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.
10 The Lord your God will soon bring you into a land that has large, beautiful cities that you did not build. That is the land that he promised to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 11 It has houses that are full of good things that you did not put into them. There are wells of water that you did not dig. There are fields with grapes and olive trees that you did not plant. You will be able to eat as much as you want. 12 But be careful that you do not forget the Lord. He rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.
13 You must respect and obey the Lord your God. Serve only him. If you make a serious promise, only use his name to make it strong. 14 Do not try to serve other gods. They are the gods that the people who live around you worship. 15 The Lord your God lives among you. He wants you to belong to him alone. If you worship other gods, he will be very angry with you. He will completely destroy you from the whole earth.
In Jesus, God has shown us who he is
1 Many years ago, God spoke to our ancestors by his prophets.[a] He spoke many times and in many different ways. 2 But in these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son.[b] In the beginning, God worked through his Son to make the whole universe. He decided that everything should belong to his Son. 3 The Son shows us completely what God is like. He shines with God's great glory. His nature is the same as God's nature. The Son's powerful word causes everything to continue. He himself made it possible for us to be clean from our sins. After he had done that, he returned to heaven. He went and he sat at the right side of God, who rules with all authority.[c]
God's Son is greater than the angels
4 That shows us that God's Son is much greater than the angels. God has given him a name that shows he is more important than they are. 5 God never said this to any angel:
‘You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.’[d]
In another place in the Bible, God says,
‘I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son.’[e]
6 Also, when God was ready to bring his greatest Son into the world, he said:
‘All God's angels must worship him.’
7 God speaks about the angels like this:
‘God makes his angels like winds.
They serve him like fires that burn brightly.’
8 But this is what God says to his Son:
‘You are God and you will rule as King for ever!
You will rule your kingdom in a completely good way.
9 You love everything that is right.
And you hate everything that is wrong.
Because of that, you will be completely happy.
I am your God and I have blessed you.
I have chosen you to be greater than others who are with you.’
10 The Bible also says this:
‘Lord, in the beginning you made the earth.
With your own power, you also made everything above the earth.
11 All these things will come to an end.
But as for you, you will continue for ever.
Like clothes, those things will all become old.
12 Then you will put them away like an old coat.
You will change them, like people change clothes.
But you will always continue to be the same.
Your life will never come to an end.’
13 Also, God has never said this to any of the angels:
‘Sit at my right side until I win against your enemies completely.
Then you will be able to put your feet on them.’
14 So we see that all the angels are spirits who serve God. God sends them as his servants to help the people that he will save.
The Word became human
1 In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God. The Word was God.[a] 2 He was with God from the beginning. 3 God made all things through the Word. God did not make anything without him. 4 It is the Word who caused everything to live. Because of this, he has brought light to all people. 5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark cannot put out the light.[b]
6 God sent a man to bring his message. His name was John.[c] 7 He came to tell people about the light. God wanted everyone to believe in the one who is the light. 8 John himself was not that light. God sent him to tell people about the light. 9 The true light gives light to every person. That light was now coming into the world.
10 The Word was now in the world. God had made the world through him. But the people in the world did not know who he was. 11 He came to his own place, but his own people did not accept him. 12 Some people did accept him and they believed in him. He gave authority to those people to become God's children. 13 They did not become God's children in the usual human way. They were not born because some people wanted to have children. They were not born because of what any man decided. No! They were born from God.
14 The Word became a man. He lived among us. We saw his great glory. He has the glory of the Father's one true Son. He is full of God's grace and truth.
15 John told people about the Word. He shouted, ‘This is the man that I told you about. He comes after me. But he is greater than I am. He was already there before I was born.’ 16 The Word is full of everything that we need. We have all received one good thing after another good thing. 17 God gave his Law to us through Moses. But Jesus Christ brought God's grace and his truth to us. 18 Nobody has ever seen God. But God's only Son has shown God to us. He is very near to the Father, and he himself is God.
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