Book of Common Prayer
A Davidic Psalm for the dedication of the Temple.
Thanksgiving for Deliverance
30 I exalt you, Lord,
for you have lifted me up,
and my enemies could not gloat over me.
2 Lord, my God!
I cried out to you for help
and you healed me.
3 Lord, you brought me from death;[a]
you kept me alive so that I did not descend into the Pit.[b]
4 You, his godly ones,
sing to the Lord,
give thanks at the mention of his holiness.
5 For his wrath is only momentary;
yet his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may lodge for the night,
but shouts of joy will come in the morning.
6 As for me,
I said in my prosperity,
“I will never be moved.”
7 By your favor, Lord,
you established me as a strong mountain;
Then you hid your face,
and I was dismayed.
8 I cried out to you, Lord,
and I make supplication to the Lord:
9 “What profit is there in my death[c] if I go down to the Pit?[d]
Can dust worship you?
Can it proclaim your faithfulness?”
10 Hear me, Lord,
and have mercy on me!
Lord, help me!
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you took off my sackcloth
and clothed me with a garment of joy,
12 so that I may sing praise to you
and not remain silent.
Lord, my God,
I will give you thanks forever!
A Davidic instruction.[a]
The Blessings of Forgiveness
32 How blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 How blessed is the person against whom the Lord does not charge iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent about my sin,[b]
my body[c] wasted away
by my groaning all day long.
4 For your hand was heavy upon me day and night;
my strength was exhausted
as in a summer drought.
5 My sin I acknowledged to you;
my iniquity I did not hide.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave the guilt of my sin!
6 Therefore every godly person should pray to you at such a time.[d]
Surely a flood of great waters will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will deliver me from trouble
and surround me with shouts of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you
concerning the path you should walk;
I will direct you with my eye.
9 Don’t be like a horse or mule,
without understanding.
They are held in check by a bit and bridle in their mouths;
otherwise they will not remain near you.
10 The wicked have many sorrows,
but gracious love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
11 Righteous ones, be glad in the Lord and rejoice!
Shout for joy, all of you who are upright in heart!
BOOK II (Psalms 42-72)
To the Director: An instruction[a] of the Sons of Korah.
Hope in God When Times of Trouble Come
42 As an antelope pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When may I come and appear in God’s presence?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while people[b] keep asking me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I will recall as I pour out my troubles[c] within me:
I used to go with the crowd in a procession to the house of God,
accompanied with shouts of joy and thanksgiving.
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
for once again I will praise him,
since his presence saves me.
6 My God, my soul feels depressed[d] within me;
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
from the heights of Hermon,
even from the foothills.[e]
7 Deep waters call out to what is deeper still;[f]
at the roar of your waterfalls
all your breakers and your waves swirled over me.
8 By day the Lord will command his gracious love,
and by night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will ask God, my Rock, “Why have you forsaken me?
Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”
10 Like the shattering of my bones are the taunts of my oppressors,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
for once again I will praise him,
since his presence saves me
and he is my God.
God is my Hope during Times of Trouble
43 [g]You be my judge,[h] God,
and plead my case against an unholy nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 Since you are the God who strengthens me,
why have you forsaken me?
Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”
3 Send forth your light and your truth
so they may guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain and to your dwelling places.[i]
4 Then I will approach the altar of God,
even to God in whom my joy finds its source.[j]
Then I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God,
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
because I will praise him once again,
since his presence saves me
and he is my God.
The Vision of the Powerful Angel
10 Then I saw another powerful angel come down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, and there was a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire. 2 He held a small, opened scroll in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 he shouted in a loud voice as a lion roars. When he shouted, the seven thunders spoke with voices of their own. 4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was going to write, but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and don’t write it down.”
5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 He swore an oath by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: “There will be no more delay. 7 When the time approaches[a] for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet, God’s secret plan[b] will be fulfilled, as he had announced to his servants, the prophets.”
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go and take the opened scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. “Take it and eat it,” he told me. “It will turn bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”
10 So I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach. 11 Then the seven thunders[c] told me, “You must prophesy again about many people, nations, languages, and kings.”
Teaching about Prayer(A)
11 Once Jesus[a] was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
2 So he told them, “Whenever you pray you are to say,
‘Father,[b] may your name be kept holy.
May your kingdom come.[c]
3 Keep giving us every day our daily bread,[d]
4 and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive everyone who sins against us.[e]
And never bring us into temptation.’”[f]
5 Then he told them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don’t have anything to serve him.’ 7 Suppose he answers from inside, ‘Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom.[g] I can’t get up and give you anything!’ 8 I tell you, even though that man[h] doesn’t want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
Ask, Search, Knock(B)
9 So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door[i] will be opened for you, 10 because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door[j] opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish,[k] would give him a snake instead of the fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? 13 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!”
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