Book of Common Prayer
To the director: A song of David.
41 Those who help the poor succeed will get many blessings.[a]
When trouble comes, the Lord will save them.
2 The Lord will protect them and save their lives.
He will bless them in this land.
He will not let their enemies harm them.
3 When they are sick in bed,
the Lord will give them strength and make them well!
4 I say, “Lord, be kind to me.
I sinned against you, but forgive me and make me well.”
5 My enemies say bad things about me.
They ask, “When will he die and be forgotten?”
6 If they come to see me,
they don’t say what they are really thinking.
They come to gather a little gossip
and then go to spread their rumors.
7 Those who hate me whisper about me.
They think the worst about me.
8 They say, “He did something wrong.
That is why he is sick.
He will never get well.”
9 My best friend, the one I trusted,
the one who ate with me—even he has turned against me.
10 Lord, please be kind to me.
Let me get up, and I will pay them back.
11 Don’t let my enemy defeat me.
Then I will know that you care for me.
12 I was innocent and you supported me.
You let me stand and serve you forever.
13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
He always was, and he always will be.
Amen and Amen!
To the director: A maskil of David written when Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David is in Ahimelech’s house.”
52 Great warrior, why are you bragging about the evil you did?
You are a disgrace to God.
2 You are nothing but a hired killer,[a]
making plans to hurt people and making up lies!
3 You love evil more than goodness.
You love lies more than truth. Selah
4 You and your lying tongue love to hurt people.
5 So God will ruin you forever!
He will grab you and pull you from your home,[b] like someone pulling up a plant by the roots![c] Selah
6 Good people will see this
and learn to fear and respect God.
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “Look what happened to the warrior who did not depend on God.
That fool thought his wealth and lies would protect him.”
8 But I am like a green olive tree growing in God’s Temple.
I will trust God’s faithful love forever and ever.
9 God, I praise you forever for what you have done.
I will speak your name[d] before your followers because it is so good!
To the director: A maskil from the Korah family.
44 God, we have heard about you.
Our fathers told us what you did in their lifetime.
They told us what you did long ago.
2 With your great power you took this land from other people,
and you gave it to us.
You crushed those foreigners
and forced them to leave this land.
3 It was not our fathers’ swords that took the land.
It was not their strong arms that brought them victory.
It was your power.
It was because you accepted them and smiled down on them.
4 God, you are my king.
Give the command and lead Jacob’s people to victory.
5 We need your help to push our enemies back.
Only in your name can we trample those who attacked us.
6 I don’t put my trust in my bow.
My sword cannot save me.
7 You are the one who saved us from our enemies.
You are the one who put our enemies to shame.
8 We have praised you all day long,
and we will praise your name forever. Selah
9 But you left us and put us to shame.
You did not go with us into battle.
10 You let our enemies push us back.
You let them take our wealth.
11 You gave us away like sheep to be killed and eaten.
You scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for nothing.
You did not even argue over the price.
13 You made us a joke to our neighbors.
They laugh and make fun of us.
14 You made us one of the stories that people love to tell.
People all over the world laugh at us and shake their heads.
15 All I can think about is my shame.
Just look at my face, and you will see it.
16 All I can hear are the jokes and insults of my enemies,
as I watch them take their revenge.
17 We have not forgotten you.
But you do all those things to us.
We did not break the agreement you gave us.
18 We did not turn away from you.
We did not stop following you.
19 But you crushed us in this home of jackals.
You left us in this place as dark as death.
20 Did we forget the name of our God?
Did we pray to foreign gods?
21 If we did, then God knows it,
because he knows our deepest secrets.
22 All day long we died for you.
We are like sheep being led away to be killed.
23 Lord, wake up!
Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t ignore us forever!
24 Why are you hiding from us?
Have you forgotten our pain and troubles?
25 We have been pushed down into the dirt.
We are lying face down in the dust.[a]
26 Get up and help us!
Rescue us because of your faithful love.
13 “The Lord says, ‘You must listen carefully to the commands I give you today: You must love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul. If you do that, 14 I will send rain for your land at the right time. I will send the autumn rain and the spring rain. Then you can gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will make grass grow in your fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.’
16 “He says, ‘Be careful! Don’t be fooled. Don’t turn away from me to serve other gods and to bow down to them.’ 17 If you do that, the Lord will become very angry with you. He will shut the skies, and there will be no rain. The land will not make a harvest, and you will soon die in the good land that the Lord is giving you.
18 “Remember these commands I give you. Keep them in your hearts. Write them down and tie them on your hands and wear them on your foreheads as a way to remember my laws. 19 Teach these laws to your children. Talk about these things when you sit in your houses, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.
Helping People Become God’s Friends
11 We know what it means to fear the Lord, so we try to help people accept the truth. God knows what we really are, and I hope that in your hearts you know us too. 12 We are not trying to prove ourselves to you again. But we are telling you about ourselves. We are giving you reasons to be proud of us. Then you will have an answer for those who are proud about what can be seen. They don’t care about what is in a person’s heart. 13 If we are crazy, it is for God. If we have our right mind, it is for you. 14 The love of Christ controls us, because we know that one person died for everyone. So all have died. 15 He died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from death so that they would live for him.
16 From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. 17 When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world.[a] The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new! 18 All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between himself and us. And God gave us the work of bringing people into peace with him. 19 I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins. And he gave us this message of peace to tell people. 20 So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. 21 Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin[b] so that in Christ we could be right with God.
6 We are workers together with God. So we beg you: Don’t let the grace that you received from God be for nothing. 2 God says,
“I heard you at the right time,
and I gave you help on the day of salvation.” (A)
I tell you that the “right time” is now. The “day of salvation” is now.
Sin and Forgiveness(A)
17 Jesus said to his followers, “Things will surely happen that will make people sin. But it will be very bad for anyone who makes this happen. 2 It will be very bad for anyone who makes one of these little children sin. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the sea. 3 So be careful!
“If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, warn them. If they are sorry for what they did, forgive them. 4 Even if they do something wrong to you seven times in one day, but they say they are sorry each time, you should forgive them.”
How Big Is Your Faith?
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
6 The Lord said, “If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the ocean!’ And the tree will obey you.
Be Good Servants
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant who has been working in the field, plowing or caring for the sheep. When he comes in from work, what would you say to him? Would you say, ‘Come in, sit down and eat’? 8 Of course not! You would say to your servant, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then get ready and serve me. When I finish eating and drinking, then you can eat.’ 9 The servant should not get any special thanks for doing his job. He is only doing what his master told him to do. 10 It is the same with you. When you finish doing all that you are told to do, you should say, ‘We are not worthy of any special thanks. We have only done the work we should do.’”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International