Book of Common Prayer
David wrote this song for the music leader, to ask God to help him.
A prayer for help[a]
70 God, please save me!
Lord, come quickly to help me!
2 Stop the people who want to kill me,
so that they become ashamed and confused.
Chase the people who want to hurt me,
so that they run away in shame.
3 When people laugh at me,
make them ashamed for what they have done.
4 God, may those who want to know you be very happy.
Everyone who loves you because you have saved them
should never stop saying, ‘Praise God.’
5 But I am poor and weak, God.
Please hurry to give me help.
You are the one who helps me
and who saves me.
Lord, come quickly to help me!
A song for old age
71 Lord, I have come to you to keep me safe.
Never let me become ashamed.
2 You always do what is right,
so please rescue me!
Listen to me, and come to save me!
3 Be a rock where I can hide.
Be a strong place where I can be safe.
You are my high rock and my strong, safe place.
4 My God, save me from the power of wicked people,
so that those cruel people cannot catch me.
5 My Lord, I trust you to help me.
I have trusted in you, Lord,
since I was young.
6 Since I was born,
you have been there to help me.
You have taken care of me
since my mother gave birth to me.
So I will always praise you!
7 When people see me,
they see trouble!
But you are a strong place to keep me safe.
8 I can never stop praising you!
All the time, I speak about your glory!
9 Do not chase me away when I am old.
When I am no longer strong,
do not turn away from me.[b]
10 For my enemies say things against me.
They think of ways that they can kill me.
11 They say, ‘God has turned away from him.
Run after him and catch him,
for nobody will rescue him.’
12 God, do not stay far away from me.
My God, come quickly to help me!
13 Make my enemies become completely ashamed.
They speak against me and they want to hurt me.
So let them fall with great shame!
14 But as for me, I will always wait for you to help me.
I will continue to praise you more and more.
15 I will tell people that you always do what is right.
I will always speak about your power to save people.
But you have done more than I will ever know about!
16 I will tell about the great things that you have done,
Almighty Lord.
I will tell everyone that you are righteous.
You, only you, are righteous.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young.
I still tell people about the great things that you have done.
18 And even when I am old and my hair is grey,
do not turn away from me, God.
I need to tell the people still to be born
about your great strength.
My descendants need to know about your power.
19 Your justice reaches beyond the sky above!
You have done such great things, God.
There is nobody like you!
20 You have caused me to have many bad troubles.
But you will make my life strong again.
You will lift me back out
from this deep hole under the earth.[c]
21 You will make me great again,
so that people respect me.
You will turn back to me,
so that I feel strong.
22 I will pick up my harp
and I will sing to thank you.
I will praise you, my God,
because you do what you promise.
I will sing to praise you, the Holy One of Israel,
with the music of a lyre.[d]
23 I will shout aloud with joy,
as I praise you with music!
I will sing songs to praise you,
because you have rescued me.
24 I will talk about your justice all the time.
The people who want to hurt me
will become confused and ashamed.
This is a special song that Asaph wrote.
A prayer for our nation[a]
74 God, have you turned against us for ever?
Why are you so angry with us?
We belong to you, so please take care of us,
like a shepherd takes care of his sheep.
2 Remember that we are your people.
Long ago you chose us for yourself.
You rescued us from being slaves,
so that we could be your special nation of people.[b]
So please think about us,
as well as your home on Mount Zion.
3 Come and look at our buildings!
Your enemies have completely destroyed them.
They have also destroyed everything that is in your temple.
4 Your enemies shout battle cries
inside your special meeting place.
They have put up their own flags there.
5 They used axes to cut the temple into pieces,
like people who cut down trees!
6 They used their hammers and axes
to break the wooden boards with pictures on them.
7 They completely burned your temple.
They knocked it down to the ground!
They caused your special place to become useless!
8 They said to themselves,
‘We will completely destroy them all.’
So they burned down every place in the land
where people meet to worship God.
9 We no longer see any signs that God is with us.
There are no more prophets among us.
Nobody can tell us how long this will continue.
10 God, how long will our enemies laugh at you?
Will they insult your name for ever?
11 Why do you do nothing to help us?
Use your power now to punish them!
12 God, you have been my king from the beginning.
You have done great things to rescue us
all over the earth.
13 You broke the sea into separate pieces,
because you are so strong.[c]
You broke the heads of the monsters
in the waters of the sea.[d]
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan.[e]
You gave his body as food
for the animals that live in the desert.
15 You caused springs and streams of water to appear.
And you made large rivers become dry![f]
16 Days and nights both belong to you.
You put the moon and the sun in their places.
17 You said where the land must be among the seas.
You made both summer and winter.[g]
18 Lord, think about your enemies.
They are always laughing at you.
Foolish people are insulting your name.
19 We, your people, are like your own special dove.
Do not let wild animals destroy us!
We are weak and poor,
so do not forget about us!
20 Remember what you have promised to do for us.
There are dark places everywhere,
where cruel people hide.
21 We are weak, and people want to hurt us.
Do not let us become ashamed.
Instead, let the poor, weak people praise your name!
22 Do something, God!
Show everyone that you are good.
Think how fools are laughing at you all the time.
23 Do not forget what your enemies are saying.
They shout things against you all the time!
Wisdom only comes from God
28 ‘If people want to find silver,
they can dig it out of the ground.
They also have places where they can make gold pure.
2 They know how to take iron from under the ground.
They can also use heat to get copper from rocks.
3 People take light into dark places under the ground.
They look carefully for valuable metals.
4 They dig deep holes in the ground
far away from places where people live.
Other people do not know about those places.
People hang on ropes as they go deep down into the earth.
5 We grow our food on the earth above.
But deep under the ground, people use fire to break the rocks.
6 Sapphires come from the rocks in those places.[a]
The dust there contains gold.
7 Even eagles or other birds with good eyes
do not see those places.
8 Lions and other wild animals do not walk there.
9 People break into the hard rocks.
They turn over rocks under the mountains.
10 They cut holes through the rocks.
They discover stones that are very valuable.
11 They look carefully in the springs of water
where rivers start.
They bring into the light things that were hidden away.
12 But as for wisdom,
people do not know where to find it.
They cannot learn how to understand things properly.
13 Humans do not understand the value of wisdom.
They cannot find it in this world where people live.
14 Wisdom is not in the sea.
Even in the deepest sea, no one will find it.
15 Nobody can buy wisdom.
You may have lots of gold and silver,
but you can never buy wisdom.
16 All the pure gold from Ophir will not be enough to buy it.
It is worth more than valuable onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor beautiful glass is as valuable as wisdom.
A whole pot full of gold could not buy it.
18 As for coral and jasper,
they are not nearly as valuable as wisdom.[b]
Its price is more than the price of rubies.
19 Topaz from Ethiopia is not as valuable as wisdom.
No one can buy it,
not even with pure gold.[c]
20 So where can we find wisdom?
Where can we learn to understand things properly?
21 We cannot see where it is.
No person or animal can see it.
No bird that flies in the sky can see it.
22 In the place of death, they say,
“We have heard only a little about wisdom,
and where to find it.”
23 Only God knows the way to find wisdom.
Only he knows where it is.
24 He can see to the ends of the earth.
He knows what happens everywhere in the world.
25 He decided how strong the wind must be.
He decided the size of the seas.
26 He made a command for the rain
to decide where it should fall.
He chose where storms should go and make thunder.
27 Then he thought about wisdom and its value.
He prepared it and he tested it.
28 God said this to us humans:
“If you want to be wise,
learn to respect the Lord with fear.
If you want to understand things properly,
turn away from evil acts.” ’
25 At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying. They were also singing songs to praise God. The other people in the prison were listening to them. 26 The ground under the prison suddenly shook strongly. Immediately, all the prison doors opened. The chains that held the people in the prison all fell off. 27 The prison guard woke up. He saw that the prison doors were open. He thought that all the people in the prison had become free. He decided that he should kill himself. So he pulled out his sword.[a]
28 Paul shouted very loudly to him, ‘Do not hurt yourself! We are all still in here!’
29 The guard said, ‘Bring me some lights.’ Then he ran to the prison room where Paul and Silas were. He was very frightened. He went down on his knees in front of them. 30 Then he led Paul and Silas out of the prison. He said to them, ‘Masters, what must I do so that God will save me? Tell me!’
31 Paul and Silas said to him, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and then God will save you. He will save you and the people who live in your house, if they believe too.’ 32 Then Paul and Silas went to the guard's house. They spoke God's message about the Lord Jesus to him and to all the people in his house. 33 In the middle of the night, the man took care of them. He washed their bodies where the soldiers had hurt them. Immediately after this, Paul and Silas baptized the man and his whole family. 34 The man gave them some food to eat in his house. The guard and all his family were very happy because now they believed in God.
35 The next morning, the important officers sent their police to the prison with a message for the guard. They told him, ‘Let those men go free.’ 36 The guard went to Paul and he told him, ‘The city officers have sent a message to me. They said, “Let Paul and Silas go free.” So now you can leave the prison. Nobody will hurt you any more.’
37 But Paul spoke to the police who had brought the message. He said, ‘The city officers did not find that we had done anything wrong. But they commanded their soldiers to hit us with sticks in front of everybody. We are citizens of Rome but they still did this to us. They even put us into prison. Now they want us to leave the prison and go away. They want to send us away secretly. We will not agree! The Roman officers must come here to the prison themselves. Then they must lead us out for everyone to see.’
38 The police returned to the city officers. They told them what Paul had said. The officers now understood that Paul and Silas were citizens of Rome. This made them very afraid. 39 So they went to see Paul and Silas in the prison. They told Paul and Silas that they were very sorry. Then they led Paul and Silas out of the prison. They asked them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas left the prison, they went to Lydia's house. There they met the other believers. They spoke to the believers to make them strong. Then Paul and Silas left Philippi.[b]
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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