Book of Common Prayer
To the director: A song of David.
20 May the Lord answer you in times of trouble.
May the God of Jacob protect you.
2 May he send you help from his Holy Place.
May he support you from Zion.
3 May he remember all the gifts you have offered.
May he accept all your sacrifices. Selah
4 May he give you what you really want.
May he make all your plans successful.
5 We will celebrate when he helps you.
We will praise the name of God.
May the Lord give you everything you ask for.
6 Now I know the Lord helps his chosen king.
From his holy heaven he answered.
With his great power he saved him.
7 Some give the credit for victory to their chariots and soldiers,
but we honor the Lord our God.
8 They fall in battle, totally defeated,
but we survive and stand strong!
9 Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call to you for help.
To the director: A song of David.
21 Lord, your strength makes the king happy.
He is so happy when you give him victory.
2 And you gave him what he wanted.
You gave him what he asked for. Selah
3 You gave the king such wonderful blessings.
You put a golden crown on his head.
4 He asked for life, and you gave it.
You gave him life that goes on forever.
5 You led him to victory that brought him great glory.
You gave him honor and fame.
6 You have given him blessings that will last forever.
You have given him the joy of being near you.
7 The king trusts in the Lord,
and the faithful love of God Most High will keep him from falling.
8 Lord, you will show all your enemies that you are strong.
Your power will defeat those who hate you.
9 When you appear,
you will burn them up like a blazing furnace.
In your anger, Lord, you will completely destroy them;
they will be swallowed by flames of fire.[a]
10 Their families will be destroyed.
They will be removed from the earth.
11 That is because they made evil plans against you.
They wanted to do things they could not do.
12 You will make them turn and run away
when you aim your arrows at their faces.
13 Lord, we lift you up with our songs of praise.
We sing and play songs about your power!
A praise song of David.
110 The Lord said to my lord,[a]
“Sit at my right side, while I put your enemies under your control.”
2 The Lord will cause your kingdom to grow, beginning at Zion,
until you rule the lands of your enemies!
3 Your people will gladly join you
when you gather your army together.
You will wear your special clothes
and meet together early in the morning.
Your young men will be all around you
like dew on the ground.[b]
4 The Lord has made a promise with an oath
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever—
the kind of priest Melchizedek was.”
5 My Lord is at your right side.
He will defeat the other kings when he becomes angry.
6 He will judge the nations.
The ground will be covered with dead bodies.
He will punish the leaders of powerful nations all around the world.
7 The king will drink from a stream on the way.
Then he will lift his head and become strong![c]
116 I love the Lord for hearing me,
for listening to my prayers.
2 Yes, he paid attention to me,
so I will always call to him whenever I need help.
3 Death’s ropes were around me.
The grave was closing in on me.
I was worried and afraid.
4 Then I called on the Lord’s name.
I said, “Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is good and merciful;
our God is so kind.
6 The Lord takes care of helpless people.
I was without help, and he saved me.
7 My soul, relax!
The Lord is caring for you.
8 Lord, you saved my soul from death.
You stopped my tears.
You kept me from falling.
9 I will continue to serve the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I continued believing even when I said,
“I am completely ruined!”
11 Yes, even when I was upset and said,
“There is no one I can trust!”
12 What can I give the Lord
for all that he has done for me?
13 He saved me,
so I will give him a drink offering,
and I will call on the Lord’s name.
14 I will give the Lord what I promised.
I will go in front of all his people now.
15 Very dear to the Lord are the lives of his followers.
He cares when they face death.
16 Lord, I am your servant!
Yes, I am your slave, as my mother was.
You set me free from the chains of death.
17 I will give you a thank offering.
I will call on the Lord’s name.
18 I will stand before the gathering of his people
and give the Lord what I promised.
19 I will do this in Jerusalem,
in the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple.
Praise the Lord!
117 Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Praise him, all you people.
2 He loves us very much!
The Lord will be faithful to us forever!
Praise the Lord!
God Is Always With His People
43 Jacob, the Lord created you. Israel, he made you, and now he says, “Don’t be afraid. I saved you. I named you. You are mine. 2 When you have troubles, I am with you. When you cross rivers, you will not be hurt. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not hurt you. 3 That’s because I, the Lord, am your God. I, the Holy One of Israel, am your Savior. I gave Egypt to pay for you. I gave Ethiopia and Seba to make you mine. 4 You are precious to me, and I have given you a special place of honor. I love you. That’s why I am willing to trade others, to give up whole nations, to save your life.
5 “So don’t be afraid, because I am with you. I will gather your children and bring them to you. I will gather them from the east and from the west. 6 I will tell the north: Give my people to me. I will tell the south: Don’t keep my people in prison. Bring my sons and daughters to me from the faraway places. 7 Bring to me all the people who are mine—the people who have my name. I made them for myself. I made them, and they are mine.
8 “Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind. Bring out the people who have ears but are deaf.[a] 9 All people and all nations should also be gathered together. Which of their gods said this would happen? Which of their gods would tell what happened in the beginning? They should bring their witnesses. The witnesses should speak the truth. This will show they are right.”
10 The Lord says, “You people are my witnesses and the servant I chose. I chose you so that you would help people believe me. I chose you so that you would understand that ‘I Am He’—I am the true God. There was no God before me, and there will be no God after me. 11 I myself am the Lord, and there is no other Savior. 12 I am the one who spoke to you, saved you, and told you those things. It was not some stranger who was with you. You are my witnesses, and I am God.” (This is what the Lord himself said.) 13 “I have always been God. When I do something, no one can change what I have done. And no one can save people from my power.”
The Love of Christ
14 So I bow in prayer before the Father. 15 Every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name from him. 16 I ask the Father with his great glory to give you the power to be strong in your spirits. He will give you that strength through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you.
20 With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus Is Lord Over the Sabbath Day(A)
23 On the Sabbath day, Jesus and his followers were walking through some grain fields. The followers picked some grain to eat. 24 Some Pharisees said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing this? It is against the law to pick grain on the Sabbath.”
25 Jesus answered, “You have read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry and needed food. 26 It was during the time of Abiathar the high priest. David went into God’s house and ate the bread that was offered to God. And the Law of Moses says that only priests can eat that bread. David also gave some of the bread to the people with him.”
27 Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath day was made to help people. People were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord of every day, even the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath Day(B)
3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue. In the synagogue there was a man with a crippled hand. 2 Some Jews there were watching Jesus closely. They were waiting to see if he would heal the man on a Sabbath day. They wanted to see Jesus do something wrong so that they could accuse him. 3 Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here so that everyone can see you.”
4 Then Jesus asked the people, “Which is the right thing to do on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil? Is it right to save a life or to destroy one?” The people said nothing to answer him.
5 Jesus looked at the people. He was angry, but he felt very sad because they were so stubborn. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed. 6 Then the Pharisees left and made plans with the Herodians about a way to kill Jesus.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International