Book of Common Prayer

Prayer of a Good Man

26 O Lord, stand by me for I have lived my life without blame. I have trusted in the Lord without changing. ² Test me and try me, O Lord. Test my mind and my heart. ³ For Your loving-kindness is always in front of my eyes. And I have walked in Your truth. ⁴ I do not sit with men who lie about the truth. I would not be seen with those who pretend to be someone they are not. ⁵ I hate the meeting of sinners, and will not sit with the sinful. ⁶ I will wash my hands of any guilt. And I will go around Your altar, O Lord. ⁷ I will speak with the voice of thanks, and tell of all Your great works.

⁸ O Lord, I love the house where You live, the place where Your shining-greatness lives. ⁹ Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men who kill other people. ¹⁰ Sinful plans are in their hands. And their right hand is full of pay for hurting others. ¹¹ But as for me, I will live a life without blame. Make me free, and show me loving-kindness. ¹² My foot stands on a good place. I will give honor to the Lord, in the meeting of worship.

Prayer for Help—Praise for the Answer

28 O Lord, to You I call. O my Rock, listen to me. If You will not hear me, I will be like those who have gone down to the grave. ² Hear my cry for loving-kindness as I call to You for help, and when I lift up my hands to Your holy place. ³ Do not drag me away with the sinful and with those who do bad things. They speak peace with their neighbors, while sin is in their hearts. ⁴ Pay them for their work and for the sins they do. Pay them for the works of their hands. Give them what they have earned. ⁵ They do not think about the works of the Lord and what His hands have done. So He will pull them down and not build them up again.

⁶ May honor and thanks be given to the Lord, because He has heard my prayer. ⁷ The Lord is my strength and my safe cover. My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. So my heart is full of joy. I will thank Him with my song. ⁸ The Lord is the strength of His people. He is a safe place for His chosen one. ⁹ Save Your people and bring good to what is Yours. Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Sinful Men—Loving God

36 Sin speaks to the sinful man within his heart. There is no fear of God in his eyes. ² For he makes much of himself in his own eyes. So his sin is not known and hated. ³ The words of his mouth are sinful and false. He has stopped being wise and doing good. ⁴ He plans wrong-doing upon his bed. He sets himself on a path that is not good. He does not hate what is bad.

⁵ O Lord, Your loving-kindness goes to the heavens. You are as faithful as the sky is high. ⁶ You are as right and good as mountains are big. You are as fair when You judge as a sea is deep. O Lord, You keep safe both man and animal. ⁷ Of what great worth is Your loving-kindness, O God! The children of men come and are safe in the shadow of Your wings. ⁸ They are filled with the riches of Your house. And You give them a drink from Your river of joy. ⁹ All life came from You. In Your light we see light.

¹⁰ Keep on giving Your loving-kindness to those who know You. Keep on being right and good to the pure in heart. ¹¹ Do not let the foot of pride come near me. Do not let the hand of the sinful push me away. ¹² There have the wrong-doers fallen. They have been thrown down, and cannot rise.

Prayer of a Suffering Man

39 I said, “I will watch my ways so I may not sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth shut as if it were tied with ropes, while the sinful are near me.” ² I stayed quiet, not even saying anything good. And my sorrow grew worse. ³ My heart was hot within me. As I thought about things, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue, ⁴ “O Lord, let me know my end and how many days I have to live. Let me know that I do not have long to stay here. ⁵ You have made each of my days as long as a hand is wide. My whole life is nothing in Your eyes. Every man at his best is only a breath. ⁶ Every man walks here and there like a shadow. He makes a noise about nothing. He stores up riches, not knowing who will gather them.

⁷ And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. ⁸ Save me from all my sins. Do not let me be put to shame by the foolish. ⁹ I cannot speak. I do not open my mouth because it is You Who has done it. ¹⁰ Do not punish me any more. I am growing weak by the beatings of Your hand. ¹¹ With sharp words You punish a man for sin. You destroy like a moth what is of worth to him. For sure, every man is only a breath.

¹² O Lord, hear my prayer, and listen to my cry. Do not be quiet when You see my tears. For I am a stranger with You, a visitor like all my fathers. ¹³ Look away from me, so I may have joy again before I go and am no more.”

Jerusalem’s Sorrows

1 How empty is the city that was once full of people! She was once great among the nations. But now she has become like a woman whose husband has died. She who was once a queen among the cities has become a servant made to work. ² She cries hard in the night, with tears on her face. She has no one to comfort her among all her lovers. All her friends have not been faithful to her. They have turned against her. ³ Judah has been taken away to a strange land where she suffers much and is made to work hard as a servant. She lives among the nations, but has no rest. All those who went after her have taken her in her trouble. ⁴ The roads of Zion are filled with sorrow, because no one comes to the special suppers. All her gates are laid waste. Her religious leaders are crying in sorrow. Her pure young women are troubled, and she herself is in bitter suffering. ⁵ Those who hate her have power over her, and all goes well for them. For the Lord has made her suffer for her many sins. Her children have been taken away in front of those who hate her. ⁶ The people of Zion have lost all her great power. Her princes are like deer that find no field where they can eat. They are weak as they run away from those who are after them. ⁷ In the days of her trouble and when she had no home, Jerusalem remembers all the things of much worth that were hers in days long ago, when her people fell into the hands of those who hated her. No one helped her. Those who hated her saw her and made fun of her when she was destroyed. ⁸ Jerusalem sinned very much, so she is unclean. All who honored her hate her, because they have seen her put to shame. Even she herself cries in sorrow and turns away. ⁹ She was unclean in her clothing. She did not think about her future. She came to nothing. She had no one to comfort her. “O Lord, see my suffering, for those who hate me have won!” ¹⁰ Those who hate her have laid their hands on all her things of much worth. For she has seen the nations go into her holy place, those whom You said must not gather with Your people. ¹¹ All her people cry inside themselves as they look for bread. They have traded their things of much worth for food to have strength. “Look and see, O Lord, for I am hated. ¹² Is it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow given me, which the Lord put on me in the day of His burning anger.

⁴¹ The sun has its greatness. The moon has its greatness. Stars have their greatness. One star is different from another star in greatness.

⁴² It is the same with people who are raised from the dead. The body will turn back to dust when it is put in a grave. When the body is raised from the grave, it will never die. ⁴³ It has no greatness when it is put in a grave, but it is raised with shining-greatness. It is weak when it is put in a grave, but it is raised with power. ⁴⁴ It is a human body when it dies, but it is a God-like body when it is raised from the dead. There are human bodies and there are God-like bodies. ⁴⁵ The Holy Writings say, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” But the last Adam (Christ) is a life-giving Spirit.

⁴⁶ We have these human bodies first. Then we are given God-like bodies that are ready for heaven. ⁴⁷ Adam was the first man. He was made from the dust of the earth. Christ was the second man. He came down from heaven. ⁴⁸ All men of the earth are made like Adam. But those who belong to Christ will have a body like the body of Christ Who came from heaven. ⁴⁹ Now, our bodies are like Adam’s body. But in heaven, our bodies will be like the body of Christ.

⁵⁰ Christian brothers, our bodies which are made of flesh and blood will not go into the holy nation of God. That which dies can have no part in that which will never die.

Jesus Prays to His Father

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “Thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You hid these things from the wise and from those who have much learning. You have shown them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, it was good in Your sight.

²⁷ “Everything has been given to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son but the Father. No one knows the Father but the Son, and those to whom the Son wants to make the Father known.

Jesus Calls People to Follow Him

²⁸ “Come to Me, all of you who work and have heavy loads. I will give you rest. ²⁹ Follow My teachings and learn from Me. I am gentle and do not have pride. You will have rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My way of carrying a load is easy and My load is not heavy.”