Book of Common Prayer
Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.
[a]Aleph.
119 How blessed and favored by God are those whose way is blameless [those with personal integrity, the upright, the guileless],
Who walk in the law [and who are guided by the precepts and revealed will] of the Lord.
2
Blessed and favored by God are those who keep His testimonies,
And who [consistently] seek Him and long for Him with all their heart.
3
They do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.(A)
4
You have ordained Your precepts,
That we should follow them with [careful] diligence.
5
Oh, that my ways may be established
To observe and keep Your statutes [obediently accepting and honoring them]!
6
Then I will not be ashamed
When I look [with respect] to all Your commandments [as my guide].
7
I will give thanks to You with an upright heart,
When I learn [through discipline] Your righteous judgments [for my transgressions].
8
I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not utterly abandon me [when I fail].
Beth.
9
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to Your precepts].
10
With all my heart I have sought You, [inquiring of You and longing for You];
Do not let me wander from Your commandments [neither through ignorance nor by willful disobedience].(B)
11
Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12
Blessed and reverently praised are You, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.
13
With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.
14
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15
I will meditate on Your precepts
And [thoughtfully] regard Your ways [the path of life established by Your precepts].(C)
16
I will delight in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
Gimel.
17
Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word [treasuring it and being guided by it day by day].(D)
18
Open my eyes [to spiritual truth] so that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19
I am a stranger on the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.(E)
20
My soul is crushed with longing
For Your ordinances at all times.
21
You rebuke the presumptuous and arrogant, the cursed ones,
Who wander from Your commandments.
22
Take reproach and contempt away from me,
For I observe Your testimonies.
23
Even though princes sit and talk to one another against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
24
Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
To the Chief Musician; [a]set an octave below. A Psalm of David.
12 Save and help and rescue, Lord, for godly people cease to be,
For the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.
2
They speak deceitful and worthless words to one another;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things [in boasting];
4
Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord and master over us?”
5
“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6
The words and promises of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.
7
You, O Lord, will preserve and keep them;
You will protect him from this [evil] generation forever.
8
The wicked strut about [in pompous self-importance] on every side,
As vileness is exalted and baseness is prized among the sons of men.
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2
How long must I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart day after day?
How long will my enemy exalt himself and triumph over me?
3
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Give light (life) to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4
And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5
But I have trusted and relied on and been confident in Your lovingkindness and faithfulness;
My heart shall rejoice and delight in Your salvation.
6
I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Folly and Wickedness of Men.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
14 The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds;
There is no one who does good.(A)
2
The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of men
To see if there are any who understand (act wisely),
Who [truly] seek after God, [longing for His wisdom and guidance].
3
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.(B)
4
Have all the workers of wickedness and injustice no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?
5
There they tremble with great fear,
For God is with the [consistently] righteous generation.
6
You [evildoers] shamefully plan against the poor,
But the Lord is his safe refuge.
7
Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores His captive people,
Then Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.(C)
Israel Encouraged
41 “Listen to Me in silence, you islands and coastlands,
And let the nations gain their strength;
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment [and decide the issue between us concerning the enemy from the east].
2
“Who has stirred up and put into action one from the east [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great]
Whom He calls in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step?
The Lord turns nations over to him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
Like wind-driven chaff with his bow.(A)
3
“He (Cyrus) pursues them and passes along safely,
By a way his feet had not traveled before.
4
“Who has performed and done this,
Calling forth [and guiding the destinies of] the generations [of the nations] from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord—the first, and with the last [existing before history began, the ever-present, unchanging God]—I am He.’”
5
The islands and coastlands have seen and they fear;
The ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
6
They each help his neighbor
And say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”
7
So the craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
And he who smooths metal with the smith’s hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering (welding), “That is good”;
And he fastens the idol with nails,
So that it will not totter nor be moved.
8
“But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The offspring of Abraham My friend,(B)
9
You whom I [the Lord] have [a]taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not rejected you [even though you are exiled].
10
‘Do not fear [anything], for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you;
I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation].’(C)
11
“Indeed, all those who are angry with you will be put to shame and humiliated;
Those who strive against you will be as nothing and will perish.
12
“You shall search for those who quarrel with you, but will not find them;
They who war against you will be as nothing, as nothing at all.
13
“For I the Lord your God keep hold of your right hand; [I am the Lord],
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
14
“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15
“In fact, I have made of you a new, sharp [b]threshing implement with sharp edges;
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
And make the hills like chaff.
16
“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And a high wind will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Made Alive in Christ
2 And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God]. 3 Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of [a]human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind]. 4 But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).(A) 6 And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus, 7 [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption]. 8 For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9 not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. 10 For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].(B)
Healing the Crowds
29 And immediately they left the synagogue and went into the house of Simon [Peter] and Andrew, accompanied by James and John.(A) 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they told Him about her. 31 Jesus went to her, and taking her by the hand, raised her up; and the fever left her, and she began to serve them [as her guests].
32 Now when evening came, after the sun had set [and the Sabbath Day had ended, in a steady stream] they were bringing to Him all who were sick and those who were under the power of demons, 33 until the whole city had gathered together at the door. 34 And Jesus healed many who were suffering with various diseases; and He drove out many demons, but would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him [recognizing Him as the Son of God].
35 Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left [the house], and went out to a secluded place, and was praying there. 36 Simon [Peter] and his companions searched [everywhere, looking anxiously] for Him, 37 and they found Him and said, “Everybody is looking for You!” 38 He replied, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so I may preach there also; that is why I came [from the Father].” 39 So He went throughout Galilee, preaching [the gospel] in their synagogues and casting out demons.
40 And a leper came to Him, begging Him and falling on his knees before Him, saying, “If You are willing, You are able to make me [a]clean.”(B) 41 Moved with compassion [for his suffering], Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 The leprosy left him immediately and he was cleansed [completely healed and restored to health]. 43 And Jesus [deeply moved] admonished him sternly and sent him away immediately, 44 saying to him, “See that you tell no one anything [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as proof to them [that you are really healed].”(C) 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news [of his healing], to such an extent that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city [where He was known], but stayed out in the unpopulated places; yet people were still coming to Him from everywhere.
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