Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. A song of David.
140 Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Save me from cruel men.
2 They make evil plans.
They always start fights.
3 They make their tongues sharp as a snake’s.
Their words are like snake poison. Selah
4 Lord, guard me from the power of wicked people.
Save me from cruel men
who plan to trip me up.
5 Proud men have hidden a trap for me.
They have spread out a net beside the road.
They have set traps for me. Selah
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Lord, listen to my prayer for help.
7 Lord God, my mighty savior,
you protect me in battle.
8 Lord, do not give the wicked what they want.
Don’t let their plans succeed,
or they will become proud. Selah
9 Those around me have planned trouble.
Now let it come to them.
10 Let burning coals fall on them.
Throw them into the fire
or into pits from which they cannot escape.
11 Don’t let liars settle in the land.
Let evil quickly hunt down cruel men.
12 I know the Lord will get justice for the poor.
He will defend the needy in court.
13 Good people will praise his name.
Honest people will live in his presence.
A Prayer for Safety
A maskil of David when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142 I cry out to the Lord.
I pray to the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out my problems to him.
I tell him my troubles.
3 When I am afraid,
you, Lord, know the way out.
In the path where I walk,
a trap is hidden for me.
4 Look around me and see.
No one cares about me.
I have no place of safety.
No one cares if I live.
5 Lord, I cry out to you.
I say, “You are my protection.
You are all I want in this life.”
6 Listen to my cry
because I am helpless.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
They are too strong for me.
7 Free me from my prison.
Then I will praise your name.
Then the good people will surround me
because you have taken care of me.
A Prayer Not to Sin
A song of David.
141 Lord, I call to you. Come quickly.
Listen to me when I call to you.
2 Let my prayer be like incense placed before you.
Let my praise be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, help me control my tongue.
Help me be careful about what I say.
4 Don’t let me want to do evil
or join others in doing wrong.
Don’t let me eat
with those who do evil.
5 If a good man punished me, that would be kind.
If he corrected me,
that would be like having perfumed oil on my head.
I shouldn’t refuse it.
But I pray against those who do evil.
6 Let their leaders be thrown down the cliffs.
Then people will know that I have spoken the truth:
7 “The ground is plowed and broken up.
In the same way, our bones have been scattered at the grave.”
8 Lord God, I look to you for help.
I trust in you. Don’t let me die.
9 Protect me from the traps they set for me
and from the net evil people have spread.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own pits.
And let me pass by safely.
A Prayer Not to Be Killed
A song of David.
143 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for mercy.
Come to help me
because you are loyal and good.
2 Don’t judge me, your servant,
because no one alive is right before you.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They have crushed me to the ground.
They have made me live in darkness
like those who are long dead.
4 I am afraid.
My courage is gone.
5 I remember what happened long ago.
I recall everything you have done.
I think about all you have made.
6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.
As a dry land needs rain, I thirst for you. Selah
7 Lord, answer me quickly.
I am getting weak.
Don’t turn away from me,
or I will be like those who are dead.
8 Tell me in the morning about your love.
I trust you.
Show me what I should do
because my prayers go up to you.
9 Lord, save me from my enemies.
I come to you for safety.
10 Teach me to do what you want,
because you are my God.
Let your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
11 Lord, let me live
so people will praise you.
In your goodness
save me from my troubles.
12 In your love defeat my enemies.
Destroy all those who trouble me
because I am your servant.
21 “And I will show my greatness among the nations. All the nations will feel my power when I punish them. 22 From that day on the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 And the nations will know Israel was taken away captive because they turned against me. So I turned away from them. And I let their enemies defeat them. All of them died in war. 24 I punished them for their uncleanness and their sins. I turned away from them.
25 “So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will bring the people of Jacob back from captivity. I will have mercy on the whole nation of Israel. I will not let them dishonor me. 26 The people will forget their shame. And they will forget how they rejected me. They will live in safety on their own land. No one will make them afraid. 27 I will bring the people back from other lands. I will gather them from the lands of their enemies. That is how I will show that I am holy through my people. And many nations will see that I am holy. 28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. This is because I sent them into captivity among the nations. But then I brought them back to their own land. And I didn’t leave any behind. 29 I will not turn away from them anymore. I will put my Spirit into the people of Israel, says the Lord God.”
We Are God’s Children
3 The Father has loved us so much! He loved us so much that we are called children of God. And we really are his children. But the people in the world do not understand that we are God’s children, because they have not known him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God. We have not yet been shown what we will be in the future. But we know that when Christ comes again, we will be like him. We will see him as he really is. 3 Christ is pure. And every person who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure like Christ.
4 When a person sins, he breaks God’s law. Yes, sinning is the same as living against God’s law. 5 You know that Christ came to take away sins. There is no sin in Christ. 6 So the person who lives in Christ does not go on sinning. If he goes on sinning, he has never really understood Christ and has never known him.
7 Dear children, do not let any person lead you the wrong way. Christ is righteous. To be like Christ, a person must do what is right. 8 The devil has been sinning since the beginning. Anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s work.
9 When God makes someone his child, that person does not go on sinning. The new life God gave that person stays in him. So he is not able to go on sinning, because he has become a child of God. 10 So we can see who God’s children are and who the devil’s children are. Those who do not do what is right are not children of God. And anyone who does not love his brother is not a child of God.
24 “A student is not better than his teacher. A servant is not better than his master. 25 A student should be satisfied to become like his teacher. A servant should be satisfied to become like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, then the other members of the family will be called worse names!
Fear God, Not People
26 “So don’t be afraid of those people. Everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be made known. 27 I tell you these things in the dark, but I want you to tell them in the light. I speak these things only to you, but you should tell them to everyone. 28 Don’t be afraid of people. They can only kill the body. They cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is the One who can destroy the body and the soul in hell. 29 When birds are sold, two small birds cost only a penny. But not even one of the little birds can die without your Father’s knowing it. 30 God even knows how many hairs are on your head. 31 So don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many birds.
Tell People About Your Faith
32 “If anyone stands before other people and says he believes in me, then I will say that he belongs to me. I will say this before my Father in heaven. 33 But if anyone stands before people and says he does not believe in me, then I will say that he does not belong to me. I will say this before my Father in heaven.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.