Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: For flutes. A Davidic Psalm
A Prayer for God’s Help
5 Lord, listen to my words,
consider my groaning.
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,[a]
my king and my God,
for unto you will I pray.
3 Lord, in the morning you will hear my voice;
in the morning I will pray[b] to you,
and I will watch for your answer.[c]
4 Indeed, you aren’t a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will never dwell with you.
5 Boastful ones will not stand before you;
you hate all those who practice wickedness.
6 You will destroy those who speak lies.
The Lord abhors the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But I, because of the abundance of your gracious love,
may come into your house.
In awe of you, I will worship in your holy Temple.
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies.
Make your path straight before me.
9 But as for the wicked,[d]
they do not speak truth at all.
Inside them there is only wickedness.
Their throat is an open grave,
on their tongue is deceitful flattery.
10 Declare them guilty, God!
Let them fall by their own schemes.
Drive them away because of their many transgressions,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 Let all those who take refuge in you rejoice!
Let them shout for joy forever,
and may you protect them.
Let those who love your name exult in you.
12 Indeed, you will bless the righteous one, Lord,
like a large shield, you will surround him with favor.
To the Director: With stringed instruments. On an eight-stringed harp.[e] A Davidic Psalm
A Prayer in Times of Trouble
6 Lord, in your anger, do not rebuke me;
in your wrath, do not discipline me.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am fading away.
Heal me,
because my body[f] is distressed.
3 And my soul[g] is deeply distressed.
But you, Lord, how long do I wait?[h]
4 Return, Lord,
save my life!
Deliver me, because of your gracious love.
5 In death, there is no memory of you.
Who will give you thanks where the dead are?[i]
6 I am weary from my groaning.
Every night my couch is drenched with tears,
my bed is soaked through.
7 My eyesight has faded because of grief,
it has dimmed because of all my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all of you who practice evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord receives my prayer.
10 As for all my enemies, they will be put to shame;
they will be greatly frightened
and suddenly turn away ashamed.
A Prayer for Judging the Wicked
10 [a]Why do you stand far away, Lord?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
2 The wicked one arrogantly pursues the afflicted,[b]
who are trapped in the schemes he devises.
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own desire;
he blesses the greedy
and despises the Lord.
4 With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks,
“God will not seek justice.”[c]
He always presumes “There is no God.”
5 Their ways always seem prosperous.
Your judgments are on high,
far away from them.
They scoff at all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves,
“We will not be moved throughout all time,
and we will not experience adversity.”
7 Their mouth is full of curses, lies, and oppression,
their tongues[d] spread trouble and iniquity.
8 They wait[e] in ambush in the villages,
they kill the innocent in secret.
9 Their eyes secretly watch the helpless,
lying in wait like a lion in his den.
They lie in wait to catch the afflicted.
They catch the afflicted when they pull him into their net.
10 The victim[f] is crushed,
and he sinks down;
the helpless fall by their might.
11 The wicked say to themselves,
“God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face,
he will never see it.”
12 Rise up, Lord!
Raise your hand, God.
Don’t forget the afflicted!
13 Why do the wicked despise God
and say to themselves, “God[g] will not seek justice.”?[h]
14 But you do see!
You take note of trouble and grief
in order to take the matter into your own hand.
The helpless one commits himself[i] to you;
you have been the orphan’s helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
so that when you seek out his wickedness
you will find it no more.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
nations will perish from his land.
17 Lord, you heard the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen them,[j]
you will listen carefully,
18 to do justice for the orphan[k] and the oppressed,
so that men of the earth may cause terror no more.
To the Director: A Davidic Song.[l]
Confident Trust in God
11 I take refuge in the Lord.
So how can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to the mountains.”?
2 Look, the wicked have bent their bow
and placed their arrow[m] on the string,[n]
to shoot from the darkness[o] at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in his holy Temple;
the Lord’s throne is in the heavens.
His eyes see,
his glance[p] examines humanity.[q]
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence, he hates.
6 He rains on the wicked burning coals and sulfur;
a scorching wind is their destiny.[r]
7 Indeed, the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteousness;
the upright will see him face-to-face.
15 “Therefore, for your own sake, be very careful, since you did not see any form on the day that the Lord your God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire. 16 Be careful![a] Otherwise, you will be destroyed when you make carved images for yourself—all sorts of images in the form of man, woman, 17 any animal on earth, any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 any creeping thing on the ground, or any fish in the sea.[b] 19 Do not gaze toward the heavens and observe the sun, the moon, the stars—the entire array of the sky—with the intent[c] to worship and serve what the Lord your God gave every nation.[d] 20 For the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace—out of Egypt—to be the people of his inheritance, as you are today.
21 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you. So he swore that I’ll never cross the Jordan River to enter the good land that the Lord your God is about to give you as an inheritance. 22 I’m going to die in this land and I won’t cross the Jordan River, but you’re about to cross over to possess that good land. 23 Be careful! Otherwise, you will forget the covenant of the Lord your God, who established that covenant with you. Don’t make carved images of any likeness in violation of everything that you were commanded by the Lord your God. 24 Indeed, the Lord your God is a consuming[e] fire. He is a jealous God.”
Paul Contrasts Himself with False Apostles
11 I wish you would tolerate a little of my foolishness. Yes, please tolerate me! 2 I am jealous of you with God’s own jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to the Messiah.[a] 3 However, I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from sincere and pure[b] devotion to the Messiah.[c]
4 For if someone comes along and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or should you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you are all too willing to listen. 5 I do not think I’m inferior in any way to those “super-apostles.” 6 Even though I may be untrained as an orator, I am not so in the field of knowledge. We have made this clear to all of you in every possible way.
7 Did I commit a sin when I humbled myself by proclaiming to you the gospel of God free of charge, so that you could be exalted? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 When I was with you and needed something, I did not bother any of you, because our brothers who came from Macedonia supplied everything I needed. I kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.
10 As surely as the truth of the Messiah[d] is in me, my boasting will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do!
12 But I will go on doing what I’m doing in order to deny an opportunity to those people who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in the work they are boasting about. 13 Such people are false apostles, dishonest workers who are masquerading as apostles of the Messiah.[e] 14 And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their doom[f] will match their deeds!
Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle
16 I will say it again: No one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, then treat me like a fool so that I can also boast a little. 17 When I talk as a confident boaster, I am not talking with the Lord’s authority but like a fool. 18 Since many people boast in a fleshly way, I will do it, too. 19 You are wise, so you will gladly be tolerant of fools. 20 You tolerate anyone who makes you his slaves, devours what you have, takes what is yours, orders you around, or slaps your face!
21 I am ashamed to admit it, but we have been too weak for that. Whatever anyone else dares to claim—I am talking like a fool—I can claim it, too.
Teaching about Fasting
16 “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites, because they put on sad faces to show others they are fasting. I tell all of you[a] with certainty, they have their full reward! 17 But when you fast, put oil on[b] your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by others but by your Father who is in the hidden place. And your Father who watches from the hidden place will reward you.”[c]
Teaching about Treasures(A)
19 “Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But keep on storing up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths 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.”
The Lamp of the Body(B)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light within you has turned into darkness, how great is that darkness!”
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