Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
The Afflicted Ruler
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A prayer for an afflicted person who is weary and pours out his complaints before the Lord.
Opening Plea
1 O Lord, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me on the day when I am distressed.
Turn your ear to me on the day I call.
Hurry! Answer me!
The Shortness of His Days
3 For my days go up in smoke,
and my bones are burned like hot coals.
4 My heart is cut down and withered like grass,
so I forget to eat my food.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning, my bones stick out of my flesh.
6 I am like an owl in the wilderness,
like a screech owl[a] among the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I have become like a lonely bird on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me.
Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse,
9 because I eat ashes like bread,
and I mix tears with my drinks.
10 Because of your rage and your wrath,
you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are being stretched out like a shadow,
and I am dried up like grass.
God’s Endless Years
12 But you, Lord, sit on your throne forever,
and you will be remembered through all generations.
13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion.
Yes, it is time to be gracious to her,
because the appointed time has come.
14 Yes, your servants will show favor to her stones,
and they will have compassion on her dust.
15 Then the nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the naked.
He will not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be written till the last generation,
so that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.[b]
19 For the Lord looked down from his high, holy place.
From heaven he viewed the earth
20 to hear the groans of the prisoner,
to release those condemned to death.
21 So the name of the Lord will be recorded in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms are gathered together
to serve the Lord.
The Plea Repeated
23 He took away my strength during my lifetime.
He cut short my days.
24 I said, “My God, do not take me away in the middle of my days.”
The Eternal King
Your years go on through all generations.
25 Long ago you laid a foundation for the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain.
All of them wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them,
and they will be changed.
27 But you are the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will dwell with you,
and their descendants will be established before you.
Psalm 142
When My Spirit Grows Faint
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A maskil[a] by David. When he was in the cave.[b] A prayer.
A Prayer for the Weary
1 With my voice I cry out to the Lord.
With my voice I call to the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaint before him.
I tell my distress before him.
3 When my spirit grows faint within me,
you are the one who knows my course.
On the path where I walk they have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look to my right and see.
There is no one who recognizes me.
There is no escape for me.
No one cares about my life.
5 I cry out to you, Lord.
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Pay attention to my loud cry,
because I am very weak.
Rescue me from those who pursue me,
because they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my prison,
so I can give thanks to your name.
Then the righteous will gather around me,
because you have accomplished your purpose for me.
Psalm 143
Do Not Bring Your Servant Into Judgment
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A psalm by David.
Prayer for Forgiveness
1 Lord, hear my prayer.
Give ear to my cry for mercy.
In your faithfulness, answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not bring charges against your servant,
because no one living can be righteous before you.
The Problem
3 For the enemy pursues my soul.
He crushes my life to the ground.
He makes me dwell in dark places like those long dead,
4 so my spirit grows faint inside me.
Within me my heart is devastated.
The Reason for Hope
5 I remember the days of long ago.
I meditate on all your works,
and I consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you. Interlude
My soul thirsts for you like a weary land.
The Prayer
7 Hurry! Answer me, Lord.
My spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear about your mercy in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Teach me the way that I should go,
for I lift up my soul to you.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord,
for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 For the sake of your name, O Lord, preserve my life.
In your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12 In your mercy, wipe out my enemies,
and destroy all who threaten my life,
for I am your servant.
Jeremiah’s Confession
7 You persuaded me, Lord, and I agreed to it.[a]
You are stronger than I am, and you won out.
I have become a laughingstock all day long,
and everyone is mocking me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out.
I cry out, “Violence and destruction!”
But the word of the Lord has brought scorn on me.
I am mocked all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him
or speak in his name anymore,”
then there is a burning fire in my heart,
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary of holding it in.
I cannot!
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
All my close friends,
those who are watching for my fall, say,
“Denounce him! Let’s denounce him.
Perhaps he can be pressured into making a mistake.
Then we will have the upper hand against him,
and we will take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a terrifying warrior.
So my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not gain the upper hand.
They will be put to shame completely,
because they have not been successful.
Their eternal disgrace will never be forgotten.
The Table of the Lord and the Table of Demons
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to you as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion[a] of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion[b] of the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the Lord’s body and blood. 28 Instead, let a person examine himself and after doing so, let him eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For if anyone eats and drinks in an unworthy way[a] because he does not recognize[b] the Lord’s[c] body, he eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 Because of this, many among you are weak and sick, and quite a few have fallen asleep.[d] 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not be undergoing judgment. 32 However, when we undergo judgment, we are being disciplined by the Lord so that we may not be condemned with the world.
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer
17 After Jesus had spoken these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you gave him authority over all flesh, so that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4 I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me at your own side with the glory I had at your side before the world existed.
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer
6 “I revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me, and they have held on to your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me, and they received them. They learned the truth that I came from you. They believed that you sent me.
9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, because they are yours. 10 All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine. And I am glorified in them. 11 I am no longer going to be in the world, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name, which you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept those you gave me safe in your name.[a] I protected them and not one of them was destroyed, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 “But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so that they may be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 “Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world. 19 I sanctify myself for them, so they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer
20 “I am praying not only for them, but also for those who believe in me through their message. 21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be one[b] in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one: 23 I in them, and you in me. May they become completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am so that they may see my glory—the glory you gave me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. 25 Righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I knew you, and these men knew that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them and that I may be in them.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.