Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Relief from Tormentors
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when the (A)Philistines captured him in Gath.
56 Be (B)merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies would (C)hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
(D)I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
(E)Are they not in Your book?
9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because (F)God is for me.
10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the Lord (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
13 (G)For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the (H)light of the living?
Prayer for Safety from Enemies(I)
To the Chief Musician. Set to [b]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David (J)when he fled from Saul into the cave.
57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
(K)And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
(L)Until these calamities have passed by.
2 I will cry out to God Most High,
To God (M)who performs all things for me.
3 (N)He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who [c]would swallow me up. Selah
God (O)shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
4 My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
(P)Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
5 (Q)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 (R)They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah
7 (S)My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake, (T)my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (U)I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the [d]nations.
10 (V)For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
11 (W)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
The Just Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [e]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 (X)The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 (Y)Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not (Z)heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6 (AA)Break[f] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 (AB)Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
(AC)Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your (AD)pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away (AE)as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the (AF)vengeance;
(AG)He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 (AH)So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who (AI)judges in the earth.”
Oppressed by the Wicked but Rejoicing in the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my [a]meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
(A)And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
(B)They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They devise iniquities:
“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
(C)All who see them shall flee away.
9 All men shall fear,
And shall (D)declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.
10 (E)The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory.
Praise to God for His Salvation and Providence
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the [b]vow shall be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
(F)To You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will (G)provide atonement for them.
4 (H)Blessed is the man You (I)choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
(J)We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
6 Who established the mountains by His strength,
(K)Being clothed with power;
7 (L)You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
(M)And the tumult of the peoples.
8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening [c]rejoice.
9 You [d]visit the earth and (N)water it,
You greatly enrich it;
(O)The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
(P)The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
The Day of Atonement
16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after (A)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died; 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother (B)not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for (C)I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
3 [a]“Thus Aaron shall (D)come into the Holy Place: (E)with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put the (F)holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore (G)he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. 5 And he shall take from (H)the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and (I)make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make (J)atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for (K)himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take (L)a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of (M)sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 (N)And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the (O)mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he (P)die. 14 (Q)He shall take some of the blood of the bull and (R)sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 (S)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood (T)inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall (U)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be (V)no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for (W)it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and (X)consecrate[b] it from the [c]uncleanness of the children of Israel.
The Comfort of Christ’s Coming
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen [a]asleep, lest you sorrow (A)as others (B)who have no hope. 14 For (C)if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him (D)those who [b]sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you (E)by the word of the Lord, that (F)we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [c]asleep. 16 For (G)the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with (H)the trumpet of God. (I)And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 (J)Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (K)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus (L)we shall always be with the Lord. 18 (M)Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Do Good to Please God
6 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, (A)when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret (B)will Himself reward you [a]openly.
The Model Prayer(C)
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the [b]hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, (D)go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you [c]openly.
Fasting to Be Seen Only by God
16 “Moreover, (A)when you fast, do not be like the [a]hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, (B)anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you [b]openly.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.