Book of Common Prayer
Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.
Aleph.
119 How blessed are those whose way is [a](A)blameless,
Who (B)walk in the law of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who (C)observe His testimonies,
Who (D)seek Him (E)with all their heart.
3 They also (F)do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have [b](G)ordained Your precepts,
[c]That we should keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my (H)ways may be established
To (I)keep Your statutes!
6 Then I (J)shall not be ashamed
When I look [d]upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall (K)give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not (L)forsake me utterly!
Beth.
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By (M)keeping it according to Your word.
10 With (N)all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me (O)wander from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have (P)treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Lord;
(Q)Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have (R)told of
All the (S)ordinances of Your mouth.
14 I have (T)rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
[e]As much as in all riches.
15 I will (U)meditate on Your precepts
And [f]regard (V)Your ways.
16 I shall [g](W)delight in Your statutes;
I shall (X)not forget Your word.
Gimel.
17 (Y)Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19 I am a (Z)stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed [h](AA)with longing
After Your ordinances at all times.
21 You (AB)rebuke the arrogant, [i]the (AC)cursed,
Who (AD)wander from Your commandments.
22 (AE)Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I (AF)observe Your testimonies.
23 Even though (AG)princes sit and talk against me,
Your servant (AH)meditates on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my (AI)delight;
They are [j]my counselors.
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the choir director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for (A)the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They (B)speak [b]falsehood to one another;
With (C)flattering [c]lips and with a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [d]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will (H)set him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The (I)words of the Lord are pure words;
As silver (J)tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will (K)preserve him from this generation forever.
8 The (L)wicked strut about on every side
When [e](M)vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Lord? Will You (N)forget me forever?
How long (O)will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I (P)take counsel in my soul,
Having (Q)sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 (R)Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
(S)Enlighten my eyes, or I will (T)sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will (U)say, “I have overcome him,”
And (V)my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have (W)trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall (X)rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will (Y)sing to the Lord,
Because He has (Z)dealt bountifully with me.
Folly and Wickedness of Men.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
14 The fool has (AA)said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable [f]deeds;
There is (AB)no one who does good.
2 The Lord has (AC)looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who [g](AD)understand,
Who (AE)seek after God.
3 They have all (AF)turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is (AG)no one who does good, not even one.
25 “When you [a]become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and (A)act corruptly, and (B)make an [b]idol in the form of anything, and (C)do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord your God so as to provoke Him to anger, 26 I (D)call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will (E)surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not [c]live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will (F)scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 (G)There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, (H)wood and stone, (I)which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 (J)But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him (K)with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you (L)are in distress and all these things have come upon you, (M)in the latter days (N)you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a (O)compassionate God; (P)He will not fail you nor (Q)destroy you nor (R)forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
21 To my (A)shame I must say that we have been (B)weak by comparison.
But in whatever respect anyone else (C)is bold—I (D)speak in foolishness—I am just as bold myself. 22 Are they (E)Hebrews? (F)So am I. Are they (G)Israelites? (H)So am I. Are they [a](I)descendants of Abraham? (J)So am I. 23 Are they (K)servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in [b](L)far more labors, in [c](M)far more imprisonments, [d](N)beaten times without number, often in (O)danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews (P)thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was (Q)beaten with rods, once I was (R)stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my (S)countrymen, dangers from the (T)Gentiles, dangers in the (U)city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among (V)false brethren; 27 I have been in (W)labor and hardship, [e]through many sleepless nights, in (X)hunger and thirst, often (Y)without food, in cold and [f](Z)exposure. 28 Apart from such [g]external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for (AA)all the churches. 29 Who is (AB)weak without my being weak? Who is [h]led into sin [i]without my intense concern?
30 If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my (AC)weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, (AD)He who is blessed forever, (AE)knows that I am not lying. 32 In (AF)Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was (AG)guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, 33 and I was let down in a basket (AH)through a window [j]in the wall, and so escaped his hands.
24 “(A)No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [a](B)wealth.
The Cure for Anxiety
25 “(C)For this reason I say to you, [b]do not be (D)worried about your [c]life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 (E)Look at the birds of the [d]air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being (F)worried can (G)add a single [e]hour to his [f]life? 28 And why are you (H)worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even (I)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the (J)grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? (K)You of little faith! 31 Do not (L)worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for (M)your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But [g]seek first [h]His kingdom and His righteousness, and (N)all these things will be [i]added to you.
34 “So do not (O)worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will [j]care for itself. [k]Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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