Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
A Call for Deliverance
For the choir director. Davidic. To bring remembrance.(A)
1 God, deliver me.
Hurry to help me, Lord!(B)
2 Let those who seek my life
be disgraced and confounded;
let those who wish me harm
be driven back and humiliated.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!”
retreat because of their shame.(C)
4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
let those who love Your salvation
continually say, “God is great!”(D)
5 I am afflicted and needy;
hurry to me, God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.(E)
Psalm 71
God’s Help in Old Age
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(F)
2 In Your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.(G)
3 Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for You are my rock and fortress.(H)
4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.(I)
5 For You are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.(J)
6 I have leaned on You from birth;
You took me from my mother’s womb.(K)
My praise is always about You.(L)
7 I have become an ominous sign to many,
but You are my strong refuge.(M)
8 My mouth is full of praise
and honor to You all day long.(N)
9 Don’t discard me in my old age;
as my strength fails, do not abandon me.(O)
10 For my enemies talk about me,
and those who spy on me plot together,(P)
11 saying, “God has abandoned him;
chase him and catch him,
for there is no one to rescue him.”(Q)
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.(R)
13 May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed;
may those who seek my harm
be covered with disgrace and humiliation.(S)
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise You more and more.(T)
15 My mouth will tell about Your righteousness
and Your salvation all day long,
though I cannot sum them up.(U)
16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone.(V)
17 God, You have taught me from my youth,
and I still proclaim Your wonderful works.(W)
18 Even when I am old and gray,
God, do not abandon me.(X)
Then I will[a] proclaim Your power
to another generation,
Your strength to all who are to come.(Y)
19 Your righteousness reaches heaven, God,
You who have done great things;
God, who is like You?(Z)
20 You caused me to experience
many troubles and misfortunes,(AA)
but You will revive me again.(AB)
You will bring me up again,
even from the depths of the earth.(AC)
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.(AD)
22 Therefore, I will praise You with a harp
for Your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing to You with a lyre,
Holy One of Israel.(AE)
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to You
because You have redeemed me.(AF)
24 Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
Your righteousness all day long,
for those who seek my harm
will be disgraced and confounded.(AG)
Psalm 74
Prayer for Israel
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 Why have You rejected us forever, God?
Why does Your anger burn
against the sheep of Your pasture?(B)
2 Remember Your congregation,
which You purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for Your own possession.(C)
Remember Mount Zion where You dwell.(D)
3 Make Your way[a] to the everlasting ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.(E)
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where You met with us.[b]
They set up their emblems as signs.(F)
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,(G)
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.(H)
7 They set Your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly[c] desecrated
the dwelling place of Your name.(I)
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let us oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned down every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[d](J)
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.(K)
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult Your name forever?(L)
11 Why do You hold back Your hand?
Stretch out[e] Your right hand and destroy them!(M)
12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.(N)
13 You divided the sea with Your strength;
You smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters;(O)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You fed him to the creatures of the desert.(P)
15 You opened up springs and streams;(Q)
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.(R)
16 The day is Yours, also the night;
You established the moon and the sun.(S)
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made summer and winter.(T)
18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked Yahweh,
and a foolish people has insulted Your name.(U)
19 Do not give the life of Your dove to beasts;[f]
do not forget the lives of Your poor people forever.(V)
20 Consider the covenant,(W)
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.(X)
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise Your name.(Y)
22 Rise up, God, defend Your cause!(Z)
Remember the insults
that fools bring against You all day long.(AA)
23 Do not forget the clamor of Your adversaries,
the tumult of Your opponents that goes up constantly.(AB)
Invest in Life
11 Send your bread on the surface of the waters,(A)
for after many days you may find it.
2 Give a portion to seven or even to eight,(B)
for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth;
whether a tree falls to the south or the north,
the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 One who watches the wind will not sow,
and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 Just as you don’t know the path of the wind,
or how bones develop in[a] the womb of a pregnant woman,
so you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.(C)
6 In the morning sow your seed,
and at evening do not let your hand rest,
because you don’t know which will succeed,
whether one or the other,
or if both of them will be equally good.
7 Light is sweet,
and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.(D)
8 Indeed, if a man lives many years,
let him rejoice in them all,
and let him remember the days of darkness,(E) since they will be many.
All that comes is futile.
The Spirit versus the Flesh
16 I say then, walk by the Spirit(A) and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires(B) what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.(C) 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:[a][b] sexual immorality,(D) moral impurity,(E) promiscuity,(F) 20 idolatry,(G) sorcery,(H) hatreds,(I) strife,(J) jealousy,(K) outbursts of anger,(L) selfish ambitions,(M) dissensions,(N) factions,(O) 21 envy,[c](P) drunkenness, carousing,(Q) and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.(R)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit(S) is love,(T) joy,(U) peace, patience,(V) kindness,(W) goodness, faith,[d] 23 gentleness,(X) self-control.(Y) Against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus(Z) have crucified the flesh(AA) with its passions and desires.(AB)
Peter’s Confession of the Messiah
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,[a](A) He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”[b]
14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”(B)
15 “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”(C)
17 And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah,[c](D) you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven.(E) 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter,[d] and on this rock[e] I will build My church,(F) and the forces[f] of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,(G) and whatever you bind on earth is already bound[g] in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed[h] in heaven.”
20 And He gave the disciples orders to tell no one that He was[i] the Messiah.(H)
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