Book of Common Prayer
This is a special song for the music leader. The sons of Korah wrote it.
A prayer when you are away from home[a]
42 God, I need you so much!
I look for you,
as a thirsty deer looks for streams of water.
2 Deep down inside me,
I am very thirsty!
You are the God who lives for ever,
and I need life from you!
When will I be able to come near to you
and see you face to face?[b]
3 All day and all night I weep.
My tears are my only food!
My enemies say to me all the time,
‘Where is your God?’
4 When I remember how my life was before,
I am very upset and I weep.
Once I walked with a big crowd of people
to worship God in his temple.
I led the people there as we sang happy songs,
and we praised God with loud voices.[c]
5 Now I ask myself,
‘Why am I so sad and upset?’
I must wait patiently for God to help me.
Then I will praise my God once again,
because he is the one who saves me.[d]
6 Deep inside me I am very sad.
So I will turn to you, my God, from where I am.
I will pray to you from Hermon mountain
where the Jordan River begins,
and from Mizar mountain.
7 I hear your waterfalls make a noise like thunder.
It seems like all that water is pouring over me
and it knocks me down to the ground.[e]
8 Each day, the Lord shows me that he loves me
with his faithful love.
Each night he gives me a song to sing,
as I pray to the God who lives for ever.[f]
9 I say to God, who is my high rock,
‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I be so sad?
How much longer must I continue to weep,
because my enemies do cruel things to me?’
10 My enemies laugh at me all the time.
It is like they are breaking all my bones.
They are always saying,
‘Where is your God?’
11 I ask myself again,
‘Why am I so sad and upset?’
I must wait patiently for God to help me.
Then I will praise my God once again,
because he is the one who saves me.
A prayer when you are in trouble[g]
43 My God, show that I am not guilty.
Make the people who do not respect you
know that I am right.
Rescue me from the evil people
who tell lies about me.
2 God, you are the safe place where I can hide.
Why have you pushed me away?
How much longer must I continue to weep,
because my enemies do cruel things to me?
3 Send to me your light and your truth.
Let them be my guide.
They will take me back to your holy mountain
and to the house where you live.[h]
4 Then I will go to your altar,
to worship you, the God who makes me happy.
You are my God and I will praise you there.
I will sing to thank you, God, with my harp.
5 I ask myself,
‘Why am I so sad and upset?’
I must wait patiently for God to help me.
Then I will praise my God once again,
because he is the one who saves me.
Hannah praises the Lord
2 Hannah prayed and she said,
‘I am very happy when I think about what the Lord has done.
The Lord has made me very strong.
I can laugh at my enemies because you, Lord, have saved me.
That makes me very happy.
2 Nobody else is holy like the Lord.
There is no other God except you, our God.
You are the only Rock where we can be safe.[a]
3 Do not boast or speak proud words!
The Lord is a God who knows everything.
He judges everything that people do.
4 The weapons of brave soldiers may break.
But weak people who fall become strong again.
5 People who had plenty of food to eat have to work for it now.
But the people who were hungry have enough food now.
Women who could not have any children have now given birth to seven children.
But those who had many children are now alone.
6 The Lord gives both life and death.
He sends some people to their graves,
and he raises other people up.
7 The Lord makes some people poor
and he makes other people rich.
He causes some people to be important
and he puts other people low down.
8 He raises up weak people from the ground.
He lifts poor people up out of the dirt.
He makes them become friends of princes.
He puts them in places of honour.
The deep places of the earth belong to the Lord.
He built the world on a strong foundation.
9 He takes care of his faithful people.
But he puts wicked people in a dark place where they can do nothing.
It is not a person's own strength that makes him great.
10 The Lord will destroy his enemies.
He will shout against them from heaven like loud thunder.
The Lord will judge everyone on earth.
He will make his king strong.
He will give power to the king that he has chosen to rule.’
The truth about God will make you free
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who now believed him, ‘Continue to obey the words that I have spoken to you. If you do that, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know what is true. And that will make you free.’ 33 They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham. We have never been anyone's slaves. But you say that we will become free. What do you mean?’
34 Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: Everyone who does wrong things is a slave to sin. 35 A slave does not belong to a family for ever. But a son does belong to a family for ever. 36 So, if the Son makes you free, you will really be free.
This is a psalm that the sons of Korah wrote.
Zion is God's city
48 The Lord is great.
He deserves that people praise him
in the city of our God,
on his holy mountain.
2 That place is high up and it is beautiful.
It brings joy to the whole world.
Mount Zion is the city of the great King.
It is where the true God lives.[a]
3 God is there in its strong places
and he keeps the city safe.
4 Look! There are kings of other nations
who join together to attack our city.
5 But when they come near and they see it,
they are very surprised.
It frightens them so much
that they quickly run away!
6 They cannot stop themselves shaking,
like a woman who is giving birth to a baby!
7 You push them away,
like an east wind that destroys great ships.
8 We had heard about the great things that God has done.
Now we have seen them for ourselves,
here in the city of the Lord Almighty,
the city of our God.
It is God who keeps the city safe for ever!
Selah.
9 When we are in your temple, God,
we think about your faithful love.
10 You are famous all over the world,
so that people praise you as you deserve.
You are powerful
and you rule with justice.
11 Because you judge people in a right way,
Mount Zion and all the towns of Judah will be happy.
12 Walk all round Zion and look at it.
Count the towers.
13 Look at its strong buildings and its strong walls.
Then you will be able to describe it to your children.[b]
14 Yes, this is our God, who is with us for ever!
He will always be our guide.
This psalm is a song that the sons of Korah wrote.
God's holy city[a]
87 The Lord built his city on the holy mountain.
2 The Lord loves Zion city,
more than any other place where Jacob's family lives.[b]
3 People say great things about you!
You are God's own city!
Selah.
4 I will speak about the nations that serve God.
Rahab and Babylon are now among them,
also Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia.[c]
They say about themselves,
‘This man was born in Zion.’
5 They say this about Zion:
‘Each one of these people was born there.’
It is the Most High God who makes that city strong.
6 The Lord will write a list of all their names.
For the people from different nations,
he will say, ‘This person was born in Zion.’
Selah.
7 The singers and the musicians will say,
‘All our blessings come from you, Zion.’
We are God's children
3 Think about how much God the Father loves us. He calls us his children! God loves us so much that we really have become his children. The people who belong to this world do not understand who God is. Because of that, they do not understand who we are. 2 My friends, we are already children of God. We do not yet know clearly what we will become. But we do know this: when Christ returns to this world, we will become like him. We will be like him because we will see him as he really is. 3 Christ is completely good. So all of us who hope to see him then must keep ourselves clean from sin.
4 If a person continues to do wrong things, he is choosing not to obey God's rules. Sin is when we do not obey God's rules. 5 You know that Jesus came into the world so that he might take away our sins. He himself is completely clean from sin. 6 Anyone who lives together with Christ does not continue to do wrong things. If anyone continues to do wrong things, that person has not understood who Christ is. He does not know Christ.
7 My little children, do not let anyone deceive you about sin. It is people who live in a good way that God accepts as right. In the same way, Jesus did only what is good and right. 8 People who continue to do wrong things show that they belong to the Devil. The Devil has always been doing wrong things from the beginning. This is why the Son of God came to the world. He came to destroy everything that the Devil has done.
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