Book of Common Prayer
God Wants True Worship
A song of Asaph.
50 The God of gods, the Lord, speaks.
He calls the earth from the rising to the setting sun.
2 God shines from Jerusalem,
whose beauty is perfect.
3 Our God comes, and he will not be silent.
A fire burns in front of him,
and a storm surrounds him.
4 He calls to the sky and to the earth
to see him judge his people.
5 He says, “You who worship me, gather around.
You have made an agreement with me, using a sacrifice.”
6 God is the judge.
Even the skies say he is right. Selah
7 God says, “My people, listen to me.
Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not scold you for your sacrifices.
You always bring me your burnt offerings.
9 But I do not need the bulls from your stalls
or the goats from your pens.
10 Every animal of the forest is already mine.
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
11 I know every bird on the mountains.
Every living thing in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you.
The earth and everything on it are mine.
13 I don’t eat the meat of bulls
or drink the blood of goats.
14 Give an offering to show thanks to God.
Give God Most High what you have promised.
15 Call to me in times of trouble.
I will save you, and you will honor me.”
16 But God says to the wicked people,
“Why do you talk about my laws?
Why do you mention my agreement?
17 You hate my teachings.
You turn your back on what I say.
18 When you see a thief, you join him.
You take part in adultery.
19 You don’t stop your mouth from speaking evil.
Your tongue makes up lies.
20 You speak against your brother.
You lie about your mother’s son.
21 I have kept quiet while you did these things.
So you thought I was just like you.
But I will scold you.
I will accuse you to your face.
22 “Think about this, you people who forget God.
Otherwise, I will tear you apart,
and no one will save you.
23 Those people honor me
who give me offerings to show thanks.
And I, God, will save those who do that.”
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A miktam of David when Saul sent men to watch David’s house to kill him.
59 God, save me from my enemies.
Protect me from those who come against me.
2 Save me from those who do evil.
Save me from murderers.
3 Look, men are waiting to attack me.
Cruel men attack me.
But I have not sinned or done wrong, Lord.
4 I have done nothing wrong, but they are ready to attack me.
Wake up to help me and look.
5 You are the Lord God of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel.
Come and punish those people.
Do not give those traitors any mercy. Selah
6 They come back at night.
Like dogs they growl and roam around the city.
7 Notice what comes from their mouths.
Insults come from their lips.
They say, “Who’s listening?”
8 But, Lord, you laugh at them.
You make fun of all of them.
9 God, my strength, I wait for you.
God, you are my protection.
10 My God loves me, and he will be with me.
He will help me defeat my enemies.
11 Lord, our protector, do not kill them.
If you do, my people will forget.
With your power scatter them
and defeat them.
12 They sin by what they say.
They sin with their words.
They curse and tell lies.
So let their pride trap them.
13 Destroy them in your anger.
Destroy them completely!
Then they will know
that God rules over Israel
and to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 They come back at night.
Like dogs they growl
and roam around the city.
15 They wander about looking for food.
And they howl if they do not find enough.
16 But I will sing about your strength.
In the morning I will sing about your love.
You are my protection,
my place of safety in times of trouble.
17 God, my strength, I will sing praises to you.
God, my protection, you are the God who loves me.
A Prayer After a Defeat
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated 12,000 Edomites at the Valley of Salt.
60 God, you have rejected us and scattered us.
You have been angry, but please come back to us.
2 You made the earth shake and crack.
Fix its breaks because it is shaking.
3 You have given your people trouble.
You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.
4 You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you.
Now they can escape the enemy. Selah
5 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
6 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
8 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
11 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
12 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
God’s Works and Word
For the director of music. A song of David.
19 The heavens tell the glory of God.
And the skies announce what his hands have made.
2 Day after day they tell the story.
Night after night they tell it again.
3 They have no speech or words.
They don’t make any sound to be heard.
4 But their message goes out through all the world.
It goes everywhere on earth.
The sky is like a home for the sun.
5 The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his bedroom.
It rejoices like an athlete eager to run a race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the sky,
and it follows its path to the other end.
Nothing hides from its heat.
7 The Lord’s teachings are perfect.
They give new strength.
The Lord’s rules can be trusted.
They make plain people wise.
8 The Lord’s orders are right.
They make people happy.
The Lord’s commands are pure.
They light up the way.
9 It is good to respect the Lord.
That respect will last forever.
The Lord’s judgments are true.
They are completely right.
10 They are worth more than gold,
even the purest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the finest honey.
11 They tell your servant what to do.
Keeping them brings great reward.
12 No one can see all his own mistakes.
Forgive me for my secret sins.
13 Keep me from the sins that I want to do.
Don’t let them rule me.
Then I can be pure
and free from the greatest of sins.
14 I hope my words and thoughts please you.
Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me.
God Protects His People
For the director of music. By alamoth. A song of the sons of Korah.
46 God is our protection and our strength.
He always helps in times of trouble.
2 So we will not be afraid if the earth shakes,
or if the mountains fall into the sea.
3 We will not fear even if the oceans roar and foam,
or if the mountains shake at the raging sea. Selah
4 There is a river which brings joy to the city of God.
This is the holy place where God Most High lives.
5 God is in that city, and so it will not be shaken.
God will help her at dawn.
6 Nations tremble, and kingdoms shake.
God shouts, and the earth crumbles.
7 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
8 Come and see what the Lord has done.
He has done amazing things on the earth.
9 He stops wars everywhere on the earth.
He breaks all bows and spears
and burns up the chariots with fire.
10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God.
I will be praised in all the nations.
I will be praised throughout the earth.”
11 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
23 Then the Lord sent you away from Kadesh Barnea. He said, “Go up and take the land I have given you.” But you would not obey the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. 24 You have refused to obey the Lord as long as I have known you.
25 The Lord had said he would destroy you. So I threw myself down in front of him for those 40 days and 40 nights. 26 I prayed to the Lord. I said, “Lord God, do not destroy your people. They are your own people. You freed them and brought them out of Egypt by your great power and strength. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Don’t look at how stubborn these people are. Don’t look at their sin and evil. 28 Otherwise, Egypt will say, ‘The Lord was not able to take his people into the land he promised them. He hated them. So he took them into the desert to kill them.’ 29 But they are your people, Lord. They are your own people. You brought them out of Egypt with your great power and strength.”
New Stone Tablets
10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones. Then come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. 2 I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Put the new tablets in the ark.”
3 So I made the ark out of acacia wood. And I cut out two stone tablets like the first ones. Then I went up on the mountain. I had the two tablets in my hands. 4 The Lord wrote the same things on these tablets he had written before. He wrote the Ten Commandments. He had told them to you on the mountain from the fire. This was on the day you were gathered there. And the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down the mountain. I put the tablets in the ark I had made. That is what the Lord had commanded. The tablets are still there in the ark.
4 Now God has left us that promise that we may enter and have his rest. Let us be very careful, then, so that none of you will fail to get that rest. 2 The Good News was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching they heard did not help them. They heard it but did not accept it with faith.[a] 3 We who have believed are able to enter and have God’s rest. As God has said,
“So I was angry and made a promise.
‘They will never enter my land of rest.’” Psalm 95:11
But God’s work was finished from the time he made the world. 4 Somewhere in the Scriptures he talked about the seventh day of the week: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”[b] 5 And again in the Scripture God said, “They will never enter my land of rest.”
6 It is still true that some people will enter and have God’s rest. But those who first heard the way to be saved did not enter. They did not enter because they did not obey. 7 So God planned another day, called “today.” He spoke about that day through David a long time later. It is the same Scripture used before:
“Today listen to what he says.
Do not be stubborn.” Psalm 95:7-8
8 We know that Joshua[c] did not lead the people into that rest. We know this because God spoke later about another day. 9 This shows that the seventh-day rest[d] for God’s people is still coming. 10 For anyone who enters and has God’s rest will rest from his work as God did.
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 He who believes in God’s Son is not judged guilty. He who does not believe has already been judged guilty, because he has not believed in God’s only Son. 19 People are judged by this fact: I am the Light from God that has come into the world. But men did not want light. They wanted darkness because they were doing evil things. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light. He will not come to the light because it will show all the evil things he has done. 21 But he who follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that the things he has done were done through God.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.