Book of Common Prayer
A Cry for God to Help Quickly
For the director of music. A song of David. To help people remember.
70 God, save me.
Lord, hurry to help me.
2 People are trying to kill me.
Shame them and disgrace them.
People want to hurt me.
Let them run away in disgrace.
3 People make fun of me.
Stop them and make them ashamed.
4 But let all the people who worship you
rejoice and be glad.
Let the people who love your salvation
always say, “Praise the greatness of God.”
5 I am poor and helpless.
God, hurry to me.
You help me and save me.
Lord, do not wait.
An Old Person’s Prayer
71 In you, Lord, is my protection.
Never let me be ashamed.
2 Because you do what is right, save and rescue me.
Listen to me and save me.
3 Be my place of safety
where I can always come.
Give the command to save me.
You are my rock and my strong, walled city.
4 My God, save me from the power of the wicked.
Save me from the hold of evil and cruel people.
5 Lord God, you are my hope.
I have trusted you since I was young.
6 I have depended on you since I was born.
You have been my help from the day I was born.
I will always praise you.
7 I am an example to many people.
You are my strong protection.
8 I am always praising you.
All day long I honor you.
9 Do not reject me when I am old.
Do not leave me when my strength is gone.
10 My enemies have made plans against me.
They meet together to kill me.
11 They say, “God has left him.
Go after him and take him.
No one will save him.”
12 God, don’t be far off.
My God, hurry to help me.
13 Let them be ashamed.
Destroy those who accuse me.
They are trying to hurt me.
Cover them with shame and disgrace.
14 But I will always have hope.
And I will praise you more and more.
15 I will tell about how you do what is right.
I will tell about your salvation all day long,
even though it is more than I can tell.
16 I will come and tell about your powerful works, Lord God.
I will tell only about you and how you do what is right.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young.
Even until today I tell about the miracles you do.
18 Even though I am old and gray,
do not leave me, God.
I will tell the children about your power.
I will tell those who will live after me about your might.
19 God, your justice reaches to the skies.
You have done great things.
God, there is no one like you.
20 You have given me many troubles and bad times.
But you will give me life again.
When I am almost dead,
you will keep me alive.
21 You will make me greater than ever.
And you will comfort me again.
22 I will praise you with the harp.
I trust you, my God.
I will sing to you with the lyre.
You are the Holy One of Israel.
23 I will shout for joy when I sing praises to you.
You have saved me.
24 I will tell about your justice all day long.
And those who want to hurt me
will be ashamed and disgraced.
A Nation in Trouble Prays
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you rejected us for so long?
Why are you angry with us, the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the people you bought long ago.
You saved us. We are your very own.
You live on Mount Zion.
3 Make your way through these old ruins.
The enemy wrecked everything in the Temple.
4 Those who were against you shouted in your meeting place.
They raised their flags there.
5 They came with axes raised
as if to cut down a forest of trees.
6 They smashed the carved panels
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your Temple to the ground.
They have made the place where you live unclean.
8 They thought, “We will completely crush them!”
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9 We do not see any signs.
There are no more prophets.
And no one knows how long this will last.
10 God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of you?
Will they insult you forever?
11 Why do you hold back your power?
Bring your power out in the open and destroy them!
12 God, you have been our king for a long time.
You have saved this country.
13 You split open the sea by your power.
You broke the heads of the sea monster.
14 You smashed the heads of the monster Leviathan.
You gave him to the desert creatures as food.
15 You opened up the springs and streams.
And you made the rivers run dry.
16 Both the day and the night are yours.
You made the sun and the moon.
17 You made all the limits on the earth.
You created summer and winter.
18 Lord, remember how the enemy insulted you.
Remember how those foolish people turned away from you.
19 Do not give us, your doves, to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor people.
20 Remember the agreement you made with us
because violence fills every dark corner of this land.
21 Do not let your suffering people be disgraced.
The poor and helpless people praise you.
22 God, come and defend yourself.
Remember the insults that come from those foolish people all day long.
23 Don’t forget what your enemies said.
Don’t forget their roar as they rise against you always.
Do Not Criticize Other People
14 Do not refuse to accept into your group someone who is weak in faith. And do not argue with him about opinions. 2 One person believes that he can eat all kinds of food.[a] But if another man’s faith is weak, then he believes he can eat only vegetables. 3 The one who knows that he can eat any kind of food must not feel that he is better than the one who eats only vegetables. And the person who eats only vegetables must not think that the one who eats all foods is wrong. God has accepted him. 4 You cannot judge another man’s servant. His own master decides if he is doing well or not. And the Lord’s servant will do well because the Lord helps him do well.
5 One person thinks that one day is more important than another. And someone else thinks that every day is the same. Each one should be sure in his own mind. 6 The person who thinks one day is more important than other days is doing that for the Lord. And the one who eats all kinds of food is doing that for the Lord. Yes, he gives thanks to God for that food. And the man who refuses to eat some foods does that for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For we do not live or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, we are living for the Lord. And if we die, we are dying for the Lord. So living or dying, we belong to the Lord.
9 That is why Christ died and rose from death to live again. He did this so that he would be Lord over both the dead and the living. 10 So why do you judge your brother in Christ? And why do you think that you are better than he is? We will all stand before God, and he will judge us all. 11 Yes, it is written in the Scriptures:
“Everyone will bow before me;
everyone will say that I am God.
As surely as I live, these things will happen, says the Lord.” Isaiah 45:23
12 So each of us will have to answer to God for what he has done.
A Man with Demons Inside Him
26 Jesus and his followers sailed across the lake from Galilee to the area where the Gerasene[a] people live. 27 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man from the town came to Jesus. This man had demons inside him. For a long time he had worn no clothes. He lived in the burial caves, not in a house. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him. The man said with a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please don’t punish me!” 29 He said this because Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. Many times it had taken hold of him. He had been kept under guard and chained hand and foot. But he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon out into the desert.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
The man answered, “Legion.”[b] (He said his name was “Legion” because many demons were in him.) 31 The demons begged Jesus not to send them into eternal darkness.[c] 32 On the hill there was a large herd of pigs eating. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. So Jesus allowed them to do this. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of pigs ran down the hill and into the lake. All the pigs drowned.
34 The men who took care of the pigs ran away. They told about this in the town and the countryside. 35 And people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man sitting there at Jesus’ feet. The man was clothed and in his right mind because the demons were gone. But the people were frightened. 36 The men who saw these things happen told the others all about how Jesus had made the man well. 37 All the people of the Gerasene country asked Jesus to go away. They were all very afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and went back across the lake.
38 The man that Jesus had healed begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Go back home and tell people what God did for you.” So the man went all over town telling how much Jesus had done for him.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.