Book of Common Prayer
This is a song that David wrote.
A prayer for help in trouble[a]
25 Lord, I offer myself to you.
2 I trust in you, my God.
Please do not let me be ashamed.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me,
because they are stronger than me.
3 Surely nobody who trusts in you
will become ashamed.
But those who like to deceive others
will become ashamed.
4 Lord, help me to understand your ways.
Teach me your good paths.[b]
5 Please be my guide and teach me your truth.
I trust you every day,
because you are the God who keeps me safe.
6 Lord, please be kind to me
and show me your faithful love.
From long ago you have always been like that.
7 Do not punish me for the sins that I did long ago.
When I was young, I turned against you.
Please be kind to me, because of your faithful love!
8 The Lord is good and he does what is right.
Because of that, he teaches sinners the right way to live.
9 He is a guide for humble people,
so that they know what is right.
He teaches them to follow his way.
10 The Lord is kind to his people
in everything that he does.
He shows his faithful love
to those who obey the rules of his covenant.
11 Lord, my sins are very many.
Please forgive me,
and show that your name is great.
12 If people respect the Lord,
the Lord will show them the right way to live.
13 People like that will enjoy a good life.
The land will belong to their descendants.
14 The Lord is a guide for those who serve him.
He teaches them to obey his covenant.
15 I always look to the Lord for help.
He will keep me safe from my enemies,
so that their traps do not catch me.
16 Please turn towards me, Lord,
and be kind to me.
I feel very weak and lonely.
17 I worry a lot about my troubles.
Please rescue me from them!
18 Look at all my pain!
See how I am suffering!
Forgive me for all my sins.
19 Look at all my enemies!
There are very many of them!
They hate me so much
that they want to hurt me.
20 Keep my life safe and take care of me.
I have come to you to keep me safe,
so do not let me be ashamed.
21 I trust you to save me.
Please take care of me,
because I am honest and good.
22 God, save Israel's people from all their troubles!
This is a song that David wrote.
The leader must use the music ‘Death of the son.’
A song to thank God[a]
9 All that I am says ‘thank you’ to the Lord.
I will tell people about all the great things that you have done.
2 I will be very happy because of you.
I will sing to praise your name, Most High God.
3 Because my enemies have seen your power,
they turned back and they fell down.
You won against them.
4 You showed that I was right.
You sat on your throne
as a judge who truly decides what is right.
5 Clearly you spoke against the nations.
You destroyed the wicked people,
so that nobody will remember them ever again.
6 Down came the cities of our enemies!
You destroyed them for ever.
People will just forget them.
7 Every day the Lord will rule as king.
He sits on his throne as judge.
8 He is fair when he judges all the people in the world.
He brings justice to all the nations.
9 For people who suffer, the Lord gives them a safe place.
When trouble comes to them, he keeps them safe.
10 Everyone who knows you, Lord, trusts in you.
You will never turn away from anyone who comes to you for help.
11 Give a song to the Lord to praise him!
He rules as king in Zion.
Tell all the nations about the great things that he has done.
12 God punishes murderers,
and he takes care of people who receive pain from others.
When they call to him,
he does not refuse to help them.
13 How my enemies cause me to suffer!
Please be kind to me, Lord.
You are the one who can save me from death.
14 Then I will praise you for everyone to hear!
I will tell the people of Zion that you have saved me,
and I will be very happy!
15 Into the deep hole that they dug,
the nations themselves fell.
The net that they hid to catch me,
caught their own feet!
16 The Lord has shown us who he is.
We know that he brings justice.
Wicked people will catch themselves
in their own traps.
Higgaion.[b] Selah.
17 Justice sends the wicked people away,
into the deep hole of death.
This will happen to all the nations
that do not respect God.
18 Know this: God will not forget the poor for ever.
People who suffer should continue to hope.
19 Lord, stand up!
Do not let people turn against you!
Bring the nations to stand in front of you.
Judge them!
20 Lord, make them afraid!
Make the nations know
that they are only weak and human.
Selah.
David wrote this song.
How may we worship God?
15 Lord, who may stay with you,
in your own home?
Who may live there,
on your holy hill?[a]
2 It is the person who does only things that are right.
It is the person who lives in a completely good way,
and who speaks only what he knows is true.
3 He says nothing bad against other people.
He does nothing that will hurt his friends,
nor does he insult them.
4 He does not respect wicked people,
but he does respect people who serve the Lord.
When he promises to do something,
he always does it.
5 He lends his money to help other people,
and he does not ask for more money in return.
He does not accept a bribe,
to speak against people who have done nothing wrong.
People who live in this way will always be safe.
6 The Lord is Israel's King and Redeemer. He is the Lord Almighty. He says,
‘I am the first and I am the last.
There is no God, except me.
7 Is there anyone like me? If there is, he should say so!
He must tell me why he thinks he is so great.
Long ago I made my people become a nation.
Let him say what he has done since then!
Let him tell us what will happen in future years!
8 My people, do not shake with fear.
Long ago I told you about things that would happen.
You can tell people the truth about me.
You know that I am the only true God.
There is no other Rock to keep you safe.[a]
There surely is no other God except me.’
The Lord takes care of his people
21 The Lord says:
‘Jacob's descendants, remember these things,
because you, Israel, are my servant.
I created you to be my servant.
Israel, I will not forget you.
22 I have removed the guilt of your sins,
like the wind blows away a cloud.
When you turned against me,
I have quickly forgiven you.
Return to me now,
because I have rescued you.’
23 Sing aloud with joy, you heavens above us,
because the Lord has done it!
Shout as loudly as you can,
places deep below the earth.
You mountains, sing with joy,
and you forests and trees as well!
Be happy, because the Lord has redeemed his people.
He has rescued the Israelites, Jacob's descendants,
to show how great he is.
God's people are like one body
4 Because I serve the Lord, I am here in prison. I really want you to live as God's own people should live. God has called you to come to him. He has chosen you to be his own people. 2 Do not think that you are better than other people. Always be kind and patient with each other. Love one another, so that you do not quickly become angry with each other. 3 Do your best to let God's Spirit keep you united. You belong together so live in peace with each other. 4 As God's people, you are like one body. There is one Spirit that gives you life. God has chosen you to be his own people. So you all expect to receive the same great things from God. 5 There is one Lord. There is one true message that we must believe. There is one baptism.[a] 6 There is one God, who is the Father of all of us. He has authority over all of us. He works through all of us. He is in all of us.
7 But God has been kind to all of us. Each of us has received a special gift, just as Christ has decided to give us. 8 This is what it says about him:
‘When he went up to the highest place,
he led many prisoners with him.
Then he gave gifts to his people.’[b]
9 It says: ‘He went up.’ That must mean that Christ had also come down. He came down to a lower place, the earth. 10 So the man who came down is also the man who went up, high above all the heavens. He did that so that he would fill everything everywhere.
11 It was Christ who chose to give different gifts to his people. He chose some to be apostles. He chose some to speak messages from God. He chose some to tell God's good news to many people. He chose some to take care of his people, and to teach them. 12 He gave all these gifts to help God's people to serve him in different ways. As a result, the church, which is like Christ's body, would become strong. 13 In that way, all of us will become united, like one person. We will all believe in Jesus as the Son of God. We will all know him. We will become like a man who has grown up well. We will be completely as God wants us to be, just like Christ himself.
14 So then we will not be like children any more. Our minds will not become confused by strange ideas. We will not change what we believe, from one thing to another. Some people teach things that are not true. They do clever things to deceive people. But we will not agree with their false message. 15 Instead, we will love each other and we will speak God's true message. As a result, we will become more and more like Christ in every way. He is the head of his body, which is the church. 16 As its head, he helps the whole body to grow well. Each part joins with the other parts so that the whole body becomes strong. As each separate part does its proper work, we love each other more and more.
Crowds follow Jesus
7 Jesus left that place and he went away to Lake Galilee with his disciples. A large crowd of people from Galilee followed them. 8 Many people also came to him from Judea, from Jerusalem and from a region of Israel called Idumea. They also came from places on the other side of the Jordan River, and from the towns called Tyre and Sidon. Many people had heard about the things that Jesus was doing. That is why all these people came to him. 9 The crowd was very large. So Jesus asked his disciples to prepare a small boat for him. They did this so that the people would not push against him. 10 Sick people were pushing to the front, because they were trying to touch him. They knew that he had made many people well. 11 Often, a person with a bad spirit saw Jesus. Then, the spirit caused the person to fall down on the ground in front of Jesus. The spirit caused that person to shout out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ 12 Jesus often had to say to the bad spirits, ‘You must not tell anyone who I am.’
Jesus chooses 12 apostles
13 Jesus went up a mountain. He chose some men and he asked them to go there with him. So they met together with him there. 14 He chose a group of 12 men. He called them his apostles.[a] He wanted them to be with him. And he would send them to teach people about God. 15 He gave these men authority to cause bad spirits to leave people. 16 These are the names of the 12 apostles:
Simon, (Jesus called him Peter).
17 James and John who were the sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them ‘Boanerges’. It means ‘men who are like thunder’.
18 Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,[b]
Thomas,
James, who was the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,[c]
Simon the Zealot
19 and Judas Iscariot, who later gave Jesus to his enemies.
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