Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
40 I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2
He brought me up out of a horrible pit [of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock, steadying my footsteps and establishing my path.
3
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear [with great reverence]
And will trust confidently in the Lord.(A)
4
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not regard the proud nor those who lapse into lies.
5
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of your wonders,
They would be too many to count.
6
Sacrifice and meal offering You do not desire, nor do You delight in them;
You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word];
Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.(B)
7
Then I said, “Behold, I come [to the throne];
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8
“I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”(C)
9
I have proclaimed good news of righteousness [and the joy that comes from obedience to You] in the great assembly;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips [from proclaiming Your righteousness],
As You know, O Lord.
10
I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart;
I have proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation.
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.(D)
11
Do not withhold Your compassion and tender mercy from me, O Lord;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
12
For innumerable evils have encompassed me;
My sins have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.
13
Be pleased, O Lord, to save me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.
14
Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back [in defeat] and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
15
Let those be appalled and desolate because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha [rejoicing in my misfortune]!”
16
Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17
Even though I am afflicted and needy,
Still the Lord takes thought and is mindful of me.
You are my help and my rescuer.
O my God, do not delay.(E)
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
To the Chief Musician; with stringed instruments. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is hiding among us.”
54 Save me, O God, by Your name;
And vindicate me by Your [wondrous] power.
2
Hear my prayer, O God;
Listen to the words of my mouth.
3
For strangers have risen against me
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah.
4
Behold, God is my helper and ally;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul [my upholder].
5
He will pay back the evil to my enemies;
In Your faithfulness destroy them.
6
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You;
I will give thanks and praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7
For He has rescued me from every trouble,
And my eye has looked with satisfaction (triumph) on my enemies.
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
51 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
3
For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
4
Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]
And faultless in Your judgment.(A)
5
I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].(B)
6
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
7
Purify me with [a]hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8
Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9
Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
11
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted and return to You.
14
Rescue me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will sing joyfully of Your righteousness and Your justice.
15
O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16
For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.(C)
17
My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.
18
By Your favor do good to Zion;
May You rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19
Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
18 “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover). For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “All the firstborn males among your livestock belong to Me, whether cattle or sheep. 20 You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None of you are to appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; [even] in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath]. 22 You shall observe and celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Harvest, First Fruits, or Pentecost), the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the year’s end. 23 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord [a]God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out and dispossess nations before you and enlarge your borders; nor shall any man covet (actively seek for himself) your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times a year.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover (Unleavened Bread) be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not [b]boil a young goat in his mother’s milk [as some pagans do].”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Moses’ Face Shines
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face was shining [with a unique radiance] because he had been speaking with God. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him; and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites approached him, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had said to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, [c]he would take off the veil until he came out. When he came out and he told the Israelites what he had been commanded [by God], 35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, how his skin shone [with a unique radiance]. So Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God.
Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit
3 Therefore, when we could no longer endure our separation [from you], we thought it best to be left behind, alone at Athens, 2 and so we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in [spreading] the good news of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you [exhorting, comforting, and establishing you] in regard to your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these difficulties [to which I have referred]. For you know that we have been destined for this [as something unavoidable in our position]. 4 For even when we were with you, we warned you plainly in advance that we were going to experience persecution; and so, as you know, it has come to pass. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure the suspense, I sent someone to find out about your faith [how you were holding up under pressure], for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our work [among you] would prove to be ineffective.
6 But now that Timothy has come back to us from [his visit with] you, and has brought us good news of your [steadfast] faith and [the warmth of your] love, and [reported] that you always think kindly of us and treasure your memories of us, longing to see us just as we long to see you, 7 for this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and suffering we have been comforted and greatly encouraged about you because of your faith [your unwavering trust in God—placing yourselves completely in His loving hands]; 8 because now we really live [in spite of everything], if you stand firm in the Lord. 9 For what [adequate] thanks can we offer to God for you in return for all the joy and delight we have before our God on your account? 10 We continue to pray night and day most earnestly that we may see you face to face, and may complete whatever may be imperfect and lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and Jesus our Lord guide our steps to you [by removing the obstacles that stand in our way]. 12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and excel and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may strengthen and establish your hearts without blame in holiness in the sight of our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His [a]saints (God’s people).
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;(A) 28 but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye makes you stumble and leads you to sin, tear it out and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31 “It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife is to give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on grounds of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.(B)
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not make false vows, but you shall fulfill your vows to the Lord [as a religious duty].’ 34 But I say to you, do not make an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.(C) 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.(D)
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