Book of Common Prayer
A prayer by the afflicted man who is overwhelmed and talks about his troubles with the Lord.
A Prayer for Help
102 Lord, hear my prayer!
May my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble.
Listen to me.
When I call to out you,
hurry to answer me!
3 For my days are vanishing like smoke;
my bones are charred as in a fireplace.
4 Withered like grass, my heart is overwhelmed,
and I have even forgotten to eat my food.
5 Because of the sound of my sighing,
my bones cling to my skin.
6 I resemble a pelican in the wilderness
or an owl in a desolate land.
7 I lie awake,
yet I am like a bird isolated on a rooftop.
8 My enemies revile me all day long;
those who ridicule me use my name to curse.
9 I have eaten ashes as food
and mixed my drink with tears
10 because of your indignation and wrath,
when you lifted and threw me away.
11 My life is[a] like a declining shadow,
and I am withering like a plant.
12 But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;
You are remembered throughout all generations.
13 You will arise to extend compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show her favor—
the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants take pleasure in its stones
and delight in its debris.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth, your splendor.
16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion,
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn to the prayer of the destitute,
not despising their prayer.
18 Write this for the next generation,
that a people yet to be created will praise the Lord.
19 For when he looked down from his holy heights—
the Lord looked over the earth from heaven—
20 to listen to the groans of prisoners,
to set free those condemned to death,
21 so they would declare the name of the Lord in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when people and kingdoms gather together
to serve the Lord.
23 He has weakened my[b] strength along the way.[c]
He has cut short my days.
24 I say, “My God, whose years continue through all generations,
do not take me in the middle of my life.
25 You established the earth long ago;
the heavens are the work[d] of your hands.
26 They will perish,
but you will remain;
and they all will become worn out,[e] like a garment.
You[f] will change them like clothing,
and they will pass away.
27 But you remain the same;
your years never end.
28 May the descendants of your servants live securely,
and may their children be established in your presence.”
BOOK V (Psalms 107-150)
Gratitude for God’s Deliverance
107 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His gracious love exists forever.
2 Let those who have been redeemed by the Lord declare it—
those whom he redeemed
from the power[a] of the enemy,
3 those whom he gathered from other lands—
from the east, west, north, and south.[b]
4 They wandered in desolate wilderness;
they found no road to a city where they could live.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
their spirits[c] failed.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them in a straight way
to find a city where they could live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his gracious love
and his awesome deeds for mankind.
9 He has satisfied the one who thirsts,
filling the hungry with what is good.
10 Some sat in deepest darkness,
shackled with cruel iron,
11 because they had rebelled against the command of God,
despising the advice of the Most High.
12 He humbled them[d] through suffering,
as they stumbled without a helper.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
he delivered them from their distress.
14 And he[e] brought them out from darkness and the shadow of death,[f]
shattering their chains.
15 Let them give[g] thanks to the Lord for his gracious love,
and for his awesome deeds to mankind.
16 For he shattered bronze gates
and cut through iron bars.
17 Because of their rebellious ways,
fools suffered for their iniquities.
18 They[h] loathed all food,
and even reached the gates of death.
19 Yet when they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
he delivered them from certain destruction.
20 He issued his command[i] and healed them;
he delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his gracious love,
and for his awesome deeds for mankind.
22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and talk about his works with shouts of joy.
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
who work in the great waters,
24 witnessed the works of the Lord—
his awesome deeds in the ocean’s depth.
25 He spoke and stirred up a windstorm
that made its waves surge.
26 The people[j] ascended skyward and descended to the depths,
their courage[k] melting away in their peril.
27 They reeled and staggered like a drunkard,
as all their wisdom became useless.
28 Yet when they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
the Lord brought them out of their distress.
29 He calmed the storm
and its waves[l] quieted down.
30 So they rejoiced that the waves[m] became quiet,
and he led them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his gracious love
and for his awesome deeds on behalf of mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the counsel of the elders.
God’s Message to His Sheep
17 “Now as for you, my flock, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Watch out! I’m going to judge between one sheep and another, and between the rams and the goats. 18 Is it such an insignificant thing to you that you’re feeding in good pastures but trampling down the other pastures with your feet? Or that as you’re drinking from the clear streams you’re muddying the rest with your feet? 19 My flock is grazing on what you’ve been treading down with your feet and they’re drinking what you’ve been making muddy with your feet!’
20 “Therefore this is what the Lord God says to them: ‘Watch me! I’m going to judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep, 21 since you’ve been bumping aside all the weaker sheep with your backsides and shoulders, butting them with your horns until they’re scattered around outside. 22 That’s how I’ll save my sheep so they won’t be plundered any longer. I’m going to judge between one sheep and another.’”
God’s Shepherd: His Servant David
23 “‘Then I’ll install one shepherd for them—my servant David—and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd. 24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will rule among them as Prince.’ I, the Lord, have spoken this.
25 “I’m going to enter into a covenant with them, one of peace, and I’ll eliminate wild beasts from the land so they can live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests. 26 I’m going to make[a] them and everything that surrounds my hill[b] a blessing. I’ll send down the rain! At the appropriate time there will be a rainstorm of blessing! 27 I’ll bring fruit to the trees in the orchards, the land will yield its produce, they will live securely on their land, and they will learn that I am the Lord, when I break the bar that has been their yoke and deliver them from the control of those who have enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will settle down confidently, with nothing to frighten them. 29 I’m going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community. 30 That’s when they’ll learn that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ declares the Lord God. 31 ‘And as for you, my sheep, the flock that I’m pasturing, you are mankind, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord God.”
The Messiah Has a Better Ministry
8 Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we do have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tent set up by the Lord and not by any human. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, this high priest[a] had to offer something, too. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, because other men offer the gifts prescribed by the Law. 5 They serve in a sanctuary that is a copy, a shadow of the heavenly one. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”[b] 6 However, Jesus[c] has now obtained a more superior ministry, since the covenant he mediates is founded on better promises.
The New Covenant is Better than the Old
7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one, 8 but God[d] found something wrong with his people[e] when he said,
“Look! The days are coming, declares the Lord,[f]
when I will establish a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors at the time
when I took them by the hand
and brought them out of the land of Egypt.
Because they did not remain loyal to my covenant,
I ignored them, declares the Lord.[g]
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord:[h]
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 Never again will everyone teach his neighbor
or his brother by saying, ‘Know the Lord,’[i]
because all of them will know me,
from the least important to the most important.
12 For I will be merciful regarding their wrong deeds,
and I will never again remember their sins.”[j]
13 In speaking of a “new” covenant, he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Jesus Visits Mary and Martha
38 Now as they were traveling along, Jesus[a] went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don’t you? Then tell her to help me.”
41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. 42 But there’s only[b] one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better,[c] and it is not to be taken away from her.”
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