Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5
With You the Wicked Cannot Dwell
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For the choir director. For flutes. A psalm by David.
Access in Prayer
1 Turn your ear to my words, O Lord.
Understand me when I sigh.
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I lay out my requests in front of you,
and I watch for your answer.
No Access
4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in evil.
With you the wicked cannot dwell.
5 The arrogant cannot stand before your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You put to death those who speak lies.
The Lord is disgusted with bloodthirsty, deceitful men.
Access in Prayer
7 But as for me, by your great mercy
I will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
with reverence for you.
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness.
Because of those who slander me,
make your way straight before me.
Lying Tongues
9 Nothing reliable comes out of their mouth.
From within them comes destruction.
Their throat is an open grave.
With their tongue they flatter.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let them fall because of their own schemes.
For their many treacherous deeds banish them,
because they have rebelled against you.
Praising Tongues
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad.
Let them sing for joy forever.
You cover them with protection,
so those who love your name rejoice in you.
12 Yes, you bless the righteous, Lord.
You surround them with your favor as a shield.
Psalm 6
Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger
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For the choir director. With stringed instruments.
According to sheminith.[a] A psalm by David.
Anxious Prayer
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.
Do not discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am fading away.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are trembling,
3 and my soul is terrified.
But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul.
Save me because of your mercy.
5 For in death no one remembers you.
In the grave who praises you?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
I flood my bed all night long.
With my tears I drench my couch.
7 My eyes are blurred by sorrow.
They are worn out because of all my foes.
Confident Trust
8 Turn away from me, all you evildoers,
because the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord accepts my prayer.
10 They will be put to shame.
All my enemies will be terrified.
They will turn back.
They will be put to shame in an instant.
Psalm 10
Break the Arm of the Wicked Man
An Opening Appeal for Action
1 Why, Lord, do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
A Portrait of the Wicked
2 Because of the pride of the wicked, the oppressed burn.[a]
They are caught in the schemes that the wicked plan.
3 Yes, the wicked man boasts about his heart’s desires.
He blesses the robber. He despises the Lord.[b]
4 With his nose in the air, the wicked does not seek God.
There is no room at all for God in his thoughts.
5 His ways are prosperous all the time.
He is haughty. Your judgments do not concern him.
He snorts at all of his foes.
6 He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken.
Through age after age I will have no trouble.”
7 Cursing fills his mouth, along with lies and threats.
Trouble and evil lie under his tongue.
8 He waits in ambush by the villages.
In hidden places he murders the innocent.
His eyes are spying on the helpless.
9 He lies in ambush. He hides like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to catch the oppressed.
He catches the oppressed by dragging them in his net.
10 The helpless are crushed. They sink down.
They fall under his strength.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He never sees.”
An Appeal for Divine Justice
12 Rise up, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why does the wicked man despise God?
Why does he say in his heart,
“You do not seek justice”?
14 But you do see. You notice trouble and grief.
You take it into your own hands.
The helpless one abandons himself to you.
For the fatherless you are indeed a helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked.
You pursue the wickedness of the evil man
until you find no more.[c]
Confidence in Divine Justice
16 The Lord is King forever and ever.
The nations will perish from his land.
17 Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.
You strengthen their hearts,
and your ear pays attention,
18 to obtain justice for the fatherless and the crushed,
so that the worldly man[d] may no longer terrify.
Psalm 11
Faith, Not Flight
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For the choir director. By David.
The Fear of the Fainthearted
1 In the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul:
“Flee to your mountain like a bird.
2 Look! The wicked bend their bow.
They set their arrow against the string
to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being torn down,
what can the righteous do?”
David’s Answer
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord is on his throne in heaven.
His eyes observe.
He focuses on[e] the children of Adam.[f]
5 The Lord is righteous.
He examines the wicked.
He really hates[g] those who love violence.
6 On the wicked he will rain down fiery coals and sulfur.[h]
A scorching wind will be the cup given to them.
7 Indeed, the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness.
The upright will view his face.
15 So guard your hearts very carefully, because you did not see any form on the day that the Lord your God spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 16 Do this so that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves an idol of any form. Do not make an image of a male or female, 17 an image of any animal that walks on the earth, an image of any bird that flies in the sky, 18 an image of anything that creeps on the ground, or an image of any fish that swims in the water below the earth. 19 Beware so that you do not lift up your eyes to the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the vast army of the heavens, and you are lured away, and you bow down to them and worship them—things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the nations under all the heavens.
20 But you are the ones that the Lord has chosen and has brought out of the iron furnace of Egypt, to be a nation that is his possession, as is the case today. 21 But the Lord was angry with me because of your words, and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan and would not come into the good land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 I will die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you will cross over and take possession of this good land. 23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant that the Lord your God made[a] with you and so that you do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything that the Lord your God prohibited. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.[b]
Bear With Me
11 I wish that you would be patient with me in regard to a little foolishness—but you are already being patient with me. 2 You see, I am jealous about you, with a godly jealousy, because I promised to present you as a pure virgin to one husband, Christ. 3 But I am afraid that somehow, just as the serpent deceived Eve with his cunning, so also your minds might be led astray from a sincere[a] and pure devotion to Christ. 4 In fact, if someone comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you accept a different spirit, which you did not accept before, or a different “gospel,” which you did not welcome before, you put up with it all too well. 5 I do not think that I am in any way inferior to the “super-apostles.” 6 But even if I am an amateur in speech, yet I am not an amateur in knowledge. No, in everything we have clearly demonstrated that to you in every way.
7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself, so that you would be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches, by receiving support from them to minister to you! 9 And when I was with you and needed something, I did not burden anyone, because when the brothers came from Macedonia, they supplied what I needed. In every way I kept myself from ever being a burden to you, and I will continue to do so. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting about me will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do. 12 But what I am doing, and will continue to do, is being done in order to cut off the opportunity of those who want an opportunity to boast that they should be considered equal to us.
13 In fact, such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 So it is no great surprise if his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their works.
16 I say again, no one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I may boast a little. 17 What I am saying when I boast so confidently is not the way the Lord speaks; rather, it is a foolish manner of speaking. 18 Since many are boasting as the sinful flesh does, I will also boast. 19 You gladly put up with fools, since you are just so wise! 20 In fact, you put up with it if anyone makes you his slave, robs you, takes advantage of you, looks down on you, or strikes you in the face! 21 I am ashamed to say that we were too weak for that!
However bold anyone might be (I am speaking in a foolish way), I am going to be bold too.
Fasting
16 “Whenever you fast, do not make yourself look sad like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show everyone that they are fasting. Amen I tell you: They have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that it is not apparent to people that you are fasting, but only to your Father who sees what is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Treasures
19 “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So then if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.