Book of Common Prayer
God Wants True Worship
A psalm of Asaph.
50 The God of gods, the Lord, speaks.
He calls the earth from the rising to the setting sun.
2 God shines from Jerusalem,
whose beauty is perfect.
3 Our God comes, and he will not be silent.
A fire burns in front of him,
and a powerful storm surrounds him.
4 He calls to the sky above and to the earth
that he might judge his people.
5 He says, “Gather around, you who worship me,
who have made an agreement with me, using a sacrifice.”
6 God is the judge,
and even the skies say he is right. Selah
7 God says, “My people, listen to me;
Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not scold you for your sacrifices.
You always bring me your burnt offerings.
9 But I do not need bulls from your stalls
or goats from your pens,
10 because every animal of the forest is already mine.
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and every living thing in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the earth and everything in it are mine.
13 I don’t eat the meat of bulls
or drink the blood of goats.
14 Give an offering to show thanks to God.
Give God Most High what you have promised.
15 Call to me in times of trouble.
I will save you, and you will honor me.”
16 But God says to the wicked,
“Why do you talk about my laws?
Why do you mention my agreement?
17 You hate my teachings
and turn your back on what I say.
18 When you see a thief, you join him.
You take part in adultery.
19 You don’t stop your mouth from speaking evil,
and your tongue makes up lies.
20 You speak against your brother
and lie about your mother’s son.
21 I have kept quiet while you did these things,
so you thought I was just like you.
But I will scold you
and accuse you to your face.
22 “Think about this, you who forget God.
Otherwise, I will tear you apart,
and no one will save you.
23 Those people honor me
who bring me offerings to show thanks.
And I, God, will save those who do that.”
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A miktam of David when Saul sent men to watch David’s house to kill him.
59 God, save me from my enemies.
Protect me from those who come against me.
2 Save me from those who do evil
and from murderers.
3 Look, they are waiting to ambush me.
Cruel people attack me,
but I have not sinned or done wrong, Lord.
4 I have done nothing wrong, but they are ready to attack me.
Wake up to help me, and look.
5 You are the Lord God All-Powerful, the God of Israel.
Arise and punish those people.
Do not give those traitors any mercy. Selah
6 They come back at night.
Like dogs they growl and roam around the city.
7 Notice what comes from their mouths.
Insults come from their lips,
because they say, “Who’s listening?”
8 But, Lord, you laugh at them;
you make fun of all of them.
9 God, my strength, I am looking to you,
because God is my defender.
10 My God loves me, and he goes in front of me.
He will help me defeat my enemies.
11 Lord, our protector, do not kill them, or my people will forget.
With your power scatter them and defeat them.
12 They sin by what they say;
they sin with their words.
They curse and tell lies,
so let their pride trap them.
13 Destroy them in your anger;
destroy them completely!
Then they will know
that God rules over Israel
and to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 They come back at night.
Like dogs they growl
and roam around the city.
15 They wander about looking for food,
and they howl if they do not find enough.
16 But I will sing about your strength.
In the morning I will sing about your love.
You are my defender,
my place of safety in times of trouble.
17 God, my strength, I will sing praises to you.
God, my defender, you are the God who loves me.
A Prayer After a Defeat
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated twelve thousand Edomites at the Valley of Salt.
60 God, you have rejected us and scattered us.
You have been angry, but please come back to us.
2 You made the earth shake and crack.
Heal its breaks because it is shaking.
3 You have given your people trouble.
You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.
4 You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you.
Now they can stand up against the enemy. Selah
5 Answer us and save us by your power
so the people you love will be rescued.
6 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
8 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, surely you have rejected us;
you do not go out with our armies.
11 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless,
12 but we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
Praise God Who Creates and Saves
33 Sing to the Lord, you who do what is right;
honest people should praise him.
2 Praise the Lord on the harp;
make music for him on a ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing a new song to him;
play well and joyfully.
4 God’s word is true,
and everything he does is right.
5 He loves what is right and fair;
the Lord’s love fills the earth.
6 The sky was made at the Lord’s command.
By the breath from his mouth, he made all the stars.
7 He gathered the water of the sea into a heap.
He made the great ocean stay in its place.
8 All the earth should worship the Lord;
the whole world should fear him.
9 He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it appeared.
10 The Lord upsets the plans of nations;
he ruins all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s plans will stand forever;
his ideas will last from now on.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his very own.
13 The Lord looks down from heaven
and sees every person.
14 From his throne he watches
all who live on earth.
15 He made their hearts
and understands everything they do.
16 No king is saved by his great army.
No warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 Horses can’t bring victory;
they can’t save by their strength.
18 But the Lord looks after those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his love.
19 He saves them from death
and spares their lives in times of hunger.
20 So our hope is in the Lord.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
21 We rejoice in him,
because we trust his holy name.
22 Lord, show your love to us
as we put our hope in you.
The Vision of the Lampstand
4 Then the angel who was talking with me returned and woke me up as if I had been asleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. And there are seven lamps and also seven places for wicks. 3 There are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on the left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “Sir, what are these?”
5 The angel said, “Don’t you know what they are?”
“No, sir,” I said.
6 Then he told me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘You will not succeed by your own strength or by your own power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord All-Powerful.
7 “Who are you, big mountain? In front of Zerubbabel you will become flat land, and he will bring out the topmost stone, shouting, ‘It’s beautiful! It’s beautiful!’”
8 Then the Lord spoke his word to me again, saying, 9 “Zerubbabel has laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord All-Powerful has sent me to you.
10 “The people should not think that small beginnings are unimportant. They will be happy when they see Zerubbabel with tools, building the Temple.
“(These are the seven eyes of the Lord, which look back and forth across the earth.)”
11 Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”
12 I also asked him, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes, from which the olive oil flows to the lamps?”
13 He answered, “Don’t you know what they are?”
“No, sir,” I said.
14 So he said, “They are symbols of the two who have been appointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”
9 These living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever. 10 Then the twenty-four elders bow down before the One who sits on the throne, and they worship him who lives forever and ever. They put their crowns down before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
because you made all things.
Everything existed and was made,
because you wanted it.”
5 Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. The scroll had writing on both sides and was kept closed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a powerful angel calling in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But there was no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth who could open the scroll or look inside it. 4 I cried bitterly because there was no one who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not cry! The Lion[a] from the tribe of Judah, David’s descendant, has won the victory so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
A Story About Ten Bridesmaids
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to wait for the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The five foolish bridesmaids took their lamps, but they did not take more oil for the lamps to burn. 4 The wise bridesmaids took their lamps and more oil in jars. 5 Because the bridegroom was late, they became sleepy and went to sleep.
6 “At midnight someone cried out, ‘The bridegroom is coming! Come and meet him!’ 7 Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready. 8 But the foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 The wise bridesmaids answered, ‘No, the oil we have might not be enough for all of us. Go to the people who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “So while the five foolish bridesmaids went to buy oil, the bridegroom came. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.
11 “Later the others came back and said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door to let us in.’ 12 But the bridegroom answered, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t want to know you.’
13 “So always be ready, because you don’t know the day or the hour the Son of Man will come.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.