Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40
For the worship leader. A song of David.
1 I waited a long time for the Eternal;
He finally knelt down to hear me.
He listened to my weak and whispered cry.
2 He reached down and drew me
from the deep, dark hole where I was stranded, mired in the muck and clay.
With a gentle hand, He pulled me out
To set me down safely on a warm rock;
He held me until I was steady enough to continue the journey again.
3 As if that were not enough,
because of Him my mind is clearing up.
Now I have a new song to sing—
a song of praise to the One who saved me.
Because of what He’s done, many people will see
and come to trust in the Eternal.
4 Surely those who trust the Eternal—
who don’t trust in proud, powerful people
Or in people who care little for reality, chasing false gods—
surely they are happy, as I have become.
5 You have done so many wonderful things,
had so many tender thoughts toward us, Eternal my God,
that go on and on, ever increasing.
Who can compare with You?
6 Sacrifices and offerings are not what You want,
but You’ve opened my ears,[a] and now I understand.
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
are not what please You.
7 So I said, “See, I have come to do Your will,
as it is inscribed of me in the scroll.
8 I am pleased to live how You want, my God.
Your law is etched into my heart and my soul.”
9 I have encouraged Your people with the message of righteousness,
in Your great assembly (look and see),
I haven’t kept quiet about these things;
You know this, Eternal One.
10 I have not kept Your righteousness to myself, sealed up in the secret places of my heart;
instead, I boldly tell others how You save and how loyal You are.
I haven’t been shy to talk about Your love, nor have I been afraid to tell Your truth
before the great assembly of Your people.
11 Please, Eternal One, don’t hold back
Your kind ways from me.
I need Your strong love and truth
to stand watch over me and keep me from harm.
12 Right now I can’t see because I am surrounded by troubles;
my sins and shortcomings have caught up to me,
so I am swimming in darkness.
Like the hairs on my head, there are too many to count,
so my heart deserts me.
13 O Eternal One, please rescue me.
O Eternal One, hurry; I need Your help.
14 May those who are trying to destroy me
be humiliated and ashamed instead;
May those who want to ruin my reputation
be cut off and embarrassed.
15 May those who try to catch me off guard,
those who look at me and say, “Aha, we’ve trapped you,”
be caught in their own shame instead.
16 But may all who look for You
discover true joy and happiness in You;
May those who cherish how You save them
always say, “O Eternal One, You are great and are first in our hearts.”
17 Meanwhile, I am empty and need so much,
but I know the Lord is thinking of me.
You are my help; only You can save me, my True God.
Please hurry.
Psalm 54
For the worship leader. A contemplative song[a] of David when his friends, the Ziphites, betrayed him to Saul. Accompanied by strings.
This is a lament reflecting the time when David was betrayed to Saul (1 Samuel 23:6–29). It expresses hope that God will save by His name. The name refers to the covenant name given to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 3). We have translated it “the Eternal One.” For the ancients the name of God has power precisely because it embodies the presence of God. To call upon the name was to call upon God to remember His covenant promises and be present in power in order to rescue His people.
1 Liberate me, O God, by the authority of Your name.
Vindicate me through Your legendary power.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
let the words of my mouth reach Your sympathetic ear.
3 The truth is, these strangers are rallying against me;
cold-blooded men seek to slay me;
they have no respect for You.
[pause][b]
4 But see now! God comes to rescue me;
the Lord is my valiant supporter.
5 He will repay my enemies for the harm they have done; they are doomed!
According to Your faithful promises, silence them.
6 I will sacrifice to You willingly;
I will lift Your name by shouts of thanksgiving, O Eternal One, for Your name is good.
7 God has pulled me out from every one of the troubles that encompass me,
and I have seen what it means to stand over my enemies in triumph.
Psalm 51
For the worship leader. A song of David after Nathan the prophet accused him of infidelity with Bathsheba.
One of the most difficult episodes in King David’s life was his affair with Bathsheba and all that resulted from it. Psalm 51 reflects the emotions he felt after Nathan confronted him with stealing Bathsheba and murdering her husband, Uriah (2 Samuel 11–12).
At one time or another, all people experience the painful consequences of sin. Psalm 51 has been a comfort and a help to millions who have prayed these words as their own. It invites all who are broken to come before God and lean upon His compassion. It teaches that we need not only to be forgiven for the wrong we have done, but we also need to be cleansed of its effects on us. Ultimately, it helps us recognize that if we are to be healed, it is the work of God to create in us a heart that is clean and a spirit that is strong.
1 Look on me with a heart of mercy, O God,
according to Your generous love.
According to Your great compassion,
wipe out every consequence of my shameful crimes.
2 Thoroughly wash me, inside and out, of all my crooked deeds.
Cleanse me from my sins.
3 For I am fully aware of all I have done wrong,
and my guilt is there, staring me in the face.
4 It was against You, only You, that I sinned,
for I have done what You say is wrong, right before Your eyes.
So when You speak, You are in the right.
When You judge, Your judgments are pure and true.[a]
5 For I was guilty from the day I was born,
a sinner from the time my mother became pregnant with me.
6 But still, You long to enthrone truth throughout my being;
in unseen places deep within me, You show me wisdom.
7 Cleanse me of my wickedness with hyssop, and I will be clean.
If You wash me, I will be whiter than snow.
8 Help me hear joy and happiness as my accompaniment,
so my bones, which You have broken, will dance in delight instead.
9 Cover Your face so You will not see my sins,
and erase my guilt from the record.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God;
restore within me a sense of being brand new.
11 Do not throw me far away from Your presence,
and do not remove Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Give back to me the deep delight of being saved by You;
let Your willing Spirit sustain me.
13 If You do, I promise to teach rebels Your ways
and help sinners find their way back to You.
14 Free me from the guilt of murder, of shedding a man’s blood,
O God who saves me.
Now my tongue, which was used to destroy, will be used to sing with deep delight of how right and just You are.
15 O Lord, pry open my lips
that this mouth will sing joyfully of Your greatness.
16 I would surrender my dearest possessions or destroy all that I prize to prove my regret,
but You don’t take pleasure in sacrifices or burnt offerings.
17 What sacrifice I can offer You is my broken spirit
because a broken spirit, O God,
a heart that honestly regrets the past,
You won’t detest.
18 Be good to Zion; grant her Your favor.
Make Jerusalem’s walls steady and strong.
19 Then there will be sacrifices made,
burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings,
With right motives that will delight You.
And costly young bulls will be offered up to Your altar, only the best.
18 You are to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread every year as I have instructed you. Eat bread made without yeast for seven days at the designated time in the month of Abib, the month that you departed from Egypt. 19 All the firstborn belong to Me. Every male animal from your livestock, both cattle and sheep, that opens the womb is Mine. 20 You may redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you choose not to redeem it, then you are to break its neck. Redeem all of your firstborn sons as well. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.
21 You are to work for six days; but when the seventh day arrives, you are to observe the Sabbath and rest. Even when it is the time to plow and harvest, you must still rest on the seventh day. 22 Also, you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, when the firstfruits from the wheat harvest are gathered. And when one year ends and another begins, celebrate the Ingathering Feast. 23 All your men are to appear before Me, the Lord and one True God of Israel, three times a year at these feasts. 24 For I will force the people out of the land before you and expand your borders. No one will try to take your land while you are going up those three times a year to appear before Me, your God.
25 You are not to offer blood from a sacrifice with bread made with yeast. Do not leave any of the meat from the Passover sacrifice until morning. 26 Offer only the best of your harvest when you bring a gift to the house of the Eternal One your God. Also you are not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
27 (to Moses) Be sure to write down all that I have said to you. By these words of Mine, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.
28 In all Moses was with the Eternal One for 40 days and 40 nights. He fasted the entire time—no food or water. He wrote down the Ten Directives, the essential words of the covenant, on the two stone tablets.
29 When Moses went back down Mount Sinai, he carried the two stone tablets in his hands as a witness to their agreement. But he did not realize that the skin on his face was glowing and radiant because he had been speaking with God.
30 When Aaron and the Israelites saw that Moses’ face was shining, they were afraid to get too close to him. 31 But when Moses summoned them, Aaron and all the leaders of the community were reassured and approached him. Moses talked to them. 32 After this, all the rest of the people of Israel approached Moses, and he instructed them to do everything that the Eternal had told him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished sharing the words of God with them, he covered his face with a veil. 34 From this time on whenever Moses went into the meeting tent to talk with the Eternal, he took off the veil until he left to share with the Israelites the Eternal’s instructions. 35 As Moses was speaking, the Israelites could see that the skin on his face was all aglow. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until the next time he went to speak with God.
3 But after all our attempts to come to you were frustrated, we decided it was best for Silvanus[a] and me to stay behind in Athens by ourselves 2 and to send Timothy (our dear brother [and servant of God],[b] our partner in the good news of the Anointed One) to strengthen, comfort, and encourage you in your faith 3 so that you won’t be shaken by the sufferings and wither under this stress that we know lies ahead. 4 Certainly you remember that when we were with you, we warned you of the suffering we would have to endure; now, as you well know, it has happened. 5 This is why I couldn’t stand it anymore and sent Timothy to report on the state of your faith: because I was worried the tempter had tested you and, if so, all of our hard work would have come to nothing.
6 You can imagine my relief and joy when Timothy returned to us with such good news about you, about your faith and love for us, about how you have such good memories of us and long to see us as much as we long to see you. 7 Hearing this about your faith, brothers and sisters, brought comfort to us in our stress-filled days of trouble and suffering. 8 For if you are set firmly in the Lord, then we can truly live. 9 What thanks would ever be enough to offer God about you for all the jubilant celebration we’ll feel before our God because of you? 10 We remain vigilant in our prayers, night and day praying to once again see your faces and to help complete whatever may be lacking in your faith.
It is obvious Paul loves Jesus, and His Spirit reinforces Paul in every way. How else is he able to walk away from beating after beating or endure trials of the heart and mind? He must constantly be praying for those he can and can’t reach, for those he is with and for those he has to leave behind. Paul loves Jesus, and so he cannot help but embrace the world as passionately as he does.
11 May God Himself, our Father, along with our Lord Jesus, [the Anointed One,][c] navigate our way to you. 12 May the Lord flood you with an unending, undying love for one another and for all humanity, like our love for you, 13 so that your hearts will be reinforced with His strength, held blameless and holy before God, our Father, when our Lord Jesus, [the Anointed, the Liberating King,][d] appears along with all His holy ones. [Amen.][e]
27 As you know, long ago God forbade His people to commit adultery.[a] 28 You may think you have abided by this Commandment, walked the straight and narrow, but I tell you this: any man who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart. 29 If your right eye leads you into sin, gouge it out and throw it in the garbage—for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell. 30 And if your right hand leads you into sin, cut it off and throw it away—for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell.
31 And here is something else: you have read in Deuteronomy that anyone who divorces his wife must do so fairly—he must give her the requisite certificate of divorce and send her on her way, free and unfettered.[b] 32 But I tell you this: unless your wife cheats on you, you must not divorce her, period. Nor are you to marry someone who has been married and divorces, for a divorced person who remarries commits adultery.
33 You know that God expects us to abide by the oaths we swear and the promises we make. 34 But I tell you this: do not ever swear an oath. What is an oath? You cannot say, “I swear by heaven”—for heaven is not yours to swear by; it is God’s throne. 35 And you cannot say, “I swear by this good earth,” for the earth is not yours to swear by; it is God’s footstool. And you cannot say, “I swear by the holy city Jerusalem,” for it is not yours to swear by; it is the city of God, the capital of the King of kings. 36 You cannot even say that you swear by your own head, for God has dominion over your hands, your lips, your head. It is He who determines if your hair be straight or curly, white or black; it is He who rules over even this small scrap of creation. 37 You need not swear an oath—any impulse to do so is of evil. Simply let your “yes” be “yes,” and let your “no” be “no.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.