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.
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 The Israelites went out of Egypt.
The people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place.
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away.
The Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord.
Tremble in the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water.
He changed a hard rock into a spring of water.
The One True God
115 It does not belong to us, Lord.
The praise belongs to you
because of your love and loyalty.
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he wants.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
And no sounds come from their throats.
8 The people who make idols and trust them
are all like them.
9 Family of Israel, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
10 Family of Aaron, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
11 You people who fear the Lord should trust him.
He is your helper and your protection.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the family of Israel.
He will bless the family of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who fear him,
from the smallest to the greatest.
14 May the Lord give you many children.
And may he give them children also.
15 May the Lord bless you.
He made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord.
But he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord.
Those in the grave are silent.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
Moses Gets New Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two more stone tablets like the first two. I will write the same words on them that were on the first two stones which you broke. 2 Be ready tomorrow morning. Then come up on Mount Sinai. Stand before me there on the top of the mountain. 3 No one may come with you. No one should even be seen any place on the mountain. Not even the sheep or cattle may eat grass near that mountain.”
4 So Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. Then early the next morning he went up Mount Sinai. He did this just as the Lord had commanded him. Moses carried the two stone tablets with him. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses. And the Lord called out his name, the Lord.
6 The Lord passed in front of Moses and said, “I am the Lord. The Lord is a God who shows mercy and is kind. The Lord doesn’t become angry quickly. The Lord has great love and faithfulness. 7 The Lord is kind to thousands of people. The Lord forgives people for wrong and sin and turning against him. But the Lord does not forget to punish guilty people. The Lord will punish not only the guilty people. He will also punish their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren and their great-great-grandchildren.”
8 Then Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped. 9 Moses said, “Lord, if you are pleased with me, please go with us. I know that these are stubborn people. But forgive our evil and our sin. Take us as your own people.”
10 Then the Lord said, “I am making this agreement with you. I will do miracles in front of all your people. These things have never before been done for any other nation on earth. The people with you will see my work. I, the Lord, will do wonderful things for you. 11 Obey the things I command you today, and I will force your enemies to leave your land. I will force out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites ahead of you. 12 Be careful. Don’t make any agreement with the people who live in the land where you are going. It will bring you trouble. 13 But destroy their altars. Break their stone pillars. Cut down their Asherah idols. 14 Don’t worship any other god. This is because I, the Lord, the Jealous One, am a jealous God.
15 “Be careful. Don’t make any agreements with the people who live in that land. They will worship their false gods. And they will invite you to join them. Then you will join them, and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 You might choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons. Those daughters worship false gods. They might lead your sons to do the same thing.
17 “Do not make gods of melted metal.
13 Also, we always thank God because of the way you accepted his message. You heard his message from us, and you accepted it as the word of God, not the words of men. And it really is God’s message. And that message works in you who believe. 14 Brothers, you have been like God’s churches in Christ that are in Judea.[a] God’s people suffered bad things from the other Jews there. And you suffered the same bad things from the people of your own country. 15 Those Jews killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets. And they forced us to leave that country. They do not please God. They are against all people. 16 They try to stop us from teaching the non-Jews so that they may be saved. But those Jews are adding more and more sins to the sins they already have. The anger of God has come to them at last.
Paul Wants to Visit Them Again
17 Brothers, we were separated from you for a short time, but our thoughts were still with you. We wanted very much to see you, and tried very hard to do so. 18 I, Paul, tried to come many times, but Satan stopped us. 19 For you are our hope, our joy, and the crown we will be proud of when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. 20 Truly you are our glory and our joy.
Jesus Teaches About Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, ‘You must not murder anyone.[a] Anyone who murders another will be judged.’ 22 But I tell you, if you are angry with your brother,[b] you will be judged. And if you say bad things to your brother, you will be judged by the Jewish council. And if you call your brother a fool, then you will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “So when you offer your gift to God at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar. Go and make peace with him. Then come and offer your gift.
25 “If your enemy is taking you to court, become friends with him quickly. You should do that before you go to court. If you don’t become his friend, he might turn you over to the judge. And the judge might give you to a guard to put you in jail. 26 I tell you that you will not leave that jail until you have paid everything you owe.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.