Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A song of Asaph.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the gold creatures with wings.
Show your greatness 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Use your strength.
Come and save us.
3 God, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
4 Lord God of heaven’s armies,
how long will you be angry
at the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed your people tears.
You have made them drink many tears.
6 You made those around us fight over us.
Our enemies make fun of us.
7 God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
8 You brought us out of Egypt as if we were a vine.
You forced out other nations and planted us in the land.
9 You cleared the land for us.
Like a vine, we took root and filled the land.
10 We covered the mountains with our shade.
We had limbs like the mighty cedar tree.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea.
And our shoots went to the Euphrates River.
12 So why did you pull down our walls?
Now everyone who passes by steals from us.
13 Like wild pigs they walk over us.
Like wild animals they feed on us.
14 God of heaven’s armies, come back.
Look down from heaven and see.
Take care of us, your vine.
15 You planted this shoot with your own hands.
You raised and strengthened this child.
16 Now it is cut down and burned with fire.
You destroyed us by your angry looks.
17 Help the man you have chosen.
Make this human being strong for your service.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call to you for help.
19 Lord God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
Remembering God’s Help
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A song of Asaph.
77 I cry out loud to God.
I call to God, and he will hear me.
2 I looked for the Lord on the day of trouble.
All night long I reached out my hands.
I cannot be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I become upset.
When I think, I become afraid. Selah
4 You keep my eyes from closing.
I am too upset to say anything.
5 I keep thinking about the old days,
the years of long ago.
6 At night I remember my songs.
I think, and I ask myself:
7 “Will the Lord reject us forever?
Will he never be kind to us again?
8 Is his love gone forever?
Has he stopped speaking for all time?
9 Has God forgotten mercy?
Is he too angry to pity us?” Selah
10 Then I said, “This is what makes me sad:
For years the power of God Most High was with us.”
11 I remember what the Lord did.
I remember the miracles you did long ago.
12 I think about all the things you did.
I think about what you have done.
13 God, your ways are holy.
No god is as great as our God.
14 You are the God who did miracles.
You showed people your power.
15 By your power you have saved your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 God, the waters saw you.
They saw you and became afraid.
The deep waters shook with fear.
17 The clouds poured down their rain.
The sky thundered.
Your lightning flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
19 You made a way through the sea
and paths through the deep waters.
But your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock of sheep.
You led them by using Moses and Aaron.
The Nation Cries for Jerusalem
A song of Asaph.
79 God, nations have come against your people.
They have ruined your holy Temple.
They have turned Jerusalem into ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
as food to the wild birds.
They have given the bodies of those who worship you
to the wild animals.
3 They have spilled blood like water
all around Jerusalem.
No one was left to bury the dead.
4 We are a bad joke to the other nations.
They laugh and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long will this last? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like a fire?
6 Be angry with the nations that do not know you.
Be angry with the kingdoms that do not honor you.
7 They have destroyed the people of Jacob.
Those nations have destroyed the people’s land.
8 Don’t punish us for the sins of our ancestors.
Show your mercy to us soon.
We are helpless!
9 God our Savior, help us
so people will praise you.
Save us and forgive our sins
so people will honor you.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Tell the other nations in our presence
that you punish those who kill your servants.
11 Hear the moans of the prisoners.
Use your great power
to save those sentenced to die.
12 Repay those around us seven times over
for their insults to you, Lord.
13 We are your people, the sheep of your flock.
We will thank you always.
Forever and ever we will praise you.
Remember the Lord
8 Carefully obey every command I give you today. Then you will live and grow in number. And you will enter and own the land the Lord promised your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God has led you in the desert for these 40 years. He took away your pride. He tested you. He wanted to know what was in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. 3 He took away your pride. He let you get hungry. Then he fed you with manna. Manna was something neither you nor your ancestors had ever seen. This was to teach you that a person does not live only by eating bread. But a person lives by everything the Lord says. 4 During these 40 years, your clothes did not wear out. And your feet did not swell. 5 Know in your heart that the Lord your God corrects you. He corrects you as a father does his son.
6 Obey the commands of the Lord your God. Live as he has commanded you and respect him. 7 The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. The land has rivers and pools of water. Springs flow in the valleys and hills. 8 The land has wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey. 9 It is a land where you will have plenty of food. You will have everything you need there. The rocks are iron. You can dig copper out of the hills.
10 You will have all you want to eat. Then praise the Lord your God. He has given you a good land.
Faith and Wisdom
1 From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To all of God’s people who are scattered everywhere in the world:
Greetings.
2 My brothers, you will have many kinds of troubles. But when these things happen, you should be very happy. 3 You know that these things are testing your faith. And this will give you patience. 4 Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete. You will have everything you need. 5 But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. God is generous. He enjoys giving to all people, so God will give you wisdom. 6 But when you ask God, you must believe. Do not doubt God. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea. The wind blows the wave up and down. 7-8 He who doubts is thinking two different things at the same time. He cannot decide about anything he does. A person like that should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
True Riches
9 If a believer is poor, he should take pride that God has made him spiritually rich. 10 If he is rich, he should take pride that God has shown him that he is spiritually poor. The rich person will die like a wild flower in the grass. 11 The sun rises and becomes hotter and hotter. The heat makes the plants very dry, and the flower falls off. The flower was beautiful, but now it is dead. It is the same with a rich person. While he is still taking care of his business, he will die.
Temptation Is Not from God
12 When a person is tempted and still continues strong, he should be happy. After he has proved his faith, God will reward him with life forever. God promised this to all people who love him. 13 When someone is being tempted, he should not say, “God is tempting me.” Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. 14 It is the evil that a person wants that tempts him. His own evil desire leads him away and holds him. 15 This desire causes sin. Then the sin grows and brings death.
Jesus Is the Christ
18 One time when Jesus was praying alone, his followers came together there. Jesus asked them, “Who do the people say I am?”
19 They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah.[a] And others say you are one of the prophets from long ago who has come back to life.”
20 Then Jesus asked, “And who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ from God.”
21 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone. Then he said, 22 “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. The Son of Man will be killed. But after three days he will be raised from death.”
23 Jesus went on to say to all of them, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say ‘no’ to the things he wants. Every day he must be willing even to die on a cross, and he must follow me. 24 Whoever wants to save his life will lose it. And whoever gives his life for me will save it. 25 It is worth nothing for a man to have the whole world, if he himself is destroyed or lost. 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my teaching, then I[b] will be ashamed of him. I will be ashamed of him at the time I come with my glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth. Some of you people standing here will see the kingdom of God before you die.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.