Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26
Prayer for Vindication
Davidic.
1 Vindicate me, Lord,
because I have lived with integrity
and have trusted in the Lord without wavering.(A)
2 Test me, Lord, and try me;
examine my heart and mind.(B)
3 For Your faithful love is before my eyes,
and I live by Your truth.(C)
4 I do not sit with the worthless
or associate with hypocrites.
5 I hate a crowd of evildoers,
and I do not sit with the wicked.(D)
6 I wash my hands[a] in innocence(E)
and go around Your altar, Lord,(F)
7 raising my voice in thanksgiving(G)
and telling about Your wonderful works.(H)
Psalm 28
My Strength
Davidic.
1 Lord, I call to You;
my rock, do not be deaf to me.(A)
If You remain silent to me,
I will be like those going down to the Pit.(B)
2 Listen to the sound of my pleading
when I cry to You for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward Your holy sanctuary.(C)
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with the evildoers,
who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors
while malice is in their hearts.(D)
4 Repay them according to what they have done—
according to the evil of their deeds.
Repay them according to the work of their hands;
give them back what they deserve.(E)
5 Because they do not consider
what the Lord has done
or the work of His hands,
He will tear them down and not rebuild them.(F)
Psalm 36
Human Wickedness and God’s Love
For the choir director. A psalm of David, the Lord’s servant.
1 An oracle within my heart
concerning the transgression of the wicked person:
There is no dread of God before his eyes,(A)
2 for in his own eyes he flatters himself too much
to discover and hate his sin.(B)
3 The words of his mouth are malicious and deceptive;(C)
he has stopped acting wisely and doing good.(D)
4 Even on his bed he makes malicious plans.(E)
He sets himself on a path that is not good
and does not reject evil.(F)
5 Lord, Your faithful love reaches to heaven,
Your faithfulness to the clouds.(G)
6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains;
Your judgments, like the deepest sea.(H)
Lord, You preserve man and beast.(I)
7 God, Your faithful love is so valuable
that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.(J)
8 They are filled from the abundance of Your house;
You let them drink from Your refreshing stream,(K)
9 for with You is life’s fountain.(L)
In Your light we will see light.(M)
Psalm 39
The Fleeting Nature of Life
For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Davidic psalm.
1 I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”(A)
2 I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.(B)
3 My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.(C)
I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short-lived I am.(D)
5 You, indeed, have made my days short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.(E)
6 “Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.(F)
7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.(G)
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.(H)
9 I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.(I)
10 Remove Your torment from me;
I fade away because of the force of Your hand.(J)
11 You discipline a man with punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;(K)
every man is only a vapor.(L)
65 Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath[a](A) to the Brook of Egypt(B)—observed the festival at that time(C) in the presence of the Lord our God, seven days, and seven more days—14 days.[b](D) 66 On the fifteenth day[c] he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home to their tents rejoicing and with joyful hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.(E)
The Lord’s Response
9 When Solomon finished building the temple of the Lord,(F) the royal palace, and all that Solomon desired to do,(G) 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.(H) 3 The Lord said to him:
I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put My name there forever;(I) My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.(J)
4 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,(K) 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.(L)
6 If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands—My statutes that I have set before you—and if you go and serve other gods and worship them,(M) 7 I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them,(N) and I will reject[d] the temple I have sanctified for My name.(O) Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.(P) 8 Though this temple is now exalted,[e] everyone who passes by will be appalled and will mock.[f] They will say: Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?(Q) 9 Then they will say: Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and worshiped and served them. Because of this, the Lord brought all this ruin on them.(R)
Faith and Works
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith[a] save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?(A) 17 In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”[b] Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works.[c](B) 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.(C)
20 Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected.(D) 23 So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness,(E)[d] and he was called God’s friend.(F) 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route?(G) 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Peter Denies His Lord
66 While(A) Peter(B) was in the courtyard below, one of the high priest’s servants came. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with that Nazarene,(C) Jesus.”
68 But he denied it: “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about!” Then he went out to the entryway, and a rooster crowed.[a]
69 When the servant saw him again she began to tell those standing nearby, “This man is one of them!”
70 But again he denied it. After a little while those standing there said to Peter again, “You certainly are one of them, since you’re also a Galilean!”[b](D)
71 Then he started to curse[c] and to swear with an oath,(E) “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”
72 Immediately a rooster crowed a second time,(F) and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” When he thought about it, he began to weep.[d]
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