Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2
O my God, in You I [have unwavering] trust [and I rely on You with steadfast confidence],
Do not let me be ashamed or my hope in You be disappointed;
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.
3
Indeed, none of those who [expectantly] wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who turn away from what is right and deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed (humiliated, embarrassed).
4
Let me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
6
Remember, O Lord, Your [tender] compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been from of old.
7
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
10
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my wickedness and my guilt, for they are great.
12
Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.
13
His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
14
The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.(A)
15
My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.
16
Turn to me [Lord] and be gracious to me,
For I am alone and afflicted.
17
The troubles of my heart are multiplied;
Bring me out of my distresses.
18
Look upon my affliction and my trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
19
Look upon my enemies, for they are many;
They hate me with cruel and violent hatred.
20
Guard my soul and rescue me;
Do not let me be ashamed or disappointed,
For I have taken refuge in You.
21
Let integrity and uprightness protect me,
For I wait [expectantly] for You.
22
O God, redeem Israel,
Out of all his troubles.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
To the Chief Musician; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks and praise the Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell aloud all Your wonders and marvelous deeds.
2
I will rejoice and exult in you;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3
When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish before You.
4
For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
5
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked and unrepentant;
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
6
The enemy has been cut off and has vanished in everlasting ruins,
You have uprooted their cities;
The very memory of them has perished.
7
But the Lord will remain and sit enthroned forever;
He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.(A)
8
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the nations with fairness (equity).(B)
9
The Lord also will be a refuge and a stronghold for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble;
10
And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.(C)
11
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
Declare among the peoples His [great and wondrous] deeds.
12
For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people);
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.
13
Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;
See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14
That I may tell aloud all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.
15
The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16
The Lord has made Himself known;
He executes judgment;
The wicked are trapped by the work of their own hands. Higgaion (meditation) Selah.
17
The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Even all the nations who forget God.
18
For the poor will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the burdened perish forever.
19
Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged before You.
20
Put them in [reverent] [b]fear of You, O Lord,
So that the nations may know they are but [frail and mortal] men. Selah.
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 O Lord, who may lodge [as a guest] in Your tent?
Who may dwell [continually] on Your holy hill?
2
He who walks with integrity and strength of character, and works righteousness,
And speaks and holds truth in his heart.
3
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4
In his eyes an evil person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];
5
He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite],
And does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.(A)
32 “Also in regard to the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty power and Your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this house, 33 then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You [reverently and worshipfully], as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your Name.
34 “When Your people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that You send them, and they pray to You facing this city [Jerusalem] which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your Name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their request, and maintain their cause and do justice.
36 “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far away or near, 37 if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and pray to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’; 38 if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, and pray facing their land which You have given to their fathers and toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your Name; 39 then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and requests, and maintain their cause and do justice and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
40 [a]“Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
41 “Now then arise, O Lord God, [and come] to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength and power. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in [Your] goodness.
42 “O Lord God, do not turn away and reject the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness and faithfulness to Your servant David.”
The Shekinah Glory
7 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the [[b]Shekinah] glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house.(A) 2 The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw how the fire came down and saw the glory and brilliance of the Lord upon the house, they bowed down on the stone pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever.”
Sacrifices Offered
4 Then the king and all the people offered a sacrifice before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. In this way the king and all the people dedicated God’s house. 6 The priests stood at their posts [ready for service], and the Levites also, with the musical instruments of the Lord which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His lovingkindness and mercy endure forever,” whenever David offered praise through their ministry. The priests were opposite the Levites blowing the trumpets and all Israel was standing.
7 Moreover, Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house of the Lord, for it was there that he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which he had made was not sufficient to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat [all together].
The Sin of Partiality
2 My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality [toward people—show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery]. 2 For if a man comes into your [a]meeting place [b]wearing a gold ring and [c]fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who wears the [d]fine clothes, and say to him, “You sit here in this good seat,” and you tell the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down [on the floor] by my footstool,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with wrong motives? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and [as believers to be] heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you [in contrast] have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress and exploit you, and personally drag you into the courts of law? 7 Do they not blaspheme the [e]precious name [of Christ] by which you are called?
8 If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]” you are doing well.(A) 9 But if you show partiality [prejudice, favoritism], you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as offenders. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you have become [f]guilty of transgressing the [entire] Law.(B) 12 Speak and act [consistently] as people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty [that moral law that frees obedient Christians from the bondage of sin]. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment.
Jesus before His Accusers
53 They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) gathered together.(A) 54 Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers [guards and servants] and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the entire Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) were trying to obtain testimony against Jesus [which they could use] to have Him [condemned and] executed, but they were not finding any. 56 For many [people] were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimonies were not consistent. 57 Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, 58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple (sanctuary) that was made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”(B) 59 Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. 60 The high priest stood up and came forward and asked Jesus, “Have You no answer to give [in response] to what these men are testifying against You?” 61 But Jesus kept silent and gave no answer at all. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the [a]Blessed One?” 62 Jesus said, “I am; and you will [all] see the Son of Man seated [with authority] at the right hand of Power (the Father), and coming with the clouds of heaven.”(C) 63 Then [b]tearing his robe [to express his indignation], the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?(D) 64 You have heard the blasphemy [that is, His claim to be the Son of God]. What is your decision?” And they all condemned Him to be [guilty and] deserving of death.(E) 65 And some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy [by telling us who hit you]!” Then the officers took custody of Him and struck him in the face.
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