Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: To the tune of[a] “The Lilies”. Davidic.
When God Seems Distant
69 Deliver me, God,
because the waters are up to my neck.[b]
2 I am sinking in deep mire,
and there is no solid ground.[c]
I have come into deep water,
and the flood overwhelms me.
3 I am exhausted from calling for help.
My throat is parched.
My eyes are strained from looking for God.
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more than the hairs of my head.
My persecutors are mighty,
and they want to destroy me.
Must I be forced to return what I did not steal?
5 God, you know my sins,
and my guilt is not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who look up to you be ashamed
because of me,
Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.
Let not those who seek you be humiliated
because of me,
God of Israel.
7 I am being mocked because of you.
Dishonor overwhelms me.
8 I am a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 Zeal for your house consumes me,
and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me.
10 I weep and fast,
and I am mocked for it.
11 When I dressed in sackcloth,
I became an object of gossip among them.
12 The prominent people mock me,
composing drinking songs.
Seeking God for Deliverance
13 As for me, Lord, may my prayer to you come at a favorable time.
God, in the abundance of your gracious love,
answer me with your sure deliverance.
14 Rescue me from the mud
and do not let me sink.
Rescue me from those who hate me,
and from the deep waters.
15 Let neither the floodwaters overwhelm me
nor let the deep swallow me up,
nor the mouth of the well close over me.
16 Answer me, Lord, for your gracious love is good;
Turn to me in keeping with your great compassion,
17 and[d] do not ignore your servant,
because I am in distress.
Hurry to answer me!
18 Draw near and redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies.
19 Truly you know my reproach, shame, and disgrace.
All my enemies are known to[e] you.
20 Insults broke my heart.
I despaired and looked for sympathy;
but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put poison in my food,
in my thirst they forced me to drink vinegar.
22 May their dining[f] tables entrap them,
and become a snare for their allies.
23 May their eyes be blinded
and may their bodies tremble continuously.
24 May you pour out your fury on them.
May your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp become desolate
and their tents remain unoccupied.
26 For they persecute those whom you have struck,
and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 May you punish them for their crimes;
may they receive no verdict of innocence[g] from you.
28 May they be erased from the Book of Life,
and their names not be written with the righteous.
29 As for me, I am afflicted and hurting;
may your deliverance, God, establish me on high.
30 Let me praise the name of God with a song
that I may magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 That will please the Lord
more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves.
32 The afflicted will watch and rejoice.
May you who seek God take courage.
33 For the Lord listens to the needy
and doesn’t despise those in bondage.
34 Let the heavens and earth praise him,
along with the sea and its swarming creatures.[h]
35 For God will deliver Zion
and will rebuild the cities of Judah
so they may live there and possess them.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who cherish his name will live there.
BOOK III (Psalms 73-89)
A song of Asaph.
A Plea for Deliverance
73 God is indeed good to Israel,
to those pure in heart.
2 Now as for me, my feet nearly stumbled,
as I almost lost my step.
3 For I was envious of the proud
when I observed the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there is no struggle at their deaths,
and their bodies are healthy.
5 They do not experience problems common to ordinary people;
they aren’t afflicted as others[a] are.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace
and violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge from obesity
and the imaginations of their mind cross the border into sin.[b]
8 In their mockery they speak evil;
from their arrogant position they speak oppression.
9 They choose to speak[c] against heaven;
while they talk about things on earth.
10 Therefore God’s[d] people return there
and drink it all in like water until they’re satiated.
11 Then they say,
“How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?”
12 Just look at these wicked people!
They’re perpetually carefree
as they increase their wealth.
13 I kept my heart pure for nothing
and kept my hands clean from guilt.
14 For I suffer all day long
and I am punished every morning.
15 If I say, “I will talk like this,”
I would betray a generation of your children.
16 When I tried to understand this,
it was too difficult for me
17 until I entered the sanctuaries of God.
Then I understood their destiny.
18 You have certainly set them in slippery places;
you will make them fall to their ruin.
19 How desolate they quickly become,
completely destroyed by calamities.
20 Like a dream when one awakens, Lord,
you will despise their image when you arise.
21 When I chose to be bitter
I was emotionally pained.
22 Then, I was too stupid
and didn’t realize I was acting like[e] a wild animal with you.
23 But now I am always with you,
for you keep holding my right hand.
24 You will guide me with your wise advice,
and later you will receive me with honor.
25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?
I desire nothing on this [f]earth.
26 My body and mind may fail,
but God is my strength[g] and my portion forever.
27 Those far from you will perish;
you will destroy those who are unfaithful to you.
28 As for me, how good for me it is that God is near!
I have made the Lord God my refuge
so I can tell about all your deeds.
2 Meanwhile, Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room in Samaria and lay injured. He sent messengers to Ekron with these orders: “Go and consult with Ekron’s god Baal-zebub to find out[a] if I’m going to recover from this injury.”[b]
3 But the angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah the foreigner,[c] “Get up and go meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Ask them ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re going to consult with Ekron’s god Baal-zebub? 4 Now therefore this is what the Lord says: “You won’t be getting up from that bed of yours on which you’re lying. You will most certainly die!”’” So Elijah got up and[d] went.
5 The messengers returned to the king and he asked them, “What’s this? You’ve come back?”
6 They replied, “We met a man who told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and ask him, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re going to consult with Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you won’t be getting up from that bed on which you’re lying. You will most certainly die!”’”
7 He told them, “Describe the man who met you and told you these things.”
8 They answered, “The man was a hairy fellow. He wore a leather sash around his waist.”
The king[e] responded, “It’s Elijah, that foreigner!”[f]
Fire from Heaven Destroys the King’s Henchmen
9 So the king sent out 50 men, along with their leader.[g] The leader[h] approached Elijah, who was sitting at the top of a hill. He ordered Elijah,[i] “Hey, man of God! The king orders you to come down!”
10 Elijah responded to the leader who was in charge of the 50 soldiers, “So I’m a man of God, am I? If so, may fire[j] fall from heaven and devour you and your 50 soldiers…”[k] Just then, fire fell from heaven and devoured that leader and his 50 soldiers.[l]
11 Later the king tried again—he sent another company of 50 soldiers, along with their leader, who ordered Elijah, “Hey, man of God! This is what the king orders: ‘Come down!’”
12 Elijah responded to the leader and to his entire company,[m] “So I’m a man of God, am I? If so, may fire[n] fall from heaven and devour you and your 50 soldiers…”[o] Just then, fire fell from heaven and devoured him and his 50 soldiers.[p]
13 Then the king tried yet again! The king sent a third company of 50 soldiers along with their leader. The third leader went up the hill,[q] approached Elijah,[r] fell on his knees in front of him, and begged him,[s] “Hey, man of God, please treat[t] my life and the lives of these servants of yours as precious! 14 Look how fire fell from heaven and devoured the two other companies of 50 soldiers, along with their captains, but now please treat me as if my life were precious!”
15 The angel of the Lord told Elijah, “Go down the hill with that man. Don’t be afraid of him!” So Elijah[u] got up and went down with him to meet the king.
16 Then Elijah spoke to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you sent messengers to consult with Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel with whom to consult regarding his word?—therefore you’re not getting up from the bed on which you’re lying. You certainly will die!’” 17 And die he did, just as the Lord had said and just as Elijah had spoken!
After this, Jehoram ascended to the throne during the second year of the reign of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram from Judah. He took the place of Ahaziah, who had no son.
16 You know that you are God’s sanctuary and that God’s Spirit lives in you, don’t you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him, for God’s sanctuary is holy. And you are that sanctuary!
True Wisdom
18 Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in the ways of[a] this world, he must become a fool to become really wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is nonsense in God’s sight. For it is written,
“He catches the wise with their own trickery,”[b]
20 and again,
21 So let no one boast about human beings, since everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas,[e] the world, life, death, the present, or the future—everything belongs to you, 23 but you belong to the Messiah,[f] and the Messiah[g] belongs to God.
11 “How blessed are you whenever people[a] insult you, persecute you, and say all sorts of evil things against you falsely[b] because of me! 12 Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That’s how they persecuted the prophets who came before you.”
Salt and Light in the World(A)
13 “You are the salt of the world. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty again? It’s good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled on by people.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 15 People[c] don’t light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven.”
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