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8
Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song will be with me,
A prayer to the God of my life.
9
I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10
As a crushing of my bones [with a sword], my adversaries taunt me,
While they say continually to me, “Where is your God?”
11
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
Why have you become restless and disquieted within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him,
The [b]help of my countenance and my God.
Prayer for Rescue.
43 Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead my case against an ungodly nation.
O rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2
For You are the God of my strength [my stronghold—in whom I take refuge]; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3
O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
4
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God, my exceeding joy;
With the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God!
5
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him,
The [c]help of my [sad] countenance and my God.
17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I am; how can I dispossess them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall remember [with confidence] what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt— 19 the great trials which you saw with your own eyes, and the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet (His terror) against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. 21 You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for [if you did] the [a]wild animals would become too numerous for you. 23 But the Lord your God will hand them over to you, and will confuse them with a great panic until they are destroyed. 24 And He will hand over their kings to you, and you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25 You shall burn the carved and sculpted images of their gods in the fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, so that you will not be ensnared by it [in a deadly trap], for it is an abomination (repulsive) to the Lord your God. 26 You shall not bring an abomination (idol) into your house, and like it come under the ban (doomed to destruction); you shall utterly detest and you shall utterly hate it, for it is something banned.
Godly Living
3 Remind people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready and willing to do good, 2 to slander or abuse no one, to be kind and conciliatory and gentle, showing unqualified consideration and courtesy toward everyone. 3 For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared [in human form as the Man, Jesus Christ], 5 He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth (spiritual transformation, regeneration) and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that we would be justified [made free of the guilt of sin] by His [compassionate, undeserved] grace, and that we would be [acknowledged as acceptable to Him and] made heirs of eternal life [actually experiencing it] according to our hope (His guarantee). 8 This is a faithful and trustworthy saying; and concerning these things I want you to speak with great confidence, so that those who have believed God [that is, those who have trusted in, relied on, and accepted Christ Jesus as Savior,] will be careful to participate in doing good and honorable things. These things are excellent [in themselves] and profitable for the people. 9 But avoid foolish and ill-informed and stupid controversies and genealogies and dissensions and quarrels about the Law, for they are unprofitable and useless. 10 After a first and second warning reject a divisive man [who promotes heresy and causes dissension—ban him from your fellowship and have nothing more to do with him], 11 well aware that such a person is twisted and is sinning; he is convicted and self-condemned [and is gratified by causing confusion among believers].
Personal Concerns
12 When I send Artemas or [perhaps] Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they are supplied and lack nothing. 14 Our people must learn to do good deeds to meet necessary demands [whatever the occasion may require], so that they will not be unproductive.
15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with all of you.
43 The next day Jesus decided to go into Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher, and walking the same path of life that I walk].” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote about—Jesus from Nazareth, the son of Joseph [according to public record].” 46 Nathanael answered him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor duplicity!” 48 Nathanael said to Jesus, “How do You know [these things about] me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were still under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered, “Rabbi (Teacher), You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus replied, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe [in Me]? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then He said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man [the bridge between heaven and earth].”(A)
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