Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56
When I Am Afraid
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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?
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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
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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
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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.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
19 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot, who was sitting in the gatehouse of Sodom, saw them and got up to meet them. He bowed down with his face to the ground, 2 and he said, “See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house and spend the night. Wash your feet, and you can get up early and go on your way.”
They said, “No, we will spend the night in the street.”
3 But he kept urging them, so they came with him and entered his house. He made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from all parts of town. 5 They called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may be intimate with them.”[a]
6 Lot went out to them and shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 See now, I have two daughters who have not had relations with a man. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever seems good to you. Only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection[b] of my roof.”
9 They said, “Get out of our way!” They also said, “This fellow came to live here as an alien, and now he appoints himself as a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them!” They kept pushing Lot back and were ready to break down the door. 10 But the men inside reached out and grabbed Lot and pulled him into the house with them and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were pressing against the door of the house, both young and old, with blindness so that they wore themselves out trying to find the door.
12 The men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, whoever you have in the city, get them out of this place, 13 for we are going to destroy this place, because the outcry against it has grown great before the Lord, so the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to his daughters in marriage. He said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is going to destroy the city.” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 When the dawn came, the angels urged Lot, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, so that you will not be swept away by the guilt of the city.” 16 But Lot was taking too much time, so the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, because of the Lord’s compassion for him. They led him out and placed him outside of the city. 17 Then when they had taken them out, one of them said, “Run for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, so that you are not swept away!”
18 Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lord.[c] 19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great mercy by saving my life. I cannot flee to the mountains, or this disaster will stick with me, and I will die. 20 Look, this city is close enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Please let me flee there—isn’t it just a little one?—so that my life will be saved.”
21 The man said to him, “Very well, I have granted your request concerning this thing, so I will not overthrow the city that you have spoken about. 22 Hurry, flee there, because I cannot do anything until you get there.” So the city was named Zoar.[d]
23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire out of the sky from the Lord. 25 He overthrew those cities, as well as all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew in the soil.
26 But Lot’s wife, who was behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain. As he looked, he saw that the smoke from the land was going up like the smoke from a kiln.
29 And so when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and brought Lot out through the middle of the devastation, when he overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Faith
11 Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see. 2 For by this faith the ancients were commended in Scripture.[a]
3 By faith we know that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what is seen did not come from visible things.
4 By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did. By faith he was commended in Scripture as righteous; God testified favorably about his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he would not experience death, and he was not found because God took him away.[b] In fact, before he was taken away, he was commended in Scripture as one who “pleased God.”[c] 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. Indeed, it is necessary for the one who approaches God to believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things that had not been seen before, built an ark, in reverent fear, in order to save his family. By it he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance, and he left without knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as a stranger in the Promised Land, as if it did not belong to him, dwelling in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith Abraham also received the ability to conceive children, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was past the normal age, because he considered him faithful who made the promise.[d] 12 And so from one man, and he as good as dead, descendants were born as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand along the seashore.
27 Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 So they said to him, “What should we do to carry out the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.”
30 Then they asked him, “So what miraculous sign are you going to do, that we may see it and believe you? What miraculous sign are you going to perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”[a]
32 Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said to him, “give us this bread all the time!”
35 “I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus told them. “The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But I said to you that you have also seen me, and you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me, but raise them up on the Last Day. 40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the Last Day.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.