Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 84
Longing for God’s House
For the choir director: on the Gittith.(A) A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is Your dwelling place,
Lord of Hosts.(B)
2 I long and yearn
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh cry out for[a] the living God.(C)
3 Even a sparrow finds a home,
and a swallow, a nest for herself
where she places her young—
near Your altars, Lord of Hosts,
my King and my God.(D)
4 How happy are those who reside in Your house,
who praise You continually.(E)
5 Happy are the people whose strength is in You,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.(F)
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,[b]
they make it a source of springwater;
even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings.[c](G)
7 They go from strength to strength;
each appears before God in Zion.(H)
8 Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Jacob.(I)
9 Consider our shield,[d] God;(J)
look on the face of Your anointed one.(K)
10 Better a day in Your courts
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather be at the door of the house of my God
than to live in the tents of wicked people.(L)
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield.(M)
The Lord gives grace and glory;
He does not withhold the good
from those who live with integrity.(N)
12 Happy is the person who trusts in You,
Lord of Hosts!(O)
Elijah’s Journey to Horeb
19 Ahab told Jezebel(A) everything that Elijah had done(B) and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.(C) 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely(D) if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!”
3 Then Elijah became afraid[a](E) and immediately ran for his life.(F) When he came to Beer-sheba(G) that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there,(H) 4 but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree(I) and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life,(J) for I’m no better than my fathers.” 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.
Suddenly, an angel touched him.(K) The angel told him, “Get up and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones, and a jug of water.(L) So he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 Then the angel of the Lord(M) returned for a second time and touched him. He said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” 8 So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked 40 days and 40 nights(N) to Horeb, the mountain of God.(O) 9 He entered a cave(P) there and spent the night.
Elijah’s Encounter with the Lord
Then the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”(Q)
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous(R) for the Lord God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant,(S) torn down Your altars,(T) and killed Your prophets(U) with the sword. I alone am left,(V) and they are looking for me to take my life.”(W)
11 Then He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.”(X)
At that moment, the Lord passed by.(Y) A great and mighty wind(Z) was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake,(AA) but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire,(AB) but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.(AC)
Living Letters
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone.(A) 3 It is clear that you are Christ’s letter,(B) produced[a] by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God(C)—not on stone tablets(D) but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.(E)
Paul’s Competence
4 We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. 5 It is not that we are competent in[b] ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God.(F) 6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant,(G) not of the letter,(H) but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.
New Covenant Ministry
7 Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory,(I) so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face—a fading glory— 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory.
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