Book of Common Prayer
Prayer of a Man Hurt by a Friend
55 Listen to my prayer, O God. Do not hide Yourself from what I ask. 2 Hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I have no peace, 3 because of the voice of those who hate me and the power of the sinful. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they keep on having bad thoughts against me.
4 My heart is in pain within me. The fears of death have come upon me. 5 I have begun shaking with fear. Fear has power over me. 6 And I say, “If only I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest. 7 Yes, I would go far away. I would live in the desert. 8 I would hurry to my safe place, away from the wild wind and storm.”
9 Mix them up, O Lord. Divide their tongues. For I have seen fighting and trouble in the city. 10 They go around on its walls day and night. Sin and wrong-doing are within it. 11 Destroying powers are in the city. Trouble and lies never leave its streets.
12 I would be able to take it if one who hates me were putting me to shame. I could hide from him. It is not one who hates me who has put himself up against me. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, one who has gone with me, my close friend. 14 We shared together. And we walked with the people in the house of God. 15 Let death take them by surprise. Let them go down alive to the grave. For sin is with them where they live. 16 As for me, I will call on God and the Lord will save me. 17 I will cry out and complain in the evening and morning and noon, and He will hear my voice. 18 He will save my soul in peace from those who make war against me. For there are many who fight me. 19 God sits on His throne forever. And He will hear them and bring trouble upon them, because there has been no change in them. They do not fear God. 20 He goes against those who were at peace with him. He has broken his agreement. 21 What he says is smoother than butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are raised swords.
22 Give all your cares to the Lord and He will give you strength. He will never let those who are right with Him be shaken. 23 But You, O God, will bring the sinful down into the hole that destroys. Men who kill and lie will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
A Song of Praise
138 I will give You thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to You in front of the gods. 2 I will bow down toward Your holy house. And I will give thanks to Your name for Your loving-kindness and Your truth. For You have honored Your Word because of what Your name is. 3 You answered me on the day I called. You gave me strength in my soul.
4 O Lord, all the kings of the earth will give thanks to You when they have heard the words of Your mouth. 5 And they will sing of the ways of the Lord. For the shining beauty of the Lord is great. 6 For even if the Lord is honored, He thinks about those who have no pride. But He knows the proud from far away. 7 Even if I walk into trouble, You will keep my life safe. You will put out Your hand against the anger of those who hate me. And Your right hand will save me. 8 The Lord will finish the work He started for me. O Lord, Your loving-kindness lasts forever. Do not turn away from the works of Your hands.
God Cares for His People
139 O Lord, You have looked through me and have known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far away. 3 You look over my path and my lying down. You know all my ways very well. 4 Even before I speak a word, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have closed me in from behind and in front. And You have laid Your hand upon me. 6 All You know is too great for me. It is too much for me to understand.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where You are? 8 If I go up to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in the place of the dead, You are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me. 11 If I say, “For sure the darkness will cover me and the light around me will be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to You. And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to You.
13 For You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother. 14 I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.
17 Your thoughts are of great worth to me, O God. How many there are! 18 If I could number them, there would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
19 If only You would kill the sinful, O God, and the men of blood would go away from me! 20 For they speak against You in sin. Those who hate You use Your name in a wrong way. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not hate those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the strongest hate. They have become men who hate me.
23 Look through me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts.
9 “The Lord of All says, ‘You who are now listening to these words spoken through the men of God who were there when the Lord’s house was started, let your hands be strong for building the Lord’s house. 10 Before that time there was no pay for man or animal. No one could come in or go out in peace because of those who hated him. I turned people against one another. 11 But now I will not do to the rest of these people as I did in the past,’ says the Lord of All. 12 ‘The seed will grow in peace. The vine will give its fruit. The land will give its food. The heavens will give water on the grass in the early morning. And I will let the rest of this people have all these things. 13 O people of Judah and Israel, just as you were a curse among the nations, I will save you and make you something good. Do not be afraid. Let your hands be strong.’
14 “The Lord of All says, ‘I wanted to hurt you because your fathers made Me angry. 15 But now I want to do good to Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. Do not be afraid. 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another. Judge with truth so there will be peace within your gates. 17 Do not make sinful plans against one another in your hearts. And do not love to make false promises. For I hate all these things,’ says the Lord.”
The Seven Locks: the First Lock—Power to Win
6 I saw the Lamb break open the first of the seven locks. I heard one of the four living beings cry out like the sound of thunder, “Come and see!” 2 I looked and saw a white horse. The one who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him. He went out to win and he won.
The Second Lock—Fighting
3 He broke open the second lock. Then I heard the second living being say, “Come and see!” 4 Another horse came out. This one was red. The one who sat on it was given a long sword. He was given power to take peace from the earth so men would kill each other.
The Third Lock—No Food
5 He broke open the third lock. Then I heard the third living being say, “Come and see!” I looked and saw a black horse. The one who sat on it had something in his hand with which to weigh things. 6 I heard a voice from among the four living beings saying, “A small jar of wheat for a day’s pay. Three small jars of barley for a day’s pay. Do not hurt the olive oil and wine.”
The Fourth Lock—Death
7 He broke open the fourth lock. Then I heard the fourth living being say, “Come and see!” 8 I looked and saw a light colored horse. The one who sat on it had the name of Death. Hell followed close behind him. They were given the right and the power to kill one-fourth part of everything on the earth. They were to kill with the sword and by people having no food and by sickness and by the wild animals of the earth.
The Fifth Lock—Killed for Telling of Jesus
9 He broke open the fifth lock. Then I saw under the altar all the souls of those who had been killed for telling the Word of God. They had also been killed for being faithful in telling about Christ. 10 All those who had been killed cried out with a loud voice saying, “How long will it be yet before You will punish those on the earth for killing us? Lord, You are holy and true.” 11 White clothes were given to each one of them. They were told to rest a little longer. They were to wait until all the other servants owned by God and their Christian brothers would be killed as they had been. Then the group would be complete.
The Sixth Lock—God’s Anger on the Earth
12 I looked as the Lamb broke the sixth lock. The earth shook as if it would break apart. The sun became black like dark cloth. The moon became like blood. 13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth. They were like figs falling from a tree that is shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky passed away like paper being rolled up. Every mountain and island moved from its place. 15 The kings and the leaders of the earth hid themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. All the head soldiers and rich men and strong men and men who were free and those who were owned by someone hid themselves also. 16 They called to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us! Hide us from the face of the One Who sits on the throne. Hide us from the anger of the Lamb, 17 because the special day of Their anger has come! Who is able to stand against it?”
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His shining-greatness, He will sit down on His throne of greatness. All the angels will be with Him. 32 All the nations of the earth will be gathered before Him. He will divide them from each other as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right side, but the goats He will put on His left side.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right side, ‘Come, you who have been called by My Father. Come into the holy nation that has been made ready for you before the world was made. 35 For I was hungry and you gave Me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave Me water to drink. I was a stranger and you gave Me a room. 36 I had no clothes and you gave Me clothes to wear. I was sick and you cared for Me. I was in prison and you came to see Me.’
37 “Then those that are right with God will say, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? When did we see You thirsty and give You a drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and give You a room? When did we see You had no clothes and we gave You clothes? 39 And when did we see You sick or in prison and we came to You?’ 40 Then the King will say, ‘For sure, I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of My brothers, you have done it to Me.’
41 “Then the King will say to those on His left side, ‘Go away from Me! You are guilty! Go into the fire that lasts forever. It has been made ready for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry but you did not give Me food to eat. I was thirsty but you did not give Me water to drink. 43 I was a stranger but you did not give Me a room. I had no clothes but you did not give Me clothes. I was sick and in prison but you did not come to see Me.’
44 “Then they will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger? When did we see You without clothes or sick or in prison and did not care for You?’ 45 Then He will say to them, ‘For sure, I tell you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go to the place where they will be punished forever. But those right with God will have life that lasts forever.”
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.