Book of Common Prayer
For the choir director; according to shoshannim; by David.
69 Save me, O God!
The water is already up to my neck!
2 I am sinking in deep mud.
There is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water.
A flood is sweeping me away.
3 I am exhausted from crying for help.
My throat is hoarse.
My eyes are strained ⌞from⌟ looking for my God.
4 Those who hate me for no reason
outnumber the hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me are mighty.
They have no reason to be my enemies.
I am forced to pay back what I did not steal.
5 O God, you know my stupidity,
and the things of which I am guilty are not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who wait with hope for you
be put to shame because of me, O Almighty Lord of Armies.
Do not let those who come to you for help
be humiliated because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Indeed, for your sake I have endured insults.
Humiliation has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my ⌞own⌟ brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 Indeed, devotion for your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 I cried and fasted, but I was insulted for it.
11 I dressed myself in sackcloth, but I became the object of ridicule.
12 Those who sit at the gate gossip about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me.
13 May my prayer come to you at an acceptable time, O Lord.
O God, out of the greatness of your mercy,
answer me with the truth of your salvation.
14 Rescue me from the mud.
Do not let me sink ⌞into it⌟.
I want to be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
15 Do not let floodwaters sweep me away.
Do not let the ocean swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, because your mercy is good.
Out of your unlimited compassion, turn to me.
17 I am in trouble, so do not hide your face from me.
Answer me quickly!
18 Come close, and defend my soul.
Set me free because of my enemies.
19 You know that I have been insulted, put to shame, and humiliated.
All my opponents are in front of you.
20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none.
I looked for people to comfort me, but I found no one.
21 They poisoned my food,
and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let the table set for them become a trap
and a snare for their friends.
23 Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see.
Let their thighs continually shake.
24 Pour your rage on them.
Let your burning anger catch up with them.
25 Let their camp be deserted
and their tents empty.
26 They persecute the one you have struck,
and they talk about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Charge them with one crime after another.
Do not let them be found innocent.
28 Let their ⌞names⌟ be erased from the Book of Life.
Do not let them be listed with righteous people.
29 I am suffering and in pain.
Let your saving power protect me, O God.
30 I want to praise God’s name with a song.
I want to praise his great name with a song of thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than ⌞sacrificing⌟ an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Oppressed people will see ⌞this⌟ and rejoice.
May the hearts of those who look to God for help be refreshed.
33 The Lord listens to needy people.
He does not despise his own who are in prison.
34 Let heaven and earth, the seas, and everything that moves in them, praise him.
35 When God saves Zion, he will rebuild the cities of Judah.
His servants will live there and take possession of it.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it.
Those who love him will live there.
BOOK THREE
(Psalms 73–89)
A psalm by Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel,
to those whose lives are pure.
2 But my feet had almost stumbled.
They had almost slipped
3 because I was envious of arrogant people
when I saw the prosperity that wicked people enjoy.
4 They suffer no pain.
Their bodies are healthy.
5 They have no drudgery in their lives like ordinary people.
They are not plagued ⌞with problems⌟ like others.
6 That is why they wear arrogance like a necklace
and acts of violence like clothing.
7 Their eyes peer out from their fat faces,
and their imaginations run wild.
8 They ridicule.
They speak maliciously.
They speak arrogantly about oppression.
9 They verbally attack heaven,
and they order people around on earth.
10 That is why God’s people turn to wickedness
and swallow their words.
11 Then wicked people ask, “What does God know?”
“Does the Most High know anything?”
12 Look how wicked they are!
They never have a worry.
They grow more and more wealthy.
13 I’ve received no reward for keeping my life pure
and washing my hands of any blame.
14 I’m plagued ⌞with problems⌟ all day long,
and every morning my punishment ⌞begins again⌟.
15 If I had said, “I will continue to talk like that,”
I would have betrayed God’s people.
16 But when I tried to understand this,
it was too difficult for me.
17 Only when I came into God’s holy place
did I ⌞finally⌟ understand what would happen to them.
18 You put them in slippery places
and make them fall into ruin.
19 They are suddenly destroyed.
They are completely swept away by terror!
20 As ⌞someone⌟ gets rid of a dream when he wakes up,
so you, O Lord, get rid of the thought of them
when you wake up.
21 When my heart was filled with bitterness
and my mind was seized ⌞with envy⌟,
22 I was stupid, and I did not understand.
I was like a dumb animal in your presence.
23 Yet, I am always with you.
You hold on to my right hand.
24 With your advice you guide me,
and in the end you will take me to glory.
25 As long as I have you,
I don’t need anyone else in heaven or on earth.
26 My body and mind may waste away,
but God remains the foundation of my life
and my inheritance forever.
27 Without a doubt, those who are far from you will die.
You destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 Being united with God is my highest good.
I have made the Almighty Lord my refuge
so that I may report everything that he has done.
Remember Your Creator While You’re Young
9 You young people should enjoy yourselves while you’re young. You should let your hearts make you happy when you’re young. Follow wherever your heart leads you and whatever your eyes see. But realize that God will make you give an account for all these things when he judges everyone. 10 Get rid of what troubles you or wears down your body, because childhood and youth are pointless.
12 Remember your Creator when you are young,
before the days of trouble come
and the years catch up with you.
They will make you say,
“I have found no pleasure in them.”
2 Remember your Creator before the sun, the light, the moon,
and the stars turn dark, ⌞and⌟ the clouds come back with rain.
3 Remember your Creator when those who guard the house tremble,
strong men are stooped over,
the women at the mill stop grinding
because there are so few of them,
⌞and⌟ those who look out of the windows
see a dim light.
4 Remember your Creator when the doors to the street are closed,
the sound of the mill is muffled,
you are startled at the sound of a bird,
⌞and⌟ those who sing songs become quiet.
5 Remember your Creator when someone is afraid of heights
and of dangers along the road,
the almond tree blossoms,
the grasshopper drags itself along,
⌞and⌟ the caper bush has ⌞no⌟ fruit.
Mortals go to their eternal rest, and mourners go out in the streets.
6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is snapped,
the golden bowl is broken,
the pitcher is smashed near the spring,
and the water wheel is broken at the cistern.
7 Then the dust ⌞of mortals⌟ goes back to the ground as it was before,
and the breath of life goes back to God who gave it.
8 “Absolutely pointless!” says the spokesman. “Everything is pointless!”
Lifelong Duty—Fear God and Keep His Commands
9 Besides being wise, the spokesman also taught the people what he knew. He very carefully thought about it, studied it, and arranged it in many proverbs. 10 The spokesman tried to find just the right words. He wrote the words of truth very carefully.
11 Words from wise people are like spurs. Their collected sayings are like nails that have been driven in firmly. They come from one shepherd. 12 Be warned, my children, against anything more than these. People never stop writing books. Too much studying will wear out your body. 13 After having heard it all, this is the conclusion: Fear God, and keep his commands, because this applies to everyone. 14 God will certainly judge everything that is done. This includes every secret thing, whether it is good or bad.
25 If we live by our spiritual nature, then our lives need to conform to our spiritual nature. 26 We can’t allow ourselves to act arrogantly and to provoke or envy each other.
Help Carry Each Other’s Burdens
6 Brothers and sisters, if a person gets trapped by wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should help that person turn away from doing wrong. Do it in a gentle way. At the same time watch yourself so that you also are not tempted. 2 Help carry each other’s burdens. In this way you will follow Christ’s teachings. 3 So if any one of you thinks you’re important when you’re really not, you’re only fooling yourself. 4 Each of you must examine your own actions. Then you can be proud of your own accomplishments without comparing yourself to others. 5 Assume your own responsibility.
We Will Harvest What We Plant
6 The person who is taught God’s word should share all good things with his teacher. 7 Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest. 8 If you plant in ⌞the soil of⌟ your corrupt nature, you will harvest destruction. But if you plant in ⌞the soil of⌟ your spiritual nature, you will harvest everlasting life. 9 We can’t allow ourselves to get tired of living the right way. Certainly, each of us will receive ⌞everlasting life⌟ at the proper time, if we don’t give up. 10 Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers.
Jesus Foretells That He Will Die and Come Back to Life(A)
21 From that time on Jesus began to inform his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem. There he would have to suffer a lot because of the leaders, the chief priests, and the experts in Moses’ Teachings. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be brought back to life.
22 Peter took him aside and objected to this. He said, “Heaven forbid, Lord! This must never happen to you!”
23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get out of my way, Satan! You are tempting me to sin. You aren’t thinking the way God thinks but the way humans think.”
What It Means to Follow Jesus(B)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Those who want to come with me must say no to the things they want, pick up their crosses, and follow me. 25 Those who want to save their lives will lose them. But those who lose their lives for me will find them. 26 What good will it do for people to win the whole world and lose their lives? Or what will a person give in exchange for life? 27 The Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory. Then he will pay back each person based on what that person has done. 28 I can guarantee this truth: Some people who are standing here will not die until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
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