Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of Faith in Troubled Times
For the director of music. A song of David.
31 Lord, I trust in you.
Let me never be disgraced.
Save me because you do what is right.
2 Listen to me.
Save me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a strong city to save me.
3 You are my rock and my protection.
For the good of your name, lead me and guide me.
4 Set me free from the trap they set for me.
You are my protection.
5 I give you my life.
Save me, Lord, God of truth.
6 I hate those who worship false gods.
I trust only in the Lord.
7 I will be glad because of your love.
You saw my suffering.
You knew my troubles.
8 You have not let my enemies defeat me.
You have set me in a safe place.
9 Lord, have mercy. I am in misery.
My eyes are weak from so much crying.
My whole being is tired from grief.
10 My life is ending in sadness.
My years are spent in crying.
My troubles are using up my strength.
My bones are getting weaker.
11 Because of all my troubles, my enemies hate me.
Even my neighbors look down on me.
When my friends see me,
they are afraid and run.
12 I am like a piece of a broken pot.
I am forgotten as if I were dead.
13 I have heard many insults.
Terror is all around me.
They make plans against me.
They want to kill me.
14 Lord, I trust you.
I have said, “You are my God.”
15 My life is in your hands.
Save me from my enemies’ grasp.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
16 Show your kindness to me, your servant.
Save me because of your love.
17 Lord, I called to you.
So do not let me be disgraced.
Let the wicked be disgraced.
Let them lie silent in the grave.
18 With pride and hatred
they speak against the righteous.
So shut their lying lips.
19 How great is your goodness!
You have stored it up for those who fear you.
You do good things for those who trust you.
You do this for all to see.
20 You protect them by your presence
from what people plan against them.
You keep them safe in your shelter
from evil words.
21 Praise the Lord.
His love to me was wonderful
when my city was attacked.
22 In my distress, I said,
“God cannot see me!”
But you heard my prayer
when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you who belong to him.
The Lord protects those who truly believe.
But he punishes the proud as much as they have sinned.
24 All you who put your hope in the Lord
be strong and brave.
A Prayer for Help
Of David.
35 Lord, battle with those who battle with me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Pick up the shield and armor.
Rise up and help me.
3 Lift up your spears, both large and small,
against those who chase me.
Tell me, “I will save you.”
4 Make those who want to kill me
be ashamed and disgraced.
Make those who plan to harm me
turn back and run away.
5 Make them like chaff blown by the wind.
Let the angel of the Lord chase them away.
6 Let their road be dark and slippery
as the angel of the Lord chases them.
7 For no reason they spread out their net to trap me.
For no reason they dug a pit for me.
8 So let ruin strike them suddenly.
Let them be caught in their own nets.
Let them fall into the pit and die.
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will be happy when he saves me.
10 Even my bones will say,
“Lord, who is like you?
You save the weak from the strong.
You save the weak and poor from robbers.”
11 Men without mercy stand up to testify.
They ask me things I do not know.
12 They repay me with evil for the good I have done.
They make me very sad.
13 Yet when they were sick, I put on rough cloth to show my sadness.
I showed my sorrow by going without food.
But my prayers were not answered.
14 I acted as if they were my friends or brothers.
I bowed in sadness as if I were crying for my mother.
15 But when I was in trouble, they gathered and laughed.
They gathered to attack before I knew it.
They insulted me without stopping.
16 They made fun of me and were cruel to me.
They ground their teeth at me in anger.
17 Lord, how long will you watch this happen?
Save my life from their attacks.
Save me from these people who are like lions.
18 I will praise you in the great meeting.
I will praise you among crowds of people.
19 Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
They hate me for no reason.
Do not let them make fun of me.
They have no reason to hate me.
20 Their words are not friendly.
They think up lies about peace-loving people.
21 They speak against me.
They say, “Aha! We saw what you did!”
22 Lord, you have been watching. Do not keep quiet.
Lord, do not leave me alone.
23 Wake up! Come and defend me!
My God and Lord, fight for me!
24 Lord my God, defend me with your justice.
Don’t let them laugh at me.
25 Don’t let them think, “Aha! We got what we wanted!”
Don’t let them say, “We destroyed him.”
26 Let them be ashamed and embarrassed.
They were happy when I hurt.
Cover them with shame and disgrace.
They thought they were better than I was.
27 May my friends sing and shout for joy.
May they always say, “Praise the greatness of the Lord.
He loves to see his servants do well.”
28 I will tell of your goodness.
I will praise you every day.
13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God. 14 The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are tied at the great river Euphrates.” 15 These four angels had been kept ready for this hour and day and month and year. They were freed to kill a third of all people on the earth. 16 I heard how many troops on horses were in their army. There were 200,000,000.
17 In my vision I saw the horses and their riders. They looked like this: They had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like heads of lions. The horses had fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 18 A third of all the people on earth were killed by these three terrible things coming out of the horses’ mouths: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur. 19 The horses’ power was in their mouths and also in their tails. Their tails were like snakes that have heads to bite and hurt people.
20 The other people on the earth were not killed by these terrible things. But they still did not change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—things that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 These people did not change their hearts and turn away from murder or evil magic, from their sexual immorality or stealing.
Mary and Martha
38 While Jesus and his followers were traveling, Jesus went into a town. A woman named Martha let Jesus stay at her house. 39 Martha had a sister named Mary. Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. 40 Martha became angry because she had so much work to do. She went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work? Tell her to help me!”
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are getting worried and upset about too many things. 42 Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will never be taken away from her.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.