Book of Common Prayer
Davidic[a]
A Prayer for Help and Forgiveness
25 I will lift up my soul to you, Lord.
2 I trust in you, my God,
do not let me be ashamed;
do not let my enemies triumph over me.
3 Indeed, no one who waits on you will be ashamed,
but those who offend for no reason will be put to shame.
4 Cause me to understand your ways, Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me;
for you are the God who delivers me.
All day long I have waited for you.
6 Remember, Lord, your tender mercies and your gracious love;
indeed, they are eternal!
7 Do not remember my youthful sins and transgressions;
but remember me in light of your gracious love,
in light of your goodness, Lord.
8 The Lord is good and just;
therefore he will teach sinners concerning the way.
9 He will guide the humble[b] to justice;
he will teach the humble[c] his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord lead to gracious love and truth
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.[d]
11 For the sake of your name,[e] Lord,
forgive my sin, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
God[f] will teach him the path he should choose.
13 He[g] will experience good things;
his descendants will inherit the earth.
14 The intimate counsel of the Lord is for those who fear him
so they may know his covenant.
15 My eyes look to the Lord continuously,
because he’s the one who releases my feet from the trap.[h]
16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me,
for I am lonely and oppressed.
17 The troubles of my heart have increased;
bring me out of my distress!
18 Look upon my distress and affliction;
forgive all my sins.
19 Look how many enemies I have gained!
They hate me with a vicious hatred.
20 Preserve my life and deliver me;
do not let me be ashamed,
because I take refuge in you.
21 Integrity and justice will preserve me,
because I wait on you.
22 Redeem Israel, God, from all its troubles.
To the Director: Accompanied by female voices.[a] A Davidic Psalm.
A Cry for God’s Justice
9 [b]I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
I will declare all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praises to your name, Most High!
3 When my enemies turn back,
they will stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have brought about justice for me and my cause;
you sit on the throne judging righteously.
5 You rebuked the nations,
you destroyed the wicked,
you wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy has perished,
reduced to ruins forever.
You uprooted their cities,
the very memory of them vanished.
7 But the Lord sits on his throne[c] forever;
his throne is established for judgment.
8 He will judge the world righteously
and make just decisions for the people.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of distress.
10 Those who know your name will trust you,
for you have not forsaken those who seek you, Lord.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion;
declare his mighty deeds among the peoples.
12 As an avenger of blood, he remembers them;
he has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, Lord,
take note of my affliction,
because of those who hate me.
You snatch me away from the gates of death,
14 so I may declare everything for which you should be praised[d]
in the gates of the daughter of Zion,[e]
so I will rejoice in your deliverance.
15 The nations have sunk down into the pit they made,
their feet are ensnared in the trap[f] they set.
16 The Lord has made himself known,
executing judgment.
The wicked are ensnared
by what their hands have made.
17 The wicked will turn back to where the dead are[h]—
all the nations that have forgotten God.
18 For he will not always overlook the plight of the poor,
nor will the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 Rise up, Lord,
do not let man prevail!
The nations will be judged in your presence.
20 Make them afraid, Lord,
Let the nations know that they are only human.[i]
A Davidic Psalm.
Welcomed into God’s Presence
15 Lord, who may stay in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
2 The one who lives with integrity,
who does righteous deeds,
and who speaks truth to himself.
3 The one who does not slander with his tongue,
who does no evil to his neighbor,
and who does not destroy his friend’s reputation.
4 The one who despises those who are utterly wicked,
but who honors the one who fears the Lord,
who keeps his word even when it hurts and does not change,
5 who does not loan his money with interest,
and who does not take a bribe against those who are innocent.
The one who does these things will stand firm[a] forever.
Judgment on Land Barons
8 “How terrible it will be for you who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you have settled yourselves alone[a]
in the middle of the land!”
9 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it:
“Surely many houses will become desolate,
great and beautiful houses,
without occupants.
10 For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath,[b]
and one omer[c] of seed[d] will produce only one ephah.”[e]
Judgment on Alcoholics
11 “How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn
in order to grab[f] a stiff drink,
for those who stay up late at night
as wine inflames them!
12 They have the lyre and harp,
the tambourine and flute,
as well as wine at their festivals,
but they don’t respect what the Lord is doing,
nor do they consider his actions.[g]
Judgment on Mockers
18 “How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin along as[a] with a cart rope;
19 who say: ‘Let God[b] be quick,
let him speed up[c] his work
so we may see it!
Let it happen!
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
so we may recognize it!’”
Judgment on Moral Relativists
20 “How terrible it will be for those who call evil good
and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute what is bitter for what is sweet
and what is sweet for what is bitter!”
Judgment on the Arrogant
21 “How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion,
and clever in their own reckoning!
22 “How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and champions in mixing strong drink,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of justice!”
Be Ready for the Day of the Lord
5 Now you do not need to have anything written to you about times and dates, brothers, 2 for you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When people[a] say, “There is peace and security,” destruction will strike them as suddenly as labor pains come[b] to a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape.
4 However, brothers, you are not in the darkness, in order that the Day of the Lord[c] might surprise you like a thief. 5 For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness. 6 Therefore, let’s not fall asleep like others do, but let’s stay awake and be sober. 7 For people who go to sleep, go to sleep at night; and people who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober. We must put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God has not destined us to receive[d] wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[e] 10 who died for us in order that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 So then, encourage one another and build each other up, as you are doing.
Signs of the End(A)
20 “So when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then understand that its devastation is approaching. 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in the countryside must not go into it, 22 because these are the days of vengeance when all that is written will be fulfilled.
23 “How terrible it will be for those women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days!—because there will be great distress in the land[a] and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by unbelievers[b] until the times of the unbelievers[c] are fulfilled.”
The Coming of the Son of Man(B)
25 “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and there will be distress on earth among the nations that are confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves. 26 People will faint from fear and apprehension because of what’s to be coming to the inhabited world, because the powers of the heavens will be disrupted. 27 Then people[d] will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’[e] with power and great glory.
28 “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is approaching.”
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