Book of Common Prayer

The King of Shining-Greatness

24 The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it, the world, and all who live in it. ² For He has built it upon the seas. He has set it upon the rivers. ³ Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? ⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart. He who has not lifted up his soul to what is not true, and has not made false promises. ⁵ He will receive what is good from the Lord, and what is right and good from the God Who saves him. ⁶ Such is the family of those who look for Him, who look for Your face, O God of Jacob.

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates. And be lifted up, O doors that last forever. And the King of shining-greatness will come in. ⁸ Who is the King of shining-greatness? The Lord strong and powerful. The Lord powerful in war. ⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates. Lift them up, O doors that last forever and the King of shining-greatness will come in. ¹⁰ Who is the King of shining-greatness? The Lord of All. He is the King of shining-greatness.

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm

29 Give to the Lord, O sons of the powerful. Give to the Lord shining-greatness and strength. ² Give to the Lord the honor that belongs to Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holy living.

³ The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of shining-greatness thunders. The Lord is over many waters. ⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is great. ⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the tall cedars of Lebanon. ⁶ He makes Lebanon jump like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild bull. ⁷ The voice of the Lord sends out lightning. ⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. The Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh. ⁹ The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, and tears away the leaves of the trees. And in His holy house everything says, “Honor to God!”

¹⁰ The Lord sat as King over the flood. The Lord sits as King forever. ¹¹ The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will give His people peace.

God’s Shining-Greatness

8 O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth. You have set Your shining-greatness above the heavens. ² Out of the mouth of children and babies, You have built up strength because of those who hate You, and to quiet those who fight against You.

³ When I look up and think about Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in their place, ⁴ what is man, that You think of him, the son of man that You care for him? ⁵ You made him a little less than the angels and gave him a crown of greatness and honor. ⁶ You made him to rule over the works of Your hands. You put all things under his feet: ⁷ All sheep and cattle, all the wild animals, ⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and all that pass through the sea. ⁹ O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth!

A Desire for God’s House

84 How beautiful are the places where You live, O Lord of all! ² My soul wants and even becomes weak from wanting to be in the house of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. ³ Even the bird has found a home. The swallow has found a nest for herself where she may lay her young at Your altars, O Lord of all, my King and my God. ⁴ How happy are those who live in Your house! They are always giving thanks to You.

⁵ How happy is the man whose strength is in You and in whose heart are the roads to Zion! ⁶ As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, they make it a place of good water. The early rain fills the pools with good also. ⁷ They go from strength to strength. Every one of them stands before God in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. ⁹ Look upon our safe-covering, O God. And look upon the face of Your chosen one. ¹⁰ For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful. ¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right. ¹² O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!

The Body of Christ

²⁷ You are all a part of the body of Christ. ²⁸ God has chosen different ones in the church to do His work. First, there are missionaries. Second, there are preachers or those who speak for God. And third, there are teachers. He has also chosen those who do powerful works and those who have the gifts of healing. And He has chosen those who help others who are in need and those who are able to lead others in work and those who speak in special sounds. ²⁹ Are they all missionaries? No. Are they all preachers or those who speak for God? No. Do they all do powerful works? No. ³⁰ Do they all have the gifts of healing? No. Do they all speak in special sounds? No. Are they all able to tell what the special sounds mean? No. ³¹ But from your heart you should want the best gifts. Now I will show you even a better way.

Love—the Greatest of All

13 I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I do not have love, it will sound like noisy brass. ² If I have the gift of speaking God’s Word and if I understand all secrets, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I know all things and if I have the gift of faith so I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give everything I have to feed poor people and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it will not help me.

⁴ Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. ⁵ Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. ⁶ Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. ⁷ Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things.

⁸ Love never comes to an end. The gift of speaking God’s Word will come to an end. The gift of speaking in special sounds will be stopped. The gift of understanding will come to an end. ⁹ For we only know a part now, and we speak only a part. ¹⁰ When everything is perfect, then we will not need these gifts that are not perfect.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I understood like a child. Now I am a man. I do not act like a child anymore. ¹² Now that which we see is as if we were looking in a broken mirror. But then we will see everything. Now I know only a part. But then I will know everything in a perfect way. That is how God knows me right now. ¹³ And now we have these three: faith and hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

True Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him, up to seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven!

²³ “The holy nation of heaven is like a king who wanted to find out how much money his servants owed him. ²⁴ As he began, one of the servants was brought to him who owed him very much money. ²⁵ He could pay nothing that he owed. So the king spoke the word that he and his wife and his children and all that he had should be sold to pay what he owed. ²⁶ The servant got down on his face in front of the king. He said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ ²⁷ Then the king took pity on his servant and let him go. He told him he did not have to pay the money back.

²⁸ “But that servant went out and found one of the other servants who owed him very little money. He took hold of his neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’ ²⁹ The other servant got down at his feet and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ ³⁰ But he would not. He had him put in prison until he could pay the money.

³¹ “When his other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. They came and told the king all that was done. ³² Then the king called for the first one. He said, ‘You bad servant! I forgave you. I said that you would not have to pay back any of the money you owed me because you asked me. ³³ Should you not have had pity on the other servant, even as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ The king was very angry. He handed him over to men who would beat and hurt him until he paid all the money he owed. ³⁵ So will My Father in heaven do to you, if each one of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”