Book of Common Prayer
The Lord's king rules[a]
2 Why are nations making plans to turn against the Lord?
All their plans will fail!
2 Kings and rulers decide to work together,
to fight against the Lord
and the king that he has chosen.
3 They say, ‘We will not accept their authority over us!
We will get free from their power!’[b]
4 The Lord who sits on his throne in heaven laughs at them.
He says that their plans are useless.
5 Then he becomes very angry and he frightens them.
He warns them with strong words and he says,
6 ‘I have put my king on his throne in Zion.[c]
I have put him on my holy mountain.’
7 I will tell you what the Lord has promised to me, his king.
He said to me, ‘You are my son.
Yes, today I have become your father![d]
8 Ask me and see what I will do!
I will give you all the nations on the earth.
They will all belong to you.
9 You will break them with an iron sceptre,
as if they are clay pots.’
10 So, you kings, think carefully!
You who rule the nations of the world, learn this lesson:
11 Respect the Lord and serve him.
Enjoy his rule with fear!
12 Bend down low in front of his son!
If not, the Lord will be angry.
He will quickly become very angry.
You will suddenly die!
But as for those who serve the Lord as their king,
he blesses them and he takes care of them all.
This is a song that David wrote.
The great King[a]
24 The whole earth belongs to the Lord.
Everybody who lives in the world
and all the things in it belong to him.
2 The Lord built the foundation of the earth.
He built it on the seas and the rivers.[b]
3 Who may climb up the hill of the Lord?[c]
Who can stand in his holy place?[d]
4 Only the person who does what is right,
and who has pure thoughts.
He does not worship idols
and he does not make false promises.
5 The Lord will bless people who are like that.
God will save them.
He will say that they are not guilty of wrong things.
6 People like that come to God.
They want to please him.
They like to pray to the God of Jacob.
Selah.
7 Old gates of the city, wake up!
Open now, to leave a wide path!
Then the great king will come in.
8 Who is this great king?
He is the Lord,
who is strong and powerful.
He is the Lord,
who wins against his enemies.
9 Be ready, you old gates of the city!
Be ready to open wide!
Then the great king will come in.
10 Who is this great king?
He is the Almighty Lord.
Yes, he is the great king!
Selah.
12 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain. Stay here. I will give you the flat stones with my Law on them. I have written on them my Law and my commands, so that you can teach them to the people.’
13 So Moses went up the mountain of God. His servant Joshua went with him. 14 Moses said to the leaders, ‘Wait here for us. We will come back to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. If you have any arguments, they can decide who is right.’
15 When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. 16 The Lord's bright glory appeared on Sinai mountain. The cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, the Lord called out to Moses from inside the cloud. 17 The people could see the Lord's bright glory. To them, it looked like a fire that was burning the top of the mountain. 18 Moses went up the mountain and he went into the cloud. He stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.
God's good news brings light
4 God has given us this work to speak his message. Because he has been so kind to us, we are not afraid to continue. 2 We refuse to do anything secretly that we might be ashamed of. We do not tell lies. We do not change God's message to deceive people. No. We tell God's true message clearly. God himself sees that we teach people in an honest way. Everyone should understand that we only do what is right. 3 Some people may not understand the good news that we speak. They are only the people who are losing their lives with God. 4 Those people do not accept God's good news. The god of this world has confused their minds. They cannot see the light that the good news brings. That message teaches about the great power of Christ, who shows us exactly what God is like.
5 We do not speak a message about ourselves. We tell people that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Because we belong to Jesus, we have become your servants, not your masters. 6 God is the one who said, ‘Let light shine in the dark.’ And he is the one who has caused his light to shine deep inside us. Because of that, we know how great and powerful God is. We see that his power shines brightly in Christ's face.[a]
This psalm is for Solomon.
A prayer for the king[a]
72 God, please help the king
to judge people in a right way.
Help the king's son to be honest and fair,
as you are.[b]
2 Then he will rule your people in a good way,
so that even poor people receive justice.
3 The mountains and the hills will bring peace,
so that the people can live honest lives.
4 Please help the king to judge poor people fairly.
May he save the children of weak people,
and destroy those cruel people who hurt them.
5 May people always respect your authority, God,
through all time,
as long as the sun and the moon remain in the sky.[c]
6 May the king be a blessing to his people,
like rain that falls on grass that lies in the fields.
May he be like rain
that brings water to the soil.
7 While he rules as king,
those people who serve God will do well.
There will be peace in all the land,
for as long as the moon remains in the sky.
8 May the king rule everywhere,
from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates river to the ends of the earth.[d]
9 Then people who live in the desert
will bend down to respect him.
His enemies will fall down
with their faces in the dust.
10 Kings from Spain and from other far places
will pay taxes to him.
Kings from Sheba and from Seba
will bring gifts to him.
11 All kings will bend down in front of him.
People from all nations will serve him.
12 He will rescue the poor person
who calls out to him for help.
He will save weak people
who have nobody to help them.
13 He will be kind to people who are poor and weak.
He will save them from death.
14 He will rescue them from cruel people who hurt them.
Their lives are important to him.
15 Long live the king!
May people come from Sheba to give gold to him.
May people always pray for him.
May people praise him all the time.
16 May there always be plenty of grain
that grows in the land.
May the crops grow well
on the tops of the mountains.
May the fruit trees give a lot of fruit,
as they do in Lebanon.
May all the crops grow well,
like grass that grows in a field.
17 May the king be famous for ever!
May people remember him
for as long as the sun continues to shine.
May people from all nations use his name
when they bless one another.
May they all say that God has blessed the king!
18 Praise the Lord, Israel's God,
as he deserves.
Only he does such wonderful things.
19 Praise his great name for ever!
May his glory fill the whole earth!
Amen! May that all happen!
20 This is the end of the prayers of Jesse's son, David.[e]
27 Now I have trouble in my mind. What will I say? I might say, “Father, save me from this time of trouble!” But this difficult time is the purpose for which I came to the world. 28 So I will say, “Father, show how great and how good you are.” ’
Then a voice spoke from heaven and said, ‘I have shown how great and how good I am. And I will do it again.’ 29 The crowd of people who were standing there heard the sound of this voice. They said that it was like the noise of thunder in a storm. But other people said, ‘An angel spoke to him!’
30 Jesus said, ‘When this voice spoke, it was not so that it could help me. No, it spoke so that it could help you. 31 It is time now for God to judge the people in this world. Now he will throw out the ruler of this world. 32 But when people lift me up from the ground, then I will bring everyone to myself.’ 33 Jesus said this to show in what way he would soon die.[a]
34 The crowd said, ‘The Bible tells us that the Messiah will continue for ever. So why do you say, “People must lift up the Son of Man”? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35 Jesus answered, ‘The light will be with you for only a short time longer. So continue to walk while you still have the light. Do that, so that the dark will not come over you. Anyone who walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 While you still have the light with you, believe in that light. So then you will become children of light.’ When Jesus had said this, he went away. He hid himself from them.[b]
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