Book of Common Prayer

102 A prayer when overwhelmed with trouble.

Lord, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea!

² Don’t turn away from me in this time of my distress. Bend down your ear and give me speedy answers, ^3-4 for my days disappear like smoke. My health is broken, and my heart is sick; it is trampled like grass and is withered. My food is tasteless, and I have lost my appetite. ⁵ I am reduced to skin and bones because of all my groaning and despair. ⁶ I am like a vulture in a far-off wilderness or like an owl alone in the desert. ⁷ I lie awake, lonely as a solitary sparrow on the roof.

⁸ My enemies taunt me day after day and curse at me. ^9-10 I eat ashes instead of bread. My tears run down into my drink because of your anger against me, because of your wrath. For you have rejected me and thrown me out. ¹¹ My life is passing swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering like grass, ¹² while you, Lord, are a famous King forever. Your fame will endure to every generation.

¹³ I know that you will come and have mercy on Jerusalem—and now is the time to pity her—the time you promised help. ¹⁴ For your people love every stone in her walls and feel sympathy for every grain of dust in her streets. ¹⁵ Now let the nations and their rulers tremble before the Lord, before his glory. ¹⁶ For Jehovah will rebuild Jerusalem! He will appear in his glory!

¹⁷ He will listen to the prayers of the destitute, for he is never too busy to heed their requests. ¹⁸ I am recording this so that future generations will also praise the Lord for all that he has done. And a people that shall be created shall praise the Lord. ¹⁹ Tell them that God looked down from his temple in heaven ²⁰ and heard the groans of his people in slavery—they were children of death—and released them, ^21-22 so that multitudes would stream to the Temple in Jerusalem to praise him, and his praises were sung throughout the city; and many rulers throughout the earth came to worship him.

²³ He has cut me down in middle life, shortening my days. ²⁴ But I cried to him, “O God, you live forever and forever! Don’t let me die halfway through my years! ²⁵ In ages past you laid the foundations of the earth and made the heavens with your hands! ²⁶ They shall perish, but you go on forever. They will grow old like worn-out clothing, and you will change them like a man putting on a new shirt and throwing away the old one! ²⁷ But you yourself never grow old. You are forever, and your years never end.

²⁸ “But our families will continue; generation after generation will be preserved by your protection.”

107 Say thank you to the Lord for being so good, for always being so loving and kind. ² Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.

³ He brought the exiles back from the farthest corners of the earth. ⁴ They were wandering homeless in the desert, ⁵ hungry and thirsty and faint. ⁶ “Lord, help!” they cried, and he did! ⁷ He led them straight to safety and a place to live. ⁸ Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness, and for all of his wonderful deeds! ⁹ For he satisfies the thirsty soul and fills the hungry soul with good.

¹⁰ Who are these who sit in darkness, in the shadow of death, crushed by misery and slavery? ¹¹ They rebelled against the Lord, scorning him who is the God above all gods. ¹² That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell and none could help them rise again. ¹³ Then they cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he rescued them! ¹⁴ He led them from the darkness and shadow of death and snapped their chains. ¹⁵ Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds! ¹⁶ For he broke down their prison gates of brass and cut apart their iron bars.

¹⁷ Others, the fools, were ill because of their sinful ways. ¹⁸ Their appetites were gone, and death was near. ¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he helped them and delivered them. ²⁰ He spoke, and they were healed—snatched from the door of death. ²¹ Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds! ²² Let them tell him thank you as their sacrifice and sing about his glorious deeds.

²³ And then there are the sailors sailing the seven seas, plying the trade routes of the world. ²⁴ They, too, observe the power of God in action. ²⁵ He calls to the storm winds; the waves rise high. ²⁶ Their ships are tossed to the heavens and sink again to the depths; the sailors cringe in terror. ²⁷ They reel and stagger like drunkards and are at their wit’s end. ²⁸ Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and he saves them. ²⁹ He calms the storm and stills the waves. ³⁰ What a blessing is that stillness as he brings them safely into harbor! ³¹ Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds! ³² Let them praise him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.

3 “Listen: I will send my messenger before me to prepare the way. And then the One^[a] you are looking for will come suddenly to his Temple—the Messenger of God’s promises, to bring you great joy. Yes, he is surely coming,” says the Lord Almighty. ² “But who can live when he appears? Who can endure his coming? For he is like a blazing fire refining precious metal, and he can bleach the dirtiest garments! ³ Like a refiner of silver he will sit and closely watch as the dross is burned away. He will purify the Levites, the ministers of God, refining them like gold or silver, so that they will do their work for God with pure hearts. ⁴ Then once more the Lord will enjoy the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did before. ⁵ At that time my punishments will be quick and certain; I will move swiftly against wicked men who trick the innocent, against adulterers and liars, against all those who cheat their hired hands, who oppress widows and orphans, or defraud strangers, and do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁶ “For I am the Lord—I do not change. That is why you are not already utterly destroyed, for my mercy endures forever.^[b]

⁷ “Though you have scorned my laws from earliest time, yet you may still return to me,” says the Lord Almighty. “Come and I will forgive you.

“But you say, ‘We have never even gone away!’

⁸ “Will a man rob God? Surely not! And yet you have robbed me.

“‘What do you mean? When did we ever rob you?’

“You have robbed me of the tithes and offerings due me. ⁹ And so the awesome curse of God is cursing you, for your whole nation has been robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my Temple; if you do, I will open up the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great you won’t have room enough to take it in!

“Try it! Let me prove it to you! ¹¹ Your crops will be large, for I will guard them from insects and plagues. Your grapes won’t shrivel away before they ripen,” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land sparkling with happiness. These are the promises of the Lord Almighty.

⁷ Now as for you, dear brothers who are waiting for the Lord’s return, be patient, like a farmer who waits until the autumn for his precious harvest to ripen. ⁸ Yes, be patient. And take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.

⁹ Don’t grumble about each other, brothers. Are you yourselves above criticism? For see! The great Judge is coming. He is almost here. Let him do whatever criticizing must be done.^[a]

¹⁰ For examples of patience in suffering, look at the Lord’s prophets. ¹¹ We know how happy they are now because they stayed true to him then, even though they suffered greatly for it. Job is an example of a man who continued to trust the Lord in sorrow; from his experiences we can see how the Lord’s plan finally ended in good, for he is full of tenderness and mercy.

¹² But most of all, dear brothers, do not swear either by heaven or earth or anything else; just say a simple yes or no so that you will not sin and be condemned for it.

18 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must keep praying until the answer comes.

² “There was a city judge,” he said, “a very godless man who had great contempt for everyone. ³ A widow of that city came to him frequently to appeal for justice against a man who had harmed her. ^4-5 The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she got on his nerves.

“‘I fear neither God nor man,’ he said to himself, ‘but this woman bothers me. I’m going to see that she gets justice, for she is wearing me out with her constant coming!’”

⁶ Then the Lord said, “If even an evil judge can be worn down like that, ⁷ don’t you think that God will surely give justice to his people who plead with him day and night? ⁸ Yes! He will answer them quickly! But the question is: When I, the Messiah,^[a] return, how many will I find who have faith and are praying?”