Book of Common Prayer
A Song About God’s Loyalty
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will always sing about the Lord’s love.
I will tell of his loyalty from now on.
2 I will say, “Your love continues forever.
Your loyalty goes on and on like the sky.”
3 You said, “I made an agreement with the man of my choice.
I made a promise to my servant David.
4 I told him, ‘I will make your family continue forever.
Your kingdom will continue from now on.’” Selah
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for your miracles
and for your loyalty in the meeting of your holy ones.
6 Who in heaven is equal to the Lord?
None of the angels is like the Lord.
7 When the holy ones meet, it is God they fear.
He is more frightening than all who surround him.
8 Lord God of heaven’s armies, who is like you?
Lord, you are powerful and completely to be trusted.
9 You rule the mighty sea.
You calm the stormy waves.
10 You crushed the sea monster Rahab.
By your power you scattered your enemies.
11 The skies and the earth belong to you.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created the north and the south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm has great power.
Your hand is strong. Your right hand is lifted up.
14 Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair.
Love and truth are in all you do.
15 Happy are the people who know how to praise you.
Lord, let them live in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice all the time.
They praise your goodness.
17 You are their glorious strength.
In your kindness you honor our king.
18 Our king, our shield, belongs to the Lord.
Our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once, in a vision, you spoke
to those who worship you.
You said, “I have given strength to a warrior.
I have selected a young man from my people.
20 I have found my servant David.
I appointed him by pouring holy oil on him.
21 I will steady him with my hand.
I will strengthen him with my arm.
22 No enemy will make him give forced payments.
Wicked people will not defeat him.
23 I will crush his enemies in front of him.
I will defeat those who hate him.
24 My loyalty and love will be with him.
Through me he will be strong.
25 I will give him power over the sea
and control over the rivers.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, the one who saves me.’
27 I will make him my firstborn son.
He will be the greatest king on earth.
28 My love will watch over him forever.
My agreement with him will never end.
29 I will make his family continue.
His kingdom will last as long as the skies.
30 “But his descendants might reject my teachings
and not follow my rules.
31 They might break my laws
and disobey my commands.
32 Then I will punish their sins with a rod
and their wrongs with a whip.
33 But I will not hold back my love from David.
I will not stop being loyal.
34 I will not break my agreement.
I will not change what I have said.
35 It is certain that I am a holy God.
So it is certain I will not lie to David.
36 His family will continue forever.
His kingdom will continue before me like the sun.
37 It will last forever, like the moon,
like a lasting witness in the sky.” Selah
38 But now, you have rejected your appointed king.
You have been angry with him.
39 You have broken the agreement with your servant.
You threw his crown to the ground.
40 You have torn down all the city walls.
You have turned his strong, walled cities into ruins.
41 Everyone who passes by steals from him.
His neighbors insult him.
42 You have given strength to his enemies.
You have made them all happy.
43 You have made his sword useless.
You did not help him stand in battle.
44 You have kept him from winning.
You threw his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut his life short.
You have covered him with shame. Selah
46 Lord, how long will this go on?
Will you ignore us forever?
How long will your anger burn like a fire?
47 Remember how short my life is.
Why did you create us anyway?
48 What man alive will not die?
Can he escape the grave? Selah
49 Lord, where is your love from times past?
With loyalty you promised it to David.
50 Lord, remember how they insulted your servant.
Remember how I have suffered the insults of the nations.
51 Lord, remember how your enemies insulted you.
Remember how they insulted your appointed king wherever he went.
52 Praise the Lord forever!
Amen and amen.
The Lord Judges His People
63 Who is this coming from Edom?
He comes from the city of Bozrah dressed in red.
Who is this dressed in fine clothes?
He marches forward with his great power.
He says, “I, the Lord, speak what is right.
I have the power to save you.”
2 Why are your clothes bright red
as if you had walked on the grapes to make wine?
3 The Lord answers, “I have walked in the winepress alone.
No one among the nations helped me.
I was angry and walked on the nations.
I crushed them because of my anger.
Blood splashed on my clothes.
I stained all my clothing.
4 I chose a time to punish people.
And the time has come for me to save my people.
5 I looked around, but I saw no one to help me.
I was surprised that no one supported me.
So I used my own power to save my people.
My own anger supported me.
6 While I was angry, I walked on the nations.
In my anger I punished them
and poured their blood on the ground.”
Advice to a Young Preacher
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope.
2 To Timothy, a true son to me because you believe.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warning Against False Teaching
3 I want you to stay in Ephesus. I asked you to do that when I went into Macedonia. Some people there in Ephesus are teaching false things. Stay there so that you can command them to stop. 4 Tell them not to spend their time on stories that are not true and on long lists of names in family histories. These things only bring arguments; they do not help God’s work. God’s work is done by faith. 5 The purpose of this command is for people to have love. To have this love they must have a pure heart, they must do what they know is right, and they must have true faith. 6 Some people have wandered away from these things. They talk about things that are worth nothing. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about. They do not even understand what they say they are sure about.
8 We know that the law is good if a man uses it right. 9 We also know that the law is not made for good men. The law is made for people who are against the law and for those who refuse to follow the law. It is for people who are against God and are sinful, who are unholy and ungodly, who kill their fathers and mothers, who murder, 10 who take part in sexual sins, men who have physical relations with other men, those who sell slaves, who tell lies, who speak falsely, and who do anything against the true teaching of God. 11 That teaching is part of the Good News that God gave me to tell. That glorious Good News is from the blessed God.
Thanks for God’s Mercy
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord because he trusted me and gave me this work of serving him. And he gives me strength. 13 In the past I spoke against Christ and persecuted him and did all kinds of things to hurt him. But God showed mercy to me because I did not know what I was doing. I did those things when I did not believe. 14 But the grace of our Lord was fully given to me. And with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst of those sinners. 16 But I was given mercy. I was given mercy so that in me Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. And he showed his patience with me, the worst of all sinners. Christ wanted me to be an example for those who would believe in him and have life forever. 17 Honor and glory to the King that rules forever! He cannot be destroyed and cannot be seen. Honor and glory forever and ever to the only God. Amen.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King
11 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. They came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sent two of his followers. 2 He said to them, “Go to the town you see there. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. 3 If anyone asks you why you are doing this, tell him, ‘The Master needs the colt. He will send it back soon.’”
4 The followers went into the town. They found a colt tied in the street near the door of a house, and they untied it. 5 Some people were standing there and asked, “What are you doing? Why are you untying that colt?” 6 The followers answered the way Jesus told them to answer. And the people let them take the colt.
7 The followers brought the colt to Jesus. They put their coats on the colt, and Jesus sat on it. 8 Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches in the fields and spread the branches on the road. 9 Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were following him. All of them were shouting,
“Praise[a] God!
God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Psalm 118:26
10 God bless the kingdom of our father David!
That kingdom is coming!
Praise to God in heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. When he had looked at everything, and since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12 apostles.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.