Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72
A song of Solomon.
1 True God, bestow Your honest judgments upon the king
and anoint the king’s son with Your righteousness.
2 May he be honest and fair in his judgments over Your people
and offer justice to the burdened and suffering.
3 Under his reign, may this land of mountains and hills know peace
and experience justice for all the people.
4 May the king offer justice to the burdened and suffering,
rescue the poor and needy,
and demolish the oppressor!
5 [May the people fear You][a] for as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon rises in the night sky, throughout the generations.
6 May the king be like the refreshing rains, which fall upon fields of freshly mown grass—
like showers that cool and nourish the earth.
7 May good and honest people flourish for as long as he reigns,
and may peace fill the land until the moon no longer rises.
8 May the king rule from one sea to the next,
and may his rule extend from the Euphrates River to the far reaches of the earth.
9 Let the desert wanderers bow down before him
and his enemies lay prostrate and taste the dirt.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the island kings
shower him with gifts
And the kings of Sheba and Seba bring him presents as well.
11 Let every king on earth bow down before him
and every nation be in his service.
12 For he will rescue the needy when they ask for help!
He will save the burdened and come to the aid of those who have no other help.
13 He offers compassion to the weak and the poor;
he will help and protect the lives of the needy!
14 He will liberate them from the fierce sting of persecution and violence;
in his eyes, their blood is precious.
15 May he live a long, long time
and the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May the people constantly lift up prayers for him,
and may they call upon God to bless him always.
16 Let grain grow plentifully in this land of promise,
let it sway in the breeze on the hilltops,
let it grow strong as do the cedars of Lebanon,
Woven throughout the psalms are songs describing and praising those anointed as kings over God’s people. Psalm 2, one of the introductory psalms, describes the king as the son of God, the ruler of nations, and the anointed one. During the monarchical period in Israel, psalms like these were tied to the kings themselves, idealizing them as perfectly just and righteous and victorious. But during the exile, God’s exiled people longed for freedom and the implications of these songs began to change. Many Jews began to interpret these psalms as referring to a coming ruler, a Davidic king who would usher in an eternal kingdom and perfect peace. This hope was realized in Jesus. So this is why the earliest followers of Jesus went back to the psalms again and again. They found within many of the psalms, the story of Jesus anticipated and celebrated.
And may those who live in the city bloom and flourish
just as the grass of the fields and meadows.
17 May his name live on forever
and his reputation grow for as long as the sun gives light.
May people from all nations find in him a blessing;
may all peoples declare him blessed.
18 May the Eternal God, the God of Israel, be blessed,
for He alone works miracles and wonders!
19 May His glorious name be blessed forever
and the whole earth be filled with His eternal glory!
Amen. Amen.
20 The prayers of King David, Jesse’s son, are ended.
Yodh
73 Your strong hands formed me and established me;
give me understanding so I can learn Your commands.
74 Let those who fear You see me and rejoice
because I hope in Your word.
75 I know, O Eternal One, Your rulings are right,
and when You humbled me, You did so out of faithfulness.
76 Now let Your unfailing love be my comfort,
in keeping with Your promise to Your servant.
77 Shower me with Your compassion so that I may live
because I find great joy in Your law.
78 Let the proud be humiliated,
for they sabotage me with a lie;
still I will fix my mind on Your directives.
79 Let those who fear You and know Your testimonies
come back and find me.
80 Let my heart be whole, my record according to what You require
so that I will not be humiliated.
Kaph
81 My soul is exhausted awaiting Your rescue
yet I keep hoping in Your word.
82 My eyes are strained as I look for what You promised,
saying, “When will You come to comfort me?”
83 Even though I have shriveled up like a wineskin left in the smoke,
I still remember what You require.
84 How long must Your servant wait?
When will You carry out justice and punish those who persecute me?
85 Those proud souls do not live according to Your commands,
and they have dug pits to entrap me.
86 Indeed, all Your commands are trustworthy,
but my enemies have harassed me with their lies; help me!
87 They have nearly ended my life on earth,
but as for me, I never abandoned Your statutes.
88 According to Your unfailing love, spare my life
so that I can live according to the decrees of Your mouth.
Lamedh
89 Forever, O Eternal One,
Your word stands in heaven, firm and resolute.
90 Your faithfulness endures to every generation;
You founded the earth, and it remains.
91 Everything remains today in keeping with Your laws,
for all things exist to serve You.
92 If I had not found joy in Your guidance,
then I would have died from my misery.
93 I will never forget Your precepts,
for through them You have given me life.
94 I belong to You, Lord; save me
because I have taken care to live by Your principles.
95 The wicked lie in wait, anxious to kill me;
I will set my mind on Your statutes.
96 I have seen the limit of all perfection,
but Your commands are all-encompassing.
12 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of the Eternal, so He gave Eglon, king of Moab, power against the Israelites because they did what He viewed as evil. 13 Eglon allied with the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they went to battle against Israel and defeated them, and they captured the city of palm trees. 14 The Israelites toiled for Eglon, king of Moab, for 18 years; 15 but when the people of Israel cried to the Eternal for relief, He raised up a left-handed liberator from among them: Ehud, son of Gera the Benjaminite.
The Israelites sent Ehud to bring tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. 16 Before he set out, Ehud made for himself a double-edged sword about 18 inches in length, and he fastened it onto his right thigh, hidden under his clothes.
17 Ehud brought the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man; 18 and when he was done with the presentation of the tribute to the king, he sent away those who carried it. 19 Ehud stopped on his homeward journey at the engraved idols near Gilgal and returned to speak with Eglon.
Ehud: I have a secret message for you, O king.
Eglon: Be silent.
Eglon sent his attendants away; 20 and Ehud came in to the king, who sat alone in a cool, private, upstairs room supported by beams.
Ehud: I have here a message for you from the True God.
As the king got up from his throne, 21 Ehud reached beneath his robes with his left hand, took the sword strapped to his right thigh, and thrust it deep into Eglon’s belly, 22 so deep, in fact, that the hilt followed the blade, and he did not remove the sword because the fat closed over the blade, and the contents of Eglon’s intestines spilled out. 23 So Ehud locked the doors of the roof area himself and exited through the porch. 24 After he had escaped, eventually the servants came to check on their master. When they saw that the doors to the upstairs room were locked, they assumed Eglon was relieving himself in the upstairs chamber. 25 They stood around waiting until their embarrassment grew too great. When Eglon didn’t open the doors, at last, they opened the doors with the key, and there was their master, lying dead on the floor.
26 Ehud took advantage of the delay. He passed the idols of Gilgal and escaped to Seirah. 27 Reaching safety, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of the tribe of Ephraim, and the Israelites followed him back down the mountain.
Ehud: 28 Follow me, because the Eternal has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands.
So they followed him, and together they captured the crossings of the river Jordan into Moab, not allowing anyone to pass. 29 At that time, they killed an army of 10,000 Moabites, all of them strong and well-equipped warriors. No one escaped.
30 So Israel defeated Moab on that day, and this region experienced rest from war for 80 years.
Luke, in this his second volume concerning the genesis of the Christian movement, doesn’t preserve Jesus’ teachings during those mysterious meetings with His emissaries after His death. Surely they are filled with joy, curiosity, and amazement as His followers hang on His every word and gaze on the reality of His bodily resurrection as He describes the kingdom of God. His words are undoubtedly intended to prepare each of them for this journey, a journey with a clear destination in sight—the kingdom of God.
An integral part of this kingdom is the activity of the Holy Spirit to empower the people of God as they expand the kingdom beyond the region of Palestine. Luke records surprisingly little about the day-to-day life of these early Christians, about how they integrated their faith into their culture; but he does emphasize the work of the Spirit who empowers miracles and gives believers the means to testify of their faith before Jews and the outsiders.
1 To a lover of God, Theophilus: In my first book, I recounted the events of Jesus’ life—His actions, His teachings— 2-3 from the beginning of His life until He was taken up into heaven. After His great suffering and vindication, He showed His apostles that He was alive—appearing to them repeatedly over a period of 40 days, giving them many convincing proofs of His resurrection. As before, He spoke constantly of the kingdom of God. During these appearances, He had instructed His chosen messengers through the Holy Spirit, 4 prohibiting them from leaving Jerusalem, but rather requiring them to wait there until they received what He called “the promise of the Father.”
Jesus: This is what you heard Me teach— 5 that just as John ritually cleansed people with water through baptism,[a] so you will be washed with the Holy Spirit very soon.
6 When they had gathered just outside Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives, they asked Jesus,
Disciples: Is now the time, Lord—the time when You will reestablish Your kingdom in our land of Israel?
Jesus: 7 The Father, on His own authority, has determined the ages and epochs of history, but you have not been given this knowledge. 8 Here’s the knowledge you need: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be My witnesses, first here in Jerusalem, then beyond to Judea and Samaria, and finally to the farthest places on earth.
9 As He finished this commission, He began to rise from the ground before their eyes until the clouds obscured Him from their vision. 10 As they strained to get one last glimpse of Him going into heaven, the Lord’s emissaries[b] realized two men in white robes were standing among them.
Two Men: 11 You Galileans, why are you standing here staring up into the sky? This Jesus who is leaving you and ascending to heaven will return in the same way you see Him departing.
12 Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem—their short journey from the Mount of Olives was an acceptable Sabbath Day’s walk.
13-14 Back in the city, they went to the room where they were staying—a second-floor room. This whole group devoted themselves to constant prayer with one accord: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), Judas (son of James), a number of women including Mary (Jesus’ mother), and some of Jesus’ brothers.
45 And then, starting at noon, the entire land became dark. It was dark for three hours. 46 In the middle of the dark afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice.
Jesus: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani—My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?[a]
Bystanders: 47 He’s calling on Elijah.
48 One bystander grabbed a sponge, steeped it in vinegar, stuck it on a reed, and gave Jesus the vinegar to drink.
Others: 49 We’ll see—we’ll see if Elijah is going to come and rescue Him.
50 And then Jesus cried out once more, loudly, and then He breathed His last breath. 51 At that instant, the temple curtain was torn in half, from top to bottom. The earth shook; rocks split in two; 52 tombs burst open, and bodies of many sleeping holy women and men were raised up. 53 After Jesus’ resurrection, they came out of their tombs, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and showed themselves to people.
54 When the Centurion and soldiers who had been charged with guarding Jesus felt the earthquake and saw the rocks splitting and the tombs opening, they were, of course, terrified.
Soldiers: He really was God’s Son.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.