Book of Common Prayer
A song of Asaph.
The Acceptable Sacrifice
50 God, the Lord,[a] has spoken.
He has summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting place.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined forth.
3 Our God has appeared and he has not been silent;
a devouring fire blazed before him,
and a mighty storm swirled around him.
4 He summoned the heavens above
and the earth below,[b]
to sit in judgment on his people.
5 “Assemble before me, my saints,
who have entered into my covenant by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens revealed his justice,
for God is himself the judge.
7 “Listen, my people,
for I am making a pronouncement:
Israel, I, God, your God, am testifying against you.
8 I do not rebuke you because of your sacrifices;
indeed, your burnt offerings are continuously before me.
9 I will no longer accept a sacrificial[c] bull from your household;
nor goats from your pens.
10 Indeed, every animal of the forest is mine,
even the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds in the mountains;
indeed, everything that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
for the world is mine along with everything in it.
13 Why should I eat the flesh of oxen
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a thanksgiving praise;
pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of distress;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
16 As for the wicked, God says,
“How dare you recite my statutes
or speak about my covenant with your lips!
17 You hate instruction
and toss my words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you befriend him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth free reign for evil,
and your tongue devises deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you did, and I kept silent,
because you assumed that I was like you.
But now I am going to rebuke you,
and I will set forth my case before your very own eyes.”
22 Consider this, you who have forgotten God—
Otherwise, I will tear you in pieces
and there will be no deliverer:
23 Whoever offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
and I will reveal the salvation of God
to whomever continues in my way.”[d]
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm[a] to the tune of[b] “Do Not Destroy,” when Saul sent men to watch the house in order to kill him.
A Prayer for Deliverance and Justice
59 Save me from my enemies, my God!
Keep me safe from those who rise up against me.
2 Save me from those who practice evil;
deliver me from bloodthirsty men.
3 Look, they lie in ambush for my life;
these violent men gather together against me,
but not because of any transgression or sin of mine, Lord.
4 Without any fault on my part,
they rush together and prepare themselves.
Get up!
Come help me!
Pay attention!
5 You, Lord God of the Heavenly Armies, God of Israel,
stir yourself up to punish all the nations.
Show no mercy to those wicked transgressors.
6 At night they return like howling dogs;
they prowl around the city.
7 Look what pours out of their mouths!
They use their lips like swords,
saying[c] “Who will hear us?”
8 But you, Lord, will laugh at them;
you will mock all the nations.
9 My Strength, I will watch for you,
for God is my fortress.
10 My God of Gracious Love will meet me;
God will enable me to see what happens[d] to my enemies.
11 Don’t kill them!
Otherwise, my people may forget.
By your power make them stumble around;
bring them down low,
Lord, our Shield.
12 The sin of their mouth is the word on their lips.
They will be caught in their own conceit;
for they speak curses and lies.
13 Go ahead and destroy them in anger!
Wipe them out,
and they will know to the ends of the earth
that God rules over Jacob.[e]
14 At night they return like howling dogs;
they prowl around the city.
15 They scavenge for food.
If they find nothing,
they become hungry and growl.
16 But I will sing of your power
and in the morning I will shout for joy about your gracious love.
For you have been a fortress for me;
and a refuge when I am distressed.[f]
17 My Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, God of Gracious Love, are my fortress.
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of[g] “Lily of The Covenant,” for teaching about his battle with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, when Joab returned and attacked 12,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley.[h]
A Prayer for God’s Help against Adversaries
60 God, you have cast us off;
you have breached our defenses
and you have become enraged.
Return to us!
2 You made the earth quake;
you broke it open.
Repair its fractures,
because it has shifted.
3 You made your people go through hard times;
you had us drink wine that makes us stagger.
4 But you have given a banner to those who fear you,
so they may display it in honor of truth.[i]
5 So your loved ones may be delivered,
save us by your power[j]
and answer us quickly!
6 Then God spoke in his holiness,
“I will rejoice—
I will divide Shechem;
I will portion out the Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead belongs to me,
and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is my helmet,
and Judah my scepter.
8 Moab is my wash basin;
over Edom I will throw my shoes;
over Philistia I will celebrate my triumph.”
9 Who will lead me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Aren’t you the one, God, who has cast us off?
Didn’t you refuse, God, to accompany our armies?
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
God’s Revelation in the Heavens
19 The heavens are declaring the glory of God,
and their expanse shows the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech,
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor are there words—
their voice is not heard—
4 yet their message[a] goes out into all the world,
and their words to the ends of the earth.
He has set up a tent for the sun in the heavens,[b]
5 which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
or like a champion who rejoices at the beginning of a race.
6 Its circuit is from one end of the sky to the other,
and nothing is hidden from its heat.
God’s Revelation in the Law
7 The Law of the Lord is perfect,
restoring life.
The testimony of the Lord is steadfast,
making foolish people wise.
8 The precepts of the Lord are upright,
making the heart rejoice.
The commandment of the Lord is pure,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean,
standing forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true;
they are altogether righteous.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even much fine gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the drippings from a honeycomb.
11 Moreover your servant is warned by them;
and there is great reward in keeping them.
12 Who can detect his own[c] mistake?
Cleanse me from hidden sin.
13 Preserve your servant from arrogant people;[d]
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be upright[e]
and acquitted of great wickedness.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah, to the tune of[a] “The Maidens”.
God is the Refuge of His People
46 God is our refuge and strength,
a great help in times of distress.
2 Therefore we will not be frightened
when the earth roars,
when the mountains shake in the depths of the seas,
3 when its waters roar and rage,
when the mountains tremble despite their pride.[b]
4 Look! There is a river
whose streams make the city of God rejoice,
even the Holy Place of the Most High.
5 Since God is in her midst,
she will not be shaken.
God will help her
at the break of dawn.
6 The nations roared;
the kingdoms were shaken.
His voice boomed;
the earth melts.
7 The Lord of the heavenly armies is with us;
our refuge is the God of Jacob.
8 Come, observe the mighty works of the Lord,
who causes desolation in the earth.
9 He causes wars to cease all over[c] the earth,
he causes the bow to break, the spear to snap,
the chariots to ignite and burn.
10 Be in awe and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted throughout the earth.
11 The Lord of the heavenly armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
23 When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea and told you, ‘Go possess the land that I gave you,’ instead you disobeyed what the Lord your God said. You didn’t trust him or listen to his voice. 24 You have been rebelling against the Lord since the day I knew you. 25 I fell down in the Lord’s presence for 40 days and nights, because the Lord said he was ready to destroy you. 26 So I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Oh Lord my God, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance whom you redeemed by your power.[a] You brought them out from Egypt in a powerful way. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t pay attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sinfulness of this people. 28 Otherwise, the people of the land from which you brought us will say, “The Lord wasn’t able to bring them into the land that he had promised them. So he brought them out to kill them in the desert because he hated them.” 29 But they are your people and inheritance, whom you brought out by your mighty strength[b] and awesome power.’”
A Copy of the Ten Commandments
10 “At that time, the Lord told me, ‘Chisel two tablets of stone for yourself just like the first ones, and then come up to me on the mountain. Also make for yourself a wooden chest. 2 I’ll write on the tablets what was[c] on the first tablets that you broke, and then you are to place them into the wooden chest.’ 3 So I made a chest out of acacia wood and chiseled two tablets of stone just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 4 Then the Lord[d] inscribed on the tablets what he wrote before—that is, the Ten Commandments that the Lord declared to you on the mountain from the middle of the fire during the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets in the chest that I had made. They are there now, just as the Lord commanded me.”
We Must Enter the Rest
4 Therefore, as long as the promise of entering his rest remains valid, let us be afraid! Otherwise, some of you will fail[a] to reach it, 2 because we have had the good news told to us as well as to them. But the message they heard did not help them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened to it. 3 We who have believed are entering that rest, just as he has said,
“So in my anger I swore a solemn oath
that they would never enter my rest,”[b]
even though his actions had been finished since the creation[c] of the world. 4 Somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day as follows: “On the seventh day God rested from all his actions,”[d] 5 and again in this passage,[e] “They will never enter my rest.”[f] 6 Therefore, since it is still true that some will enter it, and since those who once heard the good news failed to enter it because of their disobedience, 7 he again fixes a definite day—“Today”—saying long afterward through David, as already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”[g]
8 For if Joshua[h] had given them rest, he would not have spoken later about another day.
9 There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God to keep, 10 because the one who enters God’s[i] rest has himself rested from his own actions, just as God did[j] from his.
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his uniquely existing Son so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. 17 Because God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s uniquely existing Son. 19 And this is the basis for judgment: The light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light because their actions were evil. 20 Everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed.[a] 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may become evident that his actions have God’s approval.”[b]
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