Book of Common Prayer
A psalm of David. A song for setting apart the completed temple to God.
30 Lord, I will give you honor.
You brought me out of deep trouble.
You didn’t give my enemies the joy of seeing me die.
2 Lord my God, I called out to you for help.
And you healed me.
3 Lord, you brought me up from the place of the dead.
You kept me from going down into the pit.
4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you who are faithful to him.
Praise him, because his name is holy.
5 His anger lasts for only a moment.
But his favor lasts for a person’s whole life.
Weeping can stay for the night.
But joy comes in the morning.
6 When I felt safe, I said,
“I will always be secure.”
7 Lord, when you gave me your help,
you made Mount Zion stand firm.
But when you took away your help,
I was terrified.
8 Lord, I called out to you.
I cried to you for mercy.
9 I said, “What good will come if I become silent in death?
What good will come if I go down into the grave?
Can the dust of my dead body praise you?
Can it tell how faithful you are?
10 Lord, hear me. Have mercy on me.
Lord, help me.”
11 You turned my loud crying into dancing.
You removed my clothes of sadness and dressed me with joy.
12 So my heart will sing your praises. I can’t keep silent.
Lord, my God, I will praise you forever.
A maskil of David.
32 Blessed is the person whose lawless acts are forgiven.
Their sins have been taken away.
2 Blessed is the person whose sin the Lord never counts against them.
That person doesn’t want to cheat anyone.
3 When I kept silent about my sin,
my body became weak
because I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night
you punished me.
I became weaker and weaker
as I do in the heat of summer.
5 Then I admitted my sin to you.
I didn’t cover up the wrong I had done.
I said, “I will admit my lawless acts to the Lord.”
And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
6 Let everyone who is faithful pray to you
while they can still look to you.
When troubles come like a flood,
they certainly won’t reach those who are faithful.
7 You are my hiding place.
You will keep me safe from trouble.
You will surround me with songs sung by those who praise you
because you save your people.
8 I will guide you and teach you the way you should go.
I will give you good advice and watch over you with love.
9 Don’t be like a horse or a mule.
They can’t understand anything.
They have to be controlled by bits and bridles.
If they aren’t, they won’t come to you.
10 Sinful people have all kinds of trouble.
But the Lord’s faithful love
is all around those who trust in him.
11 Be glad because of what the Lord has done for you.
Be joyful, you who do what is right!
Sing, all you whose hearts are honest!
Book II
Psalms 42–72
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
42 A deer longs for streams of water.
God, I long for you in the same way.
2 I am thirsty for God. I am thirsty for the living God.
When can I go and meet with him?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night.
All day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember what has happened,
I tell God all my troubles.
I remember how I used to walk to the house of God.
The Mighty One guarded my steps.
We shouted with joy and praised God
as we went along with the joyful crowd.
5 My spirit, why are you so sad?
Why are you so upset deep down inside me?
Put your hope in God.
Once again I will have reason to praise him.
He is my Savior and my God.
6 My spirit is very sad deep down inside me.
So I will remember you here where the Jordan River begins.
I will remember you here on the Hermon mountains
and on Mount Mizar.
7 You have sent wave upon wave of trouble over me.
It roars down on me like a waterfall.
All your waves and breakers have rolled over me.
8 During the day the Lord sends his love to me.
During the night I sing about him.
I say a prayer to the God who gives me life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go around in sorrow?
Why am I treated so badly by my enemies?”
10 My body suffers deadly pain
as my enemies make fun of me.
All day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”
11 My spirit, why are you so sad?
Why are you so upset deep down inside me?
Put your hope in God.
Once again I will have reason to praise him.
He is my Savior and my God.
43 My God, when you hand down your decision, let it be in my favor.
Stand up for me against an unfaithful nation.
Save me from those lying and sinful people.
2 You are God, my place of safety.
Why have you turned your back on me?
Why must I go around in sorrow?
Why am I beaten down by my enemies?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care.
Let them lead me.
Let them bring me back to your holy mountain,
to the place where you live.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God.
I will go to God. He is my joy and my delight.
God, you are my God.
I will praise you by playing the lyre.
5 My spirit, why are you so sad?
Why are you so upset deep down inside me?
Put your hope in God.
Once again I will have reason to praise him.
He is my Savior and my God.
22 These are the commandments the Lord announced in a loud voice to your whole community. He gave them to you there on the mountain. He spoke out of the fire, cloud and deep darkness. He didn’t add anything else. Then he wrote the commandments on two stone tablets. And he gave them to me.
23 The mountain was blazing with fire. You heard the voice coming out of the darkness. So your elders and all the leaders of your tribes came to me. 24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and majesty. We have heard his voice coming out of the fire. Today we have seen that a person can still stay alive even if God speaks with them. 25 But why should we die? This great fire will burn us up. We’ll die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God again. 26 We have heard the voice of the living God. We’ve heard him speaking out of the fire. Has any other human being ever heard him speak like that and stayed alive? 27 Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then tell us what he tells you. We will listen and obey.”
28 The Lord heard you when you spoke to me. He said to me, “I have heard what these people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29 But I wish they would always have respect for me in their hearts. I wish they would always obey all my commands. Then things would go well with them and their children forever.
30 “Go and tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you stay here with me. Then I will give you all my commands, rules and laws. You must teach the people to obey them in the land I am giving them as their very own.”
32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you. Don’t turn away from his commands to the right or the left. 33 Live exactly as the Lord your God has commanded you to live. Then you will enjoy life in the land you will soon own. Things will go well with you there. You will live there for a long time.
13 It is written, “I believed, and so I have spoken.” (Psalm 116:10) We have that same spirit of faith. So we also believe and speak. 14 We know that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. And he will also raise us up with Jesus. And he will present both you and us to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit. God’s grace is reaching more and more people. So they will become more and more thankful. They will give glory to God.
16 We don’t give up. Our bodies are becoming weaker and weaker. But our spirits are being renewed day by day. 17 Our troubles are small. They last only for a short time. But they are earning for us a glory that will last forever. It is greater than all our troubles. 18 So we don’t spend all our time looking at what we can see. Instead, we look at what we can’t see. That’s because what can be seen lasts only a short time. But what can’t be seen will last forever.
Waiting for Our New Bodies
5 We know that the earthly tent we live in will be destroyed. But we have a building made by God. It is a house in heaven that lasts forever. Human hands did not build it. 2 During our time on earth we groan. We long to put on our house in heaven as if it were clothing. 3 Then we will not be naked. 4 While we live in this tent of ours, we groan under our heavy load. We don’t want to be naked. Instead, we want to be fully dressed with our house in heaven. What must die will be swallowed up by life. 5 God has formed us for that very purpose. He has given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment. The Spirit makes us sure of what is still to come.
6 So here is what we can always be certain about. As long as we are at home in our bodies, we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by believing, not by seeing. 8 We are certain about that. We would rather be away from our bodies and at home with the Lord. 9 So we try our best to please him. We want to please him whether we are at home in our bodies or away from them. 10 We must all stand in front of Christ to be judged. Each one of us will be judged for what we do while in our bodies. We’ll be judged for the good things and the bad things. Then each of us will receive what we are supposed to get.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Once there was a rich man. He was dressed in purple cloth and fine linen. He lived an easy life every day. 20 A man named Lazarus was placed at his gate. Lazarus was a beggar. His body was covered with sores. 21 Even dogs came and licked his sores. All he wanted was to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
22 “The time came when the beggar died. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In the place of the dead, the rich man was suffering terribly. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. Lazarus was by his side. 24 So the rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham! Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water. Then he can cool my tongue with it. I am in terrible pain in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember what happened in your lifetime. You received your good things. Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in terrible pain. 26 Besides, a wide space has been placed between us and you. So those who want to go from here to you can’t go. And no one can cross over from there to us.’
27 “The rich man answered, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham. Send Lazarus to my family. 28 I have five brothers. Let Lazarus warn them. Then they will not come to this place of terrible suffering.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Let your brothers listen to them.’
30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will turn away from their sins.’
31 “Abraham said to him, ‘They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
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