Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
A song of Asaph.
1 O True God, do not be quiet any longer.
Do not stay silent or be still, O God.
2 Look now, Your enemies are causing a commotion;
those who hate You are rising up!
3 They are conniving against Your people,
conspiring against those You cherish.
4 They say, “Join us. Let’s wipe the entire nation off the face of the earth
so no one will remember Israel’s name.”
5 They are all in it together, thinking as one,
and making a pact against You:
6 The people of Edom and Ishmael;
the Moabites and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the residents of Tyre.
8 And the powerful Assyrians have joined the alliance
to add their strength and support the descendants of Lot: Moab and Ammon.
[pause][a]
9 Do to these nations what You did to Midian,
to Sisera and Jabin at the raging waters of Kishon.
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became like dung, fertilizer for the ground.
11 Make their rulers like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who schemed, “We should own the meadows of the True God,
let’s take them!”
13 O my God, blow them away like a tumbleweed,
scatter them like dust in a whirlwind.
14 As a wildfire charges through the forest
or a flame sprints up the mountainside,
15 Send Your raging winds to chase them, hunt them down,
and terrify them with Your storm.
16 Redden their faces in shame
so that they will turn and seek Your holy name, Eternal One.
17 May they face disappointment and anxiety forever;
may they be ashamed and die.
18 May they know that You and You alone,
whose name is the Eternal,
are the Most High, the Supreme Ruler over all the earth.
Book Two
This second book of psalms (Psalms 42–72) has a few unique features. First, it is the only book of the five that contains psalms ascribed to the sons of Korah, a group of Levite temple singers. Second, it uses two rather obscure Hebrew terms in the superscriptions of almost half of these psalms. Maskil, which may be related to contemplation, is translated “contemplative poem” or “song” (42; 44–45; 52–55) and miktam, whose meaning is unclear, is translated “a prayer” (56–60). Third, in referring to God this second book shows a preference for the word “God” over the name “the Eternal One” that appears as “YHWH” in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Throughout the Bible, the creator and covenant God is referred to in many ways. Generally speaking, the names and titles used indicate something of His character and nature. The title “God” implies His unique majesty and power; no one is like Him. The name, translated “The Eternal One” and also “The Eternal,” is God’s covenant name revealed uniquely to Israel. As the translation suggests, the divine name implies that the one True God transcends time and yet He is “with” His people.
Psalm 42[a]
For the worship leader. A contemplative song[b] of the sons of Korah.
1 My soul is dry and thirsts for You, True God,
as a deer thirsts for water.
2 I long for the True God who lives.
When can I stand before Him and feel His comfort?
3 Right now I’m overwhelmed by my sorrow and pain;
I can’t stop feasting on my tears.
People crowd around me and say,
“Where is your True God whom you claim will save?”
4 With a broken heart,
I remember times before
When I was with Your people. Those were better days.
I used to lead them happily into the True God’s house,
Singing with joy, shouting thanksgivings with abandon,
joining the congregation in the celebration.
5 Why am I so overwrought?
Why am I so disturbed?
Why can’t I just hope in God?
Despite all my emotions, I will believe and praise the One
who saves me and is my life.
6 My God, my soul is so traumatized;
the only help is remembering You wherever I may be;
From the land of the Jordan to Hermon’s high place
to Mount Mizar.
7 In the roar of Your waterfalls,
ancient depths surge, calling out to the deep.
All Your waves break over me;
am I drowning?
8 Yet in the light of day, the Eternal shows me His love.
When night settles in and all is dark, He keeps me company—
His soothing song, a prayerful melody to the True God of my life.
9 Even still, I will say to the True God, my rock and strength:
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I live my life so depressed, crying endlessly
while my enemies have the upper hand?”
10 My enemies taunt me.
They shatter my soul the way a sword shatters a man’s bones.
They keep taunting all the day long,
“Where is He, your True God?”
11 Why am I so overwrought,
Why am I so disturbed?
Why can’t I just hope in God?
Despite all my emotions, I will believe and praise the One
who saves me, my God.
Psalm 43[c]
1 Plead for me; clear my name, O God. Prove me innocent
before immoral people;
Save me from their lies,
their unjust thoughts and deeds.
2 You are the True God—my shelter, my protector, the one whom I lean on.
Why have You turned away from me? Rejected me?
Why must I go around, overwrought, mourning,
suffering under the weight of my enemies?
3 O my God, shine Your light and truth
to help me see clearly,
To lead me to Your holy mountain,
to Your home.
4 Then I will go to God’s altar with nothing to hide.
I will go to God, my rapture;
I will sing praises to You and play my strings,
unloading my cares, unleashing my joys, to You, God, my God.
5 O my soul, why are you so overwrought?
Why are you so disturbed?
Why can’t I just hope in God? Despite all my emotions, I will hope in God again.
I will believe and praise the One
who saves me and is my life,
My Savior and my God.
Psalm 85
For the worship leader. A song of the sons of Korah.
1 O Eternal One, there was a time when You were gracious to Your land;
You returned Jacob’s descendants from their captivity.
2 You forgave the iniquity of Your people,
covered all of their sins.
[pause][a]
3 There was a time when You restrained all of Your fierce wrath,
when You cooled Your hot anger.
4 O God of our salvation, bring us back again—as You did before—
and put away Your anger toward us.
5 Will You be mad at us forever?
Will You continue to be angry with our children and theirs?
6 Will You not bring us back to life once more
so that we, Your people, will find joy and pleasure in You?
7 O Eternal One, show us Your unfailing love;
give us what we truly need: Your salvation.
8 I will hear what the True God—the Eternal—will say,
for He will speak peace over His people,
peace over those who faithfully follow Him, [but do not let them abuse His gift and return to foolish ways].[b]
9 Without a doubt, His salvation is near for those who revere Him
so that He will be with us again and all His glory will fill this land.
10 Unfailing love and truth have met on their way;
righteousness and peace have kissed one another.
11 Truth will spring from the earth like a plant,
and justice will look down from the sky.
12 Yes, the Eternal will plant goodness in the earth,
and our land will yield great abundance.
13 Justice will come before Him,
marking out a path, setting a way for His feet.
Psalm 86
A prayer of David.
1 O Eternal One, lend an ear to my prayer and answer me,
for I am weak and wanting.
2 Safeguard my soul, for I remain loyal to You.
Save me, Your servant, who trusts in You, my God.
3 O Lord, please be merciful to me,
as all day long I cry out to You.
4 Bring joy into the life of Your servant,
for it’s only to You, O Lord, that I offer my soul.
5 O Lord, You are good and ready to forgive;
Your loyal love flows generously over all who cry out to You.
6 O Eternal One, lend an ear and hear my prayer;
listen to my pleading voice.
7 When times of trouble come, I will call to You
because I know You will respond to me.
8 O Lord, You stand alone among the other gods;
nothing they have done compares to Your wonderful works.
9 O Lord, all the peoples of earth—every nation You established—
will come to You, bowing low to worship,
and rightly honor Your great name.
10 For You are great, and Your works are wondrous;
You are the one True God.
11 O Eternal One, guide me along Your path
so that I will live in Your truth.
Unite my divided heart so that I will fear Your great name.
12 O Lord, my God! I praise You with all that I am.
I will rightly honor Your great name forever.
13 For Your loyal love for me is so great it is beyond comparison.
You have rescued my soul from the depths of the grave.
14 O True God, arrogant people are after me.
A violent gang wants to kill me;
they have no interest in You or Your ways.
15 But Lord, You are a God full of compassion, generous in grace,
slow to anger, and boundless in loyal love and truth.
16 Look at me, and grant me Your favor.
Invest Your strength in me, Your servant,
and rescue me, Your handmaiden’s child.
17 Give me a sign so I may know Your goodness rests on me
and so those who hate me will be red with shame at the sight of it.
For You, O Eternal One, have come to my aid and offered me relief.
46 Israel set out on his journey to Egypt with all of his belongings, and when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrificial gifts to the God of his father, Isaac. 2 God spoke there to Israel in visions during the night.
God: Jacob, Jacob!
Jacob: I’m here. I’m listening!
God: 3 I am the True God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt and leave the land I promised you, for I am going to make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and one day I will be the One to bring you back again. And something else—Joseph’s own hands will be the ones to close your eyes at the time of your death.
5 Then Jacob got up and continued on from Beersheba toward Egypt, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh sent with them. 6-7 They also brought their livestock and the goods they had acquired in the land of Canaan. And at last, Jacob and his family arrived in Egypt. His sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters—all of his descendants came with him to Egypt.
28 Now Israel decided to send Judah ahead to Joseph in order to learn the way into Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, they stopped. 29 Joseph got into his chariot and went out to meet his father, Israel. When he saw him, he fell on his neck and wept for a long time.
Jacob (to Joseph): 30 I can die now in peace, because I’ve seen your face and I know you are alive.
31 Joseph gathered his brothers and his father’s household and told them his plans.
Joseph: I’m going now to let Pharaoh know you are here. I will tell him, “My brothers and my father’s household have arrived from Canaan. 32 The men are shepherds. They make their living by keeping livestock, and they’ve brought their flocks and herds and all of their belongings.” 33 When Pharaoh calls you to the court and asks your occupation, 34 tell him, “Your servants keep livestock. We start in the family business when we are just boys. That is what we and our ancestors have always done.” That way, you’ll be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen because Egyptians can’t stand to be around shepherds.
Meat left over from pagan temple sacrifices was sold daily in the market. It was about the only option available for those who didn’t raise their own livestock. Paul knows that idols are nothing really because there is only one God, but another brother thinks he is engaging in a heinous act and supporting a pagan temple by eating food that comes from a pagan sacrifice. So what is a believer to do? Well, it is not a matter of knowledge: Who’s right? Who’s wrong? It’s a matter of love. Paul says that he has the right to eat the meat, but that he gladly gives up that right for the sake of the other brother. Paul limits his freedom out of love for the Corinthians.
9 Am I not truly free? Am I not an emissary[a] of the Liberating King? Have I not personally encountered Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work, my mission in the Lord? 2 Even if others don’t recognize that I am His emissary,[b] at least you do because you are the seal, the living proof that the Lord commissioned me to be His representative.
3 Let me speak in my own defense against those keeping themselves busy picking me apart. 4 Have we lost the right to eat and drink? 5 Have we lost the right to bring along our wives, our sisters in Jesus? Other emissaries travel with their wives, and so do the brothers of our Lord, not to mention Cephas. 6 Is it just Barnabas and I who have lost the right to earn a living? 7 Is a soldier in combat required to pay his own salary? Who would plant a vineyard and not enjoy one grape from it? Who would care for and nurture a flock but never taste the fresh milk?
8 These ideas aren’t based on merely human notions; the law says these same things. 9 In Moses’ law, it is written: “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out your grain.”[c] Is God’s concern here limited to oxen, 10 or does He speak here ultimately for our benefit? These things were written for us, so as the plowman plows and the worker gathers, they can labor with the hopeful expectation that they, too, will share in the good harvest. 11 The same principle applies here: Is it too much to ask that we would be compensated materially for planting life- and world-changing spiritual realities? 12 If you have rightfully supported others, shouldn’t we deserve your support even more?
But we have never insisted on this right; instead, we would rather put up with anything than to put some obstacle in the way that prevents even one person from experiencing the good news of the Anointed One. 13 Perhaps it has escaped your notice that leaders and priests of the temple make their livings off the temple and that those who tend the altar eat their dinners from part of the sacrifices. 14 So it shouldn’t be a stretch that the Lord has arranged for preachers of the gospel to make a living by those who have embraced and been liberated by the gospel.
Paul works hard. He travels the known world starting new churches and writes letters instructing other churches. Simultaneously, he makes and sells tents to fund his basic needs and missionary travels. Would Paul’s time be better spent training young pastors or preaching to a group of church leaders rather than making tents? By giving his churches his service for free, is he doing a disservice to those who will serve these churches in the future and have families to care for?
15 Despite what I’ve said here, I have never staked a claim for such things, and I have no intention to start now; that’s not why I’m writing. I would rather die than have anyone (including me) invalidate my right to boast.
30 Now the twelve returned from their travels and told Him what they had done, whom they had seen, and how they had spread the news of God’s kingdom.
Jesus (to the disciples): 31 Let us go out into the wilderness for a while and rest ourselves.
The crowds gathered as always, and Jesus and the twelve couldn’t eat because so many people came and went. 32 They could get no peace until they boarded a boat and sailed toward a deserted place.
33 But the people would not be put off so easily. Those along the shore who recognized Jesus followed along the coast. People pushed out of all the cities and gathered ahead of Him 34 so that when Jesus came ashore and saw this crowd of people waiting for Him in a place that should have been relatively deserted, He was moved with compassion. They were like sheep without a shepherd.
He began to teach them many things 35 as the day passed; at last the disciples came to Jesus.
Disciples: It is getting late, and there is nothing around for miles. 36 Send these people to the surrounding villages so they can buy something to eat.
Jesus: 37 Why don’t you give them something to eat?
Disciples (looking at Him): What? It would cost a fortune[a] to buy bread for these people!
Jesus: 38 Does anyone have any bread? Go and see.
Disciples (returning from the crowd): There are five pieces of flatbread and two fish, if that makes any difference.
Jesus: 39-40 Listen, tell them to gather in smaller groups and sit on that green patch of grass.
And so the disciples gathered the people in groups of 100 or of 50, and they sat down.
41 Jesus took the five pieces of flatbread and the two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for the food, and broke it. He gave the pieces to the disciples to distribute, 42 and all of the people ate until no one was hungry. 43 Then they gathered twelve baskets full of leftovers.
44 That day, 5,000 men ate their fill of the bread when Jesus fed the hungry crowd.
The disciples pull Jesus aside to point out the obvious: everyone needs to go and eat something.
But Jesus, as usual, isn’t about to be distracted by the obvious. His answer must irritate them even further: “Why don’t you give them something to eat?” Jesus is seeing a much bigger reality. He is deliberately creating a turning point in His ministry: He wants to make them a part of His miracles. From recorders and observers, they will become participants. And so the disciples, not Jesus, tell the people to sit down, pass out the food, and collect the leftovers after everyone has eaten until they are stuffed. The disciples must feel pretty sheepish as they experience how Jesus is making them a part of the miracle—despite their mundane concerns and their frustrations with Him.
45 Not long after, He sent His disciples out onto their boat to sail to Bethsaida on the other shore, and He sent the crowd away. 46 After everyone had gone, He slipped away to pray on a mountain overlooking the sea.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.