Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56
When I Am Afraid
Heading
For the choir director. “A Dove on Distant Oaks.”[a]
By David. A miktam.[b]
When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.[c]
The Enemies
1 Be merciful to me, O God, for a man pants as he pursues me.[d]
All day long an attacker presses against me.
2 Those who spy on me pant as they pursue me all day long.
Yes, many are attacking me boldly.[e]
David’s Trust
3 On the day when I am afraid, I will trust in you.
4 In God I praise his word.
In God I trust. I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
The Enemies
5 All day long they hurt my cause.[f]
All their thoughts against me are evil.
6 They gather together. They hide.
They try to trip me by grabbing my heels
while they wait to take my life.
David’s Trust
7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape.[g]
In your anger bring down the peoples, O God.
8 You keep a record of my tossing and turning.[h]
Keep my tears in your bottle.
Aren’t they all listed in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call.
This is how I will know that God is for me.
10 In God I praise a word.[i]
In the Lord I praise a word.
11 In God I trust. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
David’s Promise
12 My vows to you are binding, O God.
I will complete my thank offerings to you,
13 because you have delivered my life from death.
Have you not delivered my feet from stumbling
so I can walk before God in the light of life?
Psalm 57
Refuge in the Shadow of Your Wings
(Psalm 57:7-11 parallels Psalm 108:1-5)
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For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[j] By David. A miktam.
When he fled from Saul. In the cave.[k]
The Opening Plea
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
because my soul has taken refuge in you.
In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge
until destruction has passed by.
2 I call to God Most High,
to God, who completes his plans for me.[l]
3 He will send from heaven, and he will save me. Interlude
He puts to shame the one who pants as he pursues me.[m]
God will send his mercy and his faithfulness.
The Problem
4 My life is spent among lions.
I lie down among ferocious men,
whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongue is a sharp sword.
5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
May your glory be over all the earth.
6 They spread a net for my steps.
My soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in front of me. Interlude
They have fallen into it.
David’s Confidence
7 My heart is steadfast, O God.
My heart is steadfast.
I will sing and I will make music.
8 Awake, my soul![n]
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord.
I will make music to you among the nations,[o]
10 because your great mercy reaches above the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 58
Do You Rulers Speak Justly?
Heading
For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[p] By David. A miktam.
Unjust Rulers
1 Do you “gods” really speak righteously?[q]
Do you sons of Adam judge rightly?
2 No, in your heart you commit injustices.
On the earth your hands distribute violence.
3 The wicked go off course already from the womb.
From the belly they go astray. They speak lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like a deaf cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not listen to the sound of the charmers,
however skillful the spellbinder may be.
The Curse on Unjust Rulers
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouths.
Tear out the fangs of the young lions, Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away.
When he draws his bow, let his arrows be cut off.[r]
8 As a slug melts away as it crawls along, so let him disappear.
Like a stillborn child may they not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether the thorns are green or dry—they will be swept away.[s]
The Joy of the Righteous
10 The righteous one will be glad when he sees vengeance.
He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say, “Surely there is fruit for the righteous.
Surely there is a God judging on the earth.”
Psalm 64
Hide Me From the Conspiracy
Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David.
Opening Plea
1 Hear my voice, O God, when I complain.
Protect my life from the terror caused by the enemy.
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the noisy mob of evildoers.
The Enemies’ Wickedness
3 They sharpen their tongues like a sword.
They shoot poison words like arrows.
4 They shoot at the innocent from hiding places.
Suddenly they shoot at him. They have no fear.
5 They strengthen each other in an evil plot.
They discuss where to hide snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They plot evil deeds and they say,
“We have come up with a perfect plot!”
The mind and heart of man are devious!
God’s Judgment
7 But God will shoot them.
Suddenly they are wounded with an arrow.
8 Their own tongues cause their downfall.[a]
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.
The Joy of the Godly
9 Then all people will be afraid.
They will proclaim the work of God.
They will consider what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart be confident!
Psalm 65
A Thanksgiving Psalm: You Crown the Year With Goodness
Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David. A song.
Introduction
1 Praise waits for you,[b] O God, in Zion.
To you vows will be fulfilled.
2 You who hear prayer, to you all mortals[c] will come.
Spiritual Blessings
3 The record of my guilt overpowered me.
You atone for our rebellious acts.
4 How blessed is the one you choose and bring near!
He will dwell in your courtyards.
We will be satisfied by the goodness of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.
Blessings on the Nations
5 In righteousness you answer us with awesome deeds,
O God who saves us.
He is trusted by all the farthest ends of the earth and the sea.
6 He establishes the mountains by his power.
He has wrapped himself with strength.
7 He stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the peoples.
8 Those living at the ends of the earth fear your signs.
From sunrise to sunset you let them shout for joy.
Blessings of the Harvest
9 You visit the earth and water it.
You make it very rich.
God’s stream is filled with water.
You provide grain for them, just as you planned.
10 You drench the land’s furrows. You flatten its plowed ground.
You soften it with showers. You bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your goodness.
The tracks made by your carts overflow with riches.[d]
12 The pastures of the wilderness drip.
The hills are wrapped with joy.
13 The meadows are clothed with flocks.
The valleys are dressed with grain.
They shout for joy. Yes! They sing.
Naboth’s Vineyard
21 Some time passed after these events.
Naboth from Jezre’el had a vineyard in Jezre’el, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard so I can use it as a vegetable garden, because it is beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard in exchange. Or if you prefer, I will give you the purchase price in silver.”
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “May I be cursed by the Lord, if I were to give you the inheritance from my fathers.”
4 Ahab went to his house sullen and angry because of what Naboth from Jezre’el had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” Ahab lay down on his bed and turned his face away and would not eat anything.
5 Then his wife Jezebel came to him and said, “Why is your spirit so sullen, and why don’t you eat?”
6 Then he told her, “I said to Naboth from Jezre’el, ‘Sell your vineyard to me, or if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”
7 Then his wife Jezebel said to him, “Are you now acting like the king over Israel? Get up! Eat something, and cheer up. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth from Jezre’el.”
8 Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and nobles who were living in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast and then seat Naboth at the head of the people. 10 Seat two wicked, worthless men opposite him and have them testify, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”
11 The men of the city—the elders and the nobles who lived there—did exactly as Jezebel had commanded them, exactly as she had written in the letters she had sent them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and then seated Naboth at the head of the people. 13 They brought two wicked, worthless men and seated them opposite him. The wicked men testified against Naboth before the people, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel, “Naboth has been stoned to death.”
15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Go and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth from Jezre’el, which he refused to sell to you, because Naboth is no longer alive but dead.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he went and took possession of the vineyard of Naboth from Jezre’el.
Greeting and Reminder of Blessings in Christ
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth—those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, who are called as saints—along with all in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 You were enriched in him in every way, in all your speaking and all your knowledge, 6 because the testimony about Christ was established in you. 7 As a result you do not lack any gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Christ Is the Answer to the Problem of Divisions
10 Brothers,[a] I am making an appeal to you using the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I ask that you all express the same view and not have any divisions among you, but that you be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For the news I heard about you, my brothers, from members of Chloe’s household, is that there are rivalries among you. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,”[b] or “I belong to Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that I baptized you into my own name. 16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides them, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel—not with the wisdom used in speeches, so that the cross of Christ would not be emptied of its power.
God’s Way of Saving People Seems Foolish to Some
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 19 In fact, it is written:
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nothing.[c]
The Devil Tempts Jesus
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The Tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered, “It is written:
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”[a]
5 Then the Devil took him into the holy city. He placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and he said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you. And they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”[b]
7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written:
You shall not test the Lord your God.”[c]
8 Again the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written:
Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”[d]
11 Then the Devil left him, and just then angels came and served him.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.