Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Mercy in Troubled Times
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. By the sheminith. A song of David.
6 Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry.
Don’t punish me when you are very angry.
2 Lord, be kind to me because I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, because my bones ache.
3 I am very upset.
Lord, how long will it be?
4 Lord, return and save me.
Save me because of your kindness.
5 Dead people don’t remember you.
Those in the grave don’t praise you.
6 I am tired of crying to you.
Every night my bed is wet with tears.
My bed is soaked from my crying.
7 My eyes are weak from so much crying.
They are weak from crying about my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all you who do evil.
The Lord has heard my crying.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for help.
The Lord will answer my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and troubled.
They will turn and suddenly leave in shame.
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. By the sheminith. A song of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the good people are all gone.
No true believers are left on earth.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbors.
They say one thing and mean another.
3 The Lord will stop those lying lips.
He will cut off those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will help us win.
We can say what we wish. No one is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up
because the poor are being hurt.
Because of the moans of the helpless,
I will give them the help they want.”
6 The Lord’s words are pure.
They are like silver purified by fire,
like silver purified seven times over.
7 Lord, keep us safe.
Always protect us from such people.
8 The wicked are all around us.
Everyone loves what is wrong.
God Will Pay Back His Enemies
94 The Lord is a God who gives people what they should get.
God, show your greatness and punish!
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth.
Give the proud what they should get.
3 How long will the wicked be happy?
How long, Lord?
4 They are full of proud words.
Those who do evil brag about what they have done.
5 Lord, they crush your people.
They make your children suffer.
6 They kill widows and foreigners.
They murder orphans.
7 They say, “The Lord doesn’t see.
The God of Jacob doesn’t notice.”
8 You stupid ones among the people, pay attention.
You fools, when will you understand?
9 Can’t the creator of ears hear?
Can’t the maker of eyes see?
10 Won’t the one who corrects nations punish you?
Doesn’t the teacher of men know everything?
11 The Lord knows what people think.
He knows they are just a puff of wind.
12 Lord, those you correct are happy.
You give them your teachings.
13 You give them rest from times of trouble
until a grave is dug for the wicked.
14 The Lord won’t leave his people.
He will not give up his children.
15 Judgment will again be fair.
And all who are honest will follow it.
16 Who will help me fight against the wicked?
Who will stand with me against those who do evil?
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would have died soon.
18 I said, “I am about to be overwhelmed.”
But, Lord, your love kept me safe.
19 I was very worried.
But you comforted me and made me happy.
20 Crooked leaders cannot be your friends.
They use the law to cause suffering.
21 They join forces against people who do right.
They sentence to death the innocent.
22 But the Lord protects me like a strong, walled city.
My God is the rock of my protection.
23 God will pay them back for their sins.
He will destroy them for their evil.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
17 Jerusalem reaches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has commanded for the people of Jacob
that their enemies surround them.
Jerusalem has become unclean
like those around her.
18 Jerusalem says, “The Lord is right.
But I refused to obey him.
Listen, all you people.
Look at my pain.
My young women and men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called out to my friends,
but they turned against me.
My priests and my elders
have died in the city.
They were looking for food
so they could stay alive.
20 “Look at me, Lord. I am upset.
I am troubled.
My heart is troubled
because I have been so stubborn.
Out in the streets, the sword kills.
Inside the houses, death destroys.
21 “People have heard my groaning.
There is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble.
They are happy that you have done this to me.
Now bring that day you have announced.
Let my enemies be like me.
22 “Look at all their evil.
Do to them what you have done to me
because of all my sins.
I groan over and over again,
and I am afraid.”
8 Brothers, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in the country of Asia. We had great burdens there that were greater than our own strength. We even gave up hope for life. 9 Truly, in our own hearts we believed that we would die. But this happened so that we would not trust in ourselves. It happened so that we would trust in God, who raises people from death. 10 God saved us from these great dangers of death. And he will continue to save us. We have put our hope in him, and he will save us again. 11 And you can help us with your prayers. Then many people will give thanks for us—that God blessed us because of their many prayers.
The Change in Paul’s Plans
12 This is what we are proud of, and I can say with all my heart that it is true: In all the things we have done in the world, we have done everything with an honest[a] and pure heart from God. And this is even more true in what we have done with you. We did this by God’s grace, not by the kind of wisdom the world has. 13 For we write to you only what you can read and understand. And I hope that 14 as you have understood some things about us, you may come to know everything about us. Then you can be proud of us, as we will be proud of you on the day our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
15 I was very sure of all this. That is why I made plans to visit you first. Then you could be blessed twice. 16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia. Then I planned to visit you again on my way back. I wanted to get help from you for my trip to Judea. 17 Do you think that I made these plans without really thinking? Or maybe you think I make plans as the world does, so that I say “Yes, yes,” and at the same time “No, no.”
18 But since you can believe God, then you can believe that what we tell you is never both “Yes” and “No.” 19 The Son of God, Jesus Christ, that Silas and Timothy and I preached to you, was not “Yes” and “No.” In Christ it has always been “Yes.” 20 The “Yes” to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen”[b] through Christ to the glory of God. 21 And God is the One who makes you and us strong in Christ. God made us his chosen people. 22 He put his mark on us to show that we are his. And he put his Spirit in our hearts to be a guarantee for all he has promised.
Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority
27 Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in the Temple. The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish elders came to him. 28 They said to him, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
29 Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. You answer it. Then I will tell you whose authority I use to do these things. 30 Tell me: When John baptized people, was that from God or from man? Answer me!”
31 They argued about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From man,’ then the people will be against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people. All the people believed that John was a prophet.)
33 So the leaders answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you what authority I use to do these things.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.