Book of Common Prayer
God Wants True Worship
A song of Asaph.
50 The God of gods, the Lord, speaks.
He calls the earth from the rising to the setting sun.
2 God shines from Jerusalem,
whose beauty is perfect.
3 Our God comes, and he will not be silent.
A fire burns in front of him,
and a storm surrounds him.
4 He calls to the sky and to the earth
to see him judge his people.
5 He says, “You who worship me, gather around.
You have made an agreement with me, using a sacrifice.”
6 God is the judge.
Even the skies say he is right. Selah
7 God says, “My people, listen to me.
Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not scold you for your sacrifices.
You always bring me your burnt offerings.
9 But I do not need the bulls from your stalls
or the goats from your pens.
10 Every animal of the forest is already mine.
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
11 I know every bird on the mountains.
Every living thing in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you.
The earth and everything on it are mine.
13 I don’t eat the meat of bulls
or drink the blood of goats.
14 Give an offering to show thanks to God.
Give God Most High what you have promised.
15 Call to me in times of trouble.
I will save you, and you will honor me.”
16 But God says to the wicked people,
“Why do you talk about my laws?
Why do you mention my agreement?
17 You hate my teachings.
You turn your back on what I say.
18 When you see a thief, you join him.
You take part in adultery.
19 You don’t stop your mouth from speaking evil.
Your tongue makes up lies.
20 You speak against your brother.
You lie about your mother’s son.
21 I have kept quiet while you did these things.
So you thought I was just like you.
But I will scold you.
I will accuse you to your face.
22 “Think about this, you people who forget God.
Otherwise, I will tear you apart,
and no one will save you.
23 Those people honor me
who give me offerings to show thanks.
And I, God, will save those who do that.”
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A miktam of David when Saul sent men to watch David’s house to kill him.
59 God, save me from my enemies.
Protect me from those who come against me.
2 Save me from those who do evil.
Save me from murderers.
3 Look, men are waiting to attack me.
Cruel men attack me.
But I have not sinned or done wrong, Lord.
4 I have done nothing wrong, but they are ready to attack me.
Wake up to help me and look.
5 You are the Lord God of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel.
Come and punish those people.
Do not give those traitors any mercy. Selah
6 They come back at night.
Like dogs they growl and roam around the city.
7 Notice what comes from their mouths.
Insults come from their lips.
They say, “Who’s listening?”
8 But, Lord, you laugh at them.
You make fun of all of them.
9 God, my strength, I wait for you.
God, you are my protection.
10 My God loves me, and he will be with me.
He will help me defeat my enemies.
11 Lord, our protector, do not kill them.
If you do, my people will forget.
With your power scatter them
and defeat them.
12 They sin by what they say.
They sin with their words.
They curse and tell lies.
So let their pride trap them.
13 Destroy them in your anger.
Destroy them completely!
Then they will know
that God rules over Israel
and to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 They come back at night.
Like dogs they growl
and roam around the city.
15 They wander about looking for food.
And they howl if they do not find enough.
16 But I will sing about your strength.
In the morning I will sing about your love.
You are my protection,
my place of safety in times of trouble.
17 God, my strength, I will sing praises to you.
God, my protection, you are the God who loves me.
A Prayer After a Defeat
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated 12,000 Edomites at the Valley of Salt.
60 God, you have rejected us and scattered us.
You have been angry, but please come back to us.
2 You made the earth shake and crack.
Fix its breaks because it is shaking.
3 You have given your people trouble.
You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.
4 You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you.
Now they can escape the enemy. Selah
5 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
6 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
8 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
11 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
12 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
Praise God for Answering Prayers
For the director of music. A song of praise.
66 Everything on earth, shout with joy to God!
2 Sing about his glory!
Make his praise glorious!
3 Say to God, “Your works are amazing!
Your power is great.
Your enemies fall before you.
4 All the earth worships you.
They sing praises to you.
They sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done.
See what amazing things he has done for people.
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
The people crossed the river on foot.
So let us rejoice because of what he did.
7 He rules forever with his power.
He keeps his eye on the nations.
So people should not turn against him. Selah
8 You people, praise our God.
Loudly sing his praise.
9 He protects our lives
and does not let us be defeated.
10 God, you have tested us.
You have purified us like silver.
11 You let us be trapped.
You put a heavy load on us.
12 You let our enemies walk on our heads.
We went through fire and flood.
But you brought us to a place with good things.
13 I will come to your Temple with burnt offerings.
I will give you what I promised.
14 I promised to give you these things
when I was in trouble.
15 I will bring you offerings of fat animals.
And I will offer male sheep, bulls and goats. Selah
16 All of you who fear God, come and listen.
I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth.
I praised him with my tongue.
18 If I had known of any sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God has listened.
He has heard my prayer.
20 Praise God.
He did not ignore my prayer.
He did not hold back his love from me.
Everyone Should Praise God
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A song of praise.
67 God, have mercy on us and bless us.
Show your kindness to us. Selah
2 Then the world will learn your ways.
All nations will learn that you can save.
3 God, the people should praise you.
All people should praise you.
4 The nations should be glad and sing
because you judge people fairly.
You guide all the nations on earth. Selah
5 God, the people should praise you.
All people should praise you.
6 The land has given its crops.
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us
so people to the ends of the earth will fear him.
3 Now Samuel was dead, and all the Israelites had shown their sadness for him. They had buried Samuel in his hometown of Ramah.
And Saul had forced out the mediums and fortune-tellers from the land of Israel.
4 The Philistines came together and made camp at Shunem. Saul gathered all the Israelites and made camp at Gilboa. 5 When he saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. His heart pounded with fear. 6 He prayed to the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him through dreams, Urim or prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium. I’ll go and ask her what will happen.”
His servants answered, “There is a medium in Endor.”
8 Then Saul put on other clothes so no one would know who he was. At night Saul and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, “Talk to a spirit for me. Call up the person I name.”
9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has forced the mediums and fortune-tellers out from the land of Israel. You are trying to trap me and kill me.”
10 Saul made a promise to the woman in the name of the Lord. He said, “As surely as the Lord lives, you won’t be punished for doing this.”
11 The woman asked, “Whom do you want me to bring up for you?”
He answered, “Bring up Samuel.”
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed loudly. She said, “Why have you tricked me? You are Saul!”
13 The king said to the woman, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?”
The woman said, “I see a spirit coming up out of the ground.”
14 Saul asked, “What does he look like?”
The woman answered, “An old man wearing a coat is coming up.”
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed facedown on the ground.
15 Samuel asked Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
Saul said, “I am greatly troubled. The Philistines are fighting against me. God has left me. He won’t answer me anymore, either by prophets or in dreams. That’s why I called you. I want you to tell me what to do.”
16 Samuel said, “The Lord has left you. He has become your enemy. So why do you call on me? 17 He has done what he said he would do. He said these things through me. He has torn the kingdom out of your hands. He has given it to one of your neighbors, David. 18 You did not obey the Lord. You did not show the Amalekites how angry he was with them. That’s why he has done this to you today. 19 The Lord will give both Israel and you to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will let the Philistines defeat the army of Israel.”
20 Saul quickly fell to the ground and lay there. He was afraid because of what Samuel had said. He was also very weak because he had eaten nothing all that day and night.
The Meeting at Jerusalem
15 Then some men came to Antioch from Judea. They began teaching the non-Jewish brothers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised. Moses taught us to do this.” 2 Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with the men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other men to Jerusalem. There they could talk more about this with the apostles and elders.
3 The church helped the men leave on the trip. They went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, telling all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to God. This made all the believers very happy. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all the things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the believers who had belonged to the Pharisee group came forward. They said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the law of Moses!”
6 The apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. 7 There was a long debate. Then Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the non-Jewish people. They heard the Good News from me, and they believed. 8 God, who knows the thoughts of all men, accepted them. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, he made their hearts pure. 10 So now why are you testing God? You are putting a heavy load around the necks of the non-Jewish brothers. It is a load that neither we nor our fathers were able to carry. 11 But we believe that we and they too will be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus!”
A Man with Demons Inside Him
5 Jesus and his followers went across the lake to the region of the Gerasene[a] people. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man came to him from the caves where dead people were buried. This man, who lived in the caves, had an evil spirit living in him. 3 No one could tie him up, not even with a chain. 4 Many times people had used chains to tie the man’s hands and feet. But he always broke the chains off. No one was strong enough to control him. 5 Day and night he would wander around the burial caves and on the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones. 6 While Jesus was still far away, the man saw him. He ran to Jesus and knelt down before him. 7-8 Jesus said to the man, “You evil spirit, come out of that man.”
But the man shouted in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, promise God that you will not punish me!”
9 Then Jesus asked the man, “What is your name?”
The man answered, “My name is Legion,[b] because I have many spirits in me.” 10 The man begged Jesus again and again not to send the spirits out of that area.
11 A large herd of pigs was eating on a hill near there. 12 The evil spirits begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs. Let us go into them.” 13 So Jesus allowed them to do this. The evil spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of pigs rushed down the hill into the lake and were drowned. There were about 2,000 pigs in that herd.
14 The men who took care of the pigs ran away. They went to the town and to the countryside, telling everyone about this. So people went out to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had had the many evil spirits. The man was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind. The people were frightened. 16 Some people were there who saw what Jesus had done. They told the others what had happened to the man who had the demons living in him. And they also told about the pigs. 17 Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area.
18 Jesus was getting ready to leave in the boat. The man who was freed from the demons begged to go with him.
19 But Jesus would not allow the man to go. Jesus said, “Go home to your family and friends. Tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man left and told the people in the Ten Towns[c] about the great things Jesus had done for him. All the people were amazed.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.