Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26
A song of David.
1 Declare my innocence, O Eternal One!
I have walked blamelessly down this path.
I placed my trust in the Eternal and have yet to stumble.
2 Put me on trial and examine me, O Eternal One!
Search me through and through—from my deepest longings to every thought that crosses my mind.
3 Your unfailing love is always before me;
I have journeyed down Your path of truth.
A great theme throughout the psalms is the experience of coming before God. This Davidic psalm affirms the integrity of the worshiper before the Lord even while pleading for God’s mercy.
4 My life is not wasted among liars;
my days are not spent among cheaters.
5 I despise every crowd intent on evil;
I do not commune with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in the fountain of innocence
so that I might join the gathering that surrounds Your altar, O Eternal One.
7 From my soul, I will join the songs of thanksgiving;
I will sing and proclaim Your wonder and mystery.
8 Your house, home to Your glory, O Eternal One, radiates its light.
I am fixed on this place and long to be nowhere else.
9 When Your wrath pursues those who oppose You,
those swift to sin and thirsty for blood,
spare my soul and grant me life.
10 These men hold deceit in their left hands,
and in their right hands, bribery and lies.
11 But God, I have walked blamelessly down this path,
and this is my plea for redemption.
This is my cry for Your mercy.
12 Here I stand secure and confident
before all the people; I will praise the Eternal.
Psalm 28
A song of David.
1 Eternal One, I am calling out to You;
You are the foundation of my life. Please, don’t turn Your ear from me.
If You respond to my pleas with silence,
I will lose all hope like those silenced by death’s grave.
2 Listen to my voice.
You will hear me begging for Your help
With my hands lifted up in prayer,
my body turned toward Your holy home.
This Davidic psalm pleads with God to spare him and repay his enemies. It would be difficult to locate this psalm in any one event. During his life David faced many threats from different enemies; not only were these threats from outside his realm, but some of his most difficult challenges came from inside his own family.
3 I beg You; don’t punish me with the most heinous men.
They spend their days doing evil.
Even when they engage their neighbors in pleasantness,
they are scheming against them.
4 Pay them back for their deeds;
hold them accountable for their malice.
Give them what they deserve.
5 Because these are people who have no respect for You, O Eternal,
they ignore everything You have done.
So He will tear them down with His powerful hands;
never will they be built again.
6 The Eternal should be honored and revered;
He has heard my cries for help.
7 The Eternal is the source of my strength and the shield that guards me.
When I learn to rest and truly trust Him,
He sends His help. This is why my heart is singing!
I open my mouth to praise Him, and thankfulness rises as song.
8 The Eternal gives life and power to all His chosen ones;
to His anointed He is a sturdy fortress.
9 Rescue Your people, and bring prosperity to Your legacy;
may they know You as a shepherd, carrying them at all times.
Psalm 36
For the worship leader. A song of David, the Eternal’s servant.
1 Sin speaks in the depths of the soul
of those who oppose God; they listen closely to its urgings.
You’ll never see the fear of God
in their eyes,
2 For they flatter themselves—
convinced their sin will remain secret, undiscovered, and so unhated.
3 They speak words of evil and deceit.
Wisdom and goodness, they deserted long ago.
4 Even as they sleep, they are plotting mischief.
They journey along a path far from anything good,
gravitating to trouble, welcoming evil.
5 Your love, O Eternal One, towers high into the heavens.
Even the skies are lower than Your faithfulness.
6 Your justice is like the majestic mountains.
Your judgments are as deep as the oceans, and yet in Your greatness,
You, O Eternal, offer life for every person and animal.
7 Your strong love, O True God, is precious.
All people run for shelter under the shadow of Your wings.
8 In Your house, they eat and are full at Your table.
They drink from the river of Your overflowing kindness.
9 You have the fountain of life that quenches our thirst.
Your light has opened our eyes and awakened our souls.
10 May Your love continue to grow deeply in the lives of all who know You.
May Your salvation reach every heart committed to do right.
11 Give me shelter from prideful feet that hunt me down
and wicked hands that push me from Your path.
12 It is there, far away from You, that the wicked will be forced down,
face to the earth, never again returning to their feet.
Psalm 39
For the worship leader, Jeduthun.[a] A song of David.
As an individual lament, Psalm 39 grieves over the brevity of life. The superscription recalls David’s appointment of Jeduthun as one of the tabernacle’s leading musicians (1 Chronicles 16:41–42).
1 I promised, “I’ll be careful on life’s journey
not to sin with my words;
I’ll seal my lips
when wicked people are around.”
2 I kept my mouth shut;
I had nothing to say—not even anything good—
which came to grieve me more and more.
3 I felt my heart become hot inside me
as I thought on these things; a fire ignited and burned.
Then I said,
4 “Eternal One, let me understand my end
and how brief my earthly existence is;
help me realize my life is fleeting.
5 You have determined the length of my days,
and my life is nothing compared to You.
Even the longest life is only a breath.”
[pause][b]
6 In truth, each of us journeys through life like a shadow.
We busy ourselves accomplishing nothing, piling up assets we can never keep;
We can’t even know who will end up with those things.
7 In light of all this, Lord, what am I really waiting for?
You are my hope.
8 Keep me from all the wrong I would do;
don’t let the foolish laugh at me.
9 I am quiet; I keep my mouth closed
because this has come from You.
10 Take Your curse from me;
I can’t endure Your punishment.
11 You discipline us for our sins.
Like a moth, You consume everything we treasure;
it’s evident we are merely a breath.
[pause]
12 Hear me, O Eternal One;
listen to my pleading,
and don’t ignore my tears
Because I am estranged from You—
a wanderer like my fathers before me.
13 Look away from me so I might have a chance to recover my joy and smile again
before I lay this life down and am no more.
16 It is better to live with less and honor the Eternal
than to have riches and carry the burdens that come with them.
17 Better to eat only vegetables served lovingly
than a fattened ox served hatefully.
18 A hot-headed person stirs up trouble,
but one with patience settles a fight.
19 Lazy people walk a path overgrown with thornbushes,
but those with integrity travel a wide, level road.
20 A wise child makes his father happy,
but a foolish man despises his mother.
21 Foolishness brings sheer joy to those who have no sense,
but people with insight steer a straight course through life.
22 Plans fall apart without proper advice;
but with the right guidance, they come together nicely.
23 There is great joy in having the right answer,
and how sweet is the right word at the right time!
24 For the wise the road of life climbs up steep grades
in order to avoid the slide down to the grave.
25 The Eternal splinters the house of the haughty,
but He secures the property of widows.
It is ironic that we may have more to fear from the proud and powerful than from the poor and needy. Those who have want more, and so they take it. Oh, maybe they won’t pick your pocket or break into your home. Their ways are more subtle and more effective. As James, Jesus’ brother, wrote, “Isn’t it the rich who step on you while climbing the ladder of success? And isn’t it the rich who take advantage of you and drag you into court?” (James 2:6b). James isn’t describing all the rich, of course, but many have made their fortunes off the backs of others. God is the One who can protect the poor, the One who can reduce the grand houses of the haughty to splinters.
26 The thoughts of the wrongdoers repulse the Eternal,
but kind words are pure pleasure for Him.
27 Those who take illegal gains injure their families,
but those who refuse a bribe will live in peace.
28 The right-living think before they speak,
but wrongdoers simply spew evil.
29 The Eternal stays far from the wrongdoers,
but He listens to the prayer of the right-living.
30 Bright eyes and a cheerful expression bring joy to the heart,
and good news revives the spirit and renews health.
31 Those who learn from the lessons of life
will join the others who are wise.
32 Those who disregard discipline sabotage themselves,
but those who are open to correction gain understanding.
33 Reverence for the Eternal is the first lesson of wisdom,
and humility always precedes honor.
It is fair to say that Paul never got over the fact that he violently persecuted the church. Even though his rampage against the first followers of Jesus had ended over 20 years earlier, he still grieved because of what he had done. But when Paul was older, he was moved to celebration and praise because God’s mercy is always greater than sin. The Lord Jesus called Paul in the midst of his campaign against Him so that he became a public display of Jesus’ patient love. So, if we think somehow we are too far from God’s mercy, then we should think again.
18 Timothy, my dear child, I am placing before you a charge for the mission ahead. It is in total agreement with the prophecies once spoken over you. Here it is: with God’s message stirring and directing you, fight the good fight, 19 armed with faith and a good conscience. Some have tried to silence their consciences, wrecking their lives and ruining their faiths. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are among these; I have had to hand them over to Satan so they might learn not to speak against God.
2 So, first and foremost, I urge God’s people to pray. They should make their requests, petitions, and thanksgivings on behalf of all humanity. 2 Teach them to pray for kings (or anyone in high places for that matter) so that we can lead quiet, peaceful lives—reverent, godly, and holy— 3 all of which is good and acceptable before the eyes of God our Savior 4 who desires for everyone to be saved and know the truth. 5 Because
There is one God and one Mediator between God and us—
the man Jesus, God’s Anointed,
6 Who gave His life as a ransom for all
so that we might have freedom.
The testimony was given to me at just the right time. 7 This is exactly what I was appointed to do—tell everyone His story—as a herald, an emissary,[a] a teacher of the outsiders in faith and the truth. (Listen, I promise it’s all true. I’m not lying.)
8 So here’s what you tell them; here’s what I want to see: Men, pray wherever you are. Reach your holy hands to heaven—without rage or conflict—completely open.
33 Good trees produce good fruits; bad trees produce bad fruits. You can always tell a tree by its fruits. 34 You children of snakes, you who are evil—how could you possibly say anything good? For the mouth simply shapes the heart’s impulses into words. 35 And so the good man (who is filled with goodness) speaks good words, while the evil man (who is filled with evil) speaks evil words. 36 I tell you this: on the day of judgment, people will be called to account for every careless word they have ever said. 37 The righteous will be acquitted by their own words, and you evildoers will be condemned by your own words.
Scribes and Pharisees: 38 Teacher, we want to see some miraculous sign from You.
Jesus: 39 You wicked and promiscuous generation—you are looking for signs, are you? The only sign you will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, as the Son of Man will spend three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. 41 One day, the people of Nineveh will rise up in judgment and will condemn your present generation—for the Ninevites turned from sin to God when they heard Jonah preach, and now One far greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will also stand in judgment and condemn this generation—for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. And today One greater and wiser than Solomon is among you.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.