Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61
For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by strings.
1 Hear me, O God, when I cry;
listen to my prayer.
2 You are the One I will call when pushed to the edge,
when my heart is faint.
Shoulder me to the rock above me.
3 For You are my protection,
an impenetrable fortress from my enemies.
4 Let me live in Your sanctuary forever;
let me find safety in the shadow of Your wings.
[pause][a]
5 You have heard the promises I made, O God.
You have laid upon me the legacy due to those who fear Your name.
6 Extend the king’s life, day after day;
increase his years for many generations.
7 May he be ever present before God,
attended and guarded by Your loyal love and truth.
8 So I will never stop singing Your praise;
as long as I live, I will fulfill my promise.
Psalm 62
For the worship leader, Jeduthun. A song of David.
1 My soul quietly waits for the True God alone;
my salvation comes from Him.
2 He alone is my rock and my deliverance,
my citadel high on the hill; I will not be shaken.
3 How long will you attack a man?
How long will all of you strive to crush your prey
when he’s like a leaning fence or a wall on the verge of collapse?
4 Their only purpose in life is to knock him down from his prominent position;
they love deceit.
When others are around, they speak a blessing on someone,
but inwardly they are mumbling a curse.
[pause]
5 My soul quietly waits for the True God alone
because I hope only in Him.
6 He alone is my rock and deliverance,
my citadel high on a hill;
I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my significance depend ultimately on God;
the core of my strength, my shelter, is in the True God.
8 Have faith in Him in all circumstances, dear people.
Open up your heart to Him;
the True God shelters us in His arms.
[pause]
9 Human beings disappear like a breath;
even people of rank live artificial lives.
Their weight is that of a breath in a balance—nothing.
Added together, they’re still lighter than air.
10 Do not resort to oppression;
resist the temptation of ill-gotten gain.
If you achieve wealth, don’t let your heart get attached.
11 The True God spoke this once,
and twice I’ve heard:
That You, the True God, hold all power;
12 Your love never fails, O Lord,
for You pay every person back
according to his deeds.
Psalm 68
For the worship leader. A song of David.
Psalm 68 is a hymn describing God as a Divine Warrior, marching from Sinai through the wilderness to make His home in Jerusalem.
1 May the True God rise up and show Himself;
may those who are united against Him be dispersed,
while the people who hate Him run away at the sight of Him.
2 As smoke disappears when it is blown by the wind,
may You blow away Your enemies forever.
As wax melts in the presence of fire,
may the wicked heart melt away in God’s presence.
3 But may those who are righteous rejoice
in the presence of the True God—so may they be glad and rejoice.
Yes, let them celebrate with joy!
4 Sing songs of praise to the name that belongs to the True God!
Let your voices ring out in songs of praise to Him, the One who rides through the deserted places.
His name is the Eternal;
celebrate in His glorious presence.
5 The True God who inhabits sacred space
is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.
6 He makes a home for those who are alone.
He frees the prisoners and leads them to prosper.
Yet those who rebel against Him live in the barren land without His blessings and prosperity.
7 O True God, when You led Your enslaved people from Egypt,
when You journeyed with us through the wilderness,
[pause][a]
8 The whole world trembled! The sky poured down rain
at the power of Your presence; even Mount Sinai trembled in Your presence,
the presence of the True God, the God of Israel.
9 You sent a heavy downpour to soak the ground, O True God.
You refreshed the land—the land Your people would inherit—when it was parched and dry.
10 Your covenant people made their homes in the land,
and because You are so good, You provided for those crushed by poverty, O True God.
11 The Lord gives the word;
there are very many women ready to tell the good news:
12 “Kings who lead the armies are on the run!
They are on the run!
And the woman who stays at home is ready, too,
ready to enjoy the treasures that they’ve left behind!”
13 When they lay down among the campfires and open the saddlebags, imagine what they’ll find—
a beautiful dove, its wings covered with silver,
its feathers a shimmering gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings from that place,
it was snowing in Zalmon.
15 O Mount Bashan, you mighty mountain of the True God;
mountain of many peaks, O Mount Bashan.
16 Why are you so jealous, O mountain of many peaks,
when you look at the mountain the True God has chosen as His dwelling place?
The Eternal will surely abide on Mount Zion forever.
17 The chariots of God are innumerable;
there are thousands upon thousands of them.
The Lord is in their midst, just as He was at Mount Sinai.
He has come into the holy place.
18 When You ascended the sacred mountain,
with Your prisoners in tow, Your captives in chains,
You sat in triumph receiving gifts from men,
Even from those who rebel against You, so that You, the Eternal God, might take up residence there.
19 Blessed be the Lord
who carries our heavy loads every day,
the True God who is our salvation.
[pause]
20 We know our God is the God who delivers us,
and the Eternal, the Lord, is the One who saves us from the grip of death.
21 The True God will certainly shatter the skulls of those who oppose Him;
He’ll smash the hairy head of the man who continues on his sinful ways.
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring the enemy back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the deepest parts of the sea,
23 So that you may plant your feet in their blood
and your dogs may lick up their portion of the foe.”
24 The solemn march in Your honor, O True God, has come into view;
the march that celebrates my God, my King, has come into the sanctuary.
25 The singers went first, and the musicians came last
between rows of girls who played tambourines.
26 Come, let us gather to bless the True God
and to praise the Eternal, He who is the fountain of Israel, the source of our life!
27 Look! There are the rulers of Benjamin, the youngest in the lead.
A great crowd follows
The princes of Judah,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 [Your God is the One who has given you strength];[b]
show Your power, O True God, as You have done for us.
29 Because of Your magnificent temple in Jerusalem,
many kings will line up to bring You gifts.
30 Reprimand the beasts in the tall grass,
the herds of bulls that are with the people’s calves,
Trampling over the pieces of silver.
He has driven out the people who love to be at war.
31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt;
the people of Ethiopia[c] will reach out their hands to the one True God.
32 Let all the kingdoms of the earth sing to the True God.
Sing songs of praise to the Lord.
[pause]
33 To Him who rides high up beyond the heavens, which have been since ancient times,
watch and listen. His voice speaks, and it is powerful and strong.
34 Attribute power to the one True God;
His royal splendor is evident over Israel,
and His power courses through the clouds.
35 O True God, You are awesome from the holy place where You dwell.
The True God of Israel Himself
grants strength and power to His people.
Blessed be our God!
14 Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, a golden wreath atop His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 Another messenger proceeded from the temple and called with a loud voice to the One who sat on the cloud.
Heavenly Messenger: Take Your sickle and reap the harvest, because the harvest of the earth is full and ripe and because the time to harvest has come.
16 Then the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth gave up its harvest.
17 Just then another messenger proceeded out of the heavenly temple. He also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another messenger (the one with authority over fire) came out from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle.
Messenger of Fire: Take your sharp sickle and gather together the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for the grapes are ripe and ready for harvest.
19 So the heavenly messenger swung his sickle over the earth, gathered the fruit of the vine from the earth, and threw it into the great winepress, which is the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside of the city, and blood flowed from the winepress. The blood ran deep. It reached as high as the bridle on a horse and ran for the distance of about 185 miles.
The New Testament God is not a God of fluffy love as some suppose. His judgment, while difficult to comprehend, is real; and fear of it should motivate repentance now.
15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing: seven messengers with seven plagues—plagues that marked the end. With these the wrath of God reached its end.
2 And then I saw something like a sea made of glass mixed with fire flashing through it. Those who had been victorious over the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing on the sea of glass, holding the harps of God in their hands. 3 As they stand and play their harps, they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.
Victors: Great and amazing are Your works,
Lord God, the All Powerful.
Right and true are Your ways,
King of all nations.
4 Who will not fear You, Lord?
Who will not glorify Your name?
Because You alone are holy,
all the nations will come
and worship before You,
For Your righteous judgments have been revealed.
5 After I had taken all this in, I looked again; and the inner part of the tabernacle of witness opened in heaven. 6 Out of the temple came seven messengers, clothed in pure linen, bright and shining, their chests clad in a golden sash, carrying seven plagues. 7 Then one of the four living creatures stepped over to give to the seven messengers seven golden bowls brimming with the wrath of God who lives throughout the ages. 8 The temple was full of the smoke billowing from the magnificent glory of God and from His power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven messengers accomplished their God-ordained end.
13 As He said this, some people told Him the latest news about a group of Galilean pilgrims in Jerusalem—a group not unlike Jesus’ own entourage. Pilate butchered them while they were at worship, their own blood mingling with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus: 2 Do you think these Galileans were somehow being singled out for their sins, that they were worse than any other Galileans, because they suffered this terrible death? 3 Of course not. But listen, if you do not consider God’s ways and truly change, then friends, you should prepare to face His judgment and eternal death.
4 Speaking of current events, you’ve all heard about the 18 people killed in that building accident when the tower in Siloam fell. Were they extraordinarily bad people, worse than anyone else in Jerusalem, so that they would deserve such an untimely death? 5 Of course not. But all the buildings of Jerusalem will come crashing down on you if you don’t wake up and change direction now.
6 (following up with this parable) A man has a fig tree planted in his vineyard. One day he comes out looking for fruit on it, but there are no figs. 7 He says to the vineyard keeper, “Look at this tree. For three years, I’ve come hoping to find some fresh figs, but what do I find? Nothing. So just go ahead and cut it down. Why waste the space with a fruitless tree?”
8 The vineyard keeper replies, “Give it another chance, sir. Give me one more year working with it. I’ll cultivate the soil and heap on some manure to fertilize it. 9 If it surprises us and bears fruit next year, that will be great, but if not, then we’ll cut it down.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.