Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
40 I was patient while I waited for the Lord.
He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
2 I was sliding down into the pit of death, and he pulled me out.
He brought me up out of the mud and dirt.
He set my feet on a rock.
He gave me a firm place to stand on.
3 He gave me a new song to sing.
It is a hymn of praise to our God.
Many people will see and have respect for the Lord.
They will put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the person
who trusts in the Lord.
They don’t trust in proud people.
Those proud people worship statues of gods.
5 Lord my God,
no one can compare with you.
You have done many wonderful things.
You have planned to do these things for us.
There are too many of them
for me to talk about.
6 You didn’t want sacrifices and offerings.
You didn’t require burnt offerings and sin offerings.
You opened my ears so that I could hear you and obey you.
7 Then I said, “Here I am.
It is written about me in the book.
8 My God, I have come to do what you want.
Your law is in my heart.”
9 I have told the whole community of those who worship you.
I have told them what you have done to save me.
Lord, you know
that I haven’t kept quiet.
10 I haven’t kept to myself that what you did for me was right.
I have spoken about how faithful you were when you saved me.
I haven’t hidden your love and your faithfulness
from the whole community.
11 Lord, don’t hold back your mercy from me.
May your love and faithfulness always keep me safe.
12 There are more troubles all around me than I can count.
My sins have caught up with me, and I can’t see any longer.
My sins are more than the hairs of my head.
I have lost all hope.
13 Lord, please save me.
Lord, come quickly to help me.
14 Let all those who are trying to kill me be put to shame.
Let them lose their way.
Let all those who want to destroy me
be turned back in shame.
15 Some people make fun of me.
Let them be shocked when their plans fail.
16 But let all those who seek you
be joyful and glad because of what you have done.
Let those who count on you to save them always say,
“The Lord is great!”
17 But I am poor and needy.
May the Lord be concerned about me.
You are the God who helps me and saves me.
You are my God, so don’t wait any longer.
For the director of music. To be played on stringed instruments. A maskil of David when the men from Ziph had gone to Saul. They had said, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”
54 God, save me by your power.
Set me free by your might.
2 God, hear my prayer.
Listen to what I’m saying.
3 Enemies who are proud are attacking me.
Mean people are trying to kill me.
They don’t care about God.
4 But I know that God helps me.
The Lord is the one who keeps me going.
5 My enemies tell lies about me.
Do to them the evil things they planned against me.
God, be faithful and destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice an offering to you
just because I choose to.
Lord, I will praise your name
because it is good.
7 You have saved me from all my troubles.
With my own eyes I have seen you win the battle over my enemies.
For the director of music. A psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him. Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
51 God, have mercy on me
according to your faithful love.
Because your love is so tender and kind,
wipe out my lawless acts.
2 Wash away all the evil things I’ve done.
Make me pure from my sin.
3 I know the lawless acts I’ve committed.
I can’t forget my sin.
4 You are the one I’ve really sinned against.
I’ve done what is evil in your sight.
So you are right when you sentence me.
You are fair when you judge me.
5 I know I’ve been a sinner ever since I was born.
I’ve been a sinner ever since my mother became pregnant with me.
6 I know that you wanted faithfulness even when I was in my mother’s body.
You taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Sprinkle me with hyssop, then I will be clean.
Wash me, then I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear you say, “Your sins are forgiven.”
That will bring me joy and gladness.
Let the body you have broken be glad.
9 Take away all my sins.
Wipe away all the evil things I’ve done.
10 God, create a pure heart in me.
Give me a new spirit that is faithful to you.
11 Don’t send me away from you.
Don’t take your Holy Spirit away from me.
12 Give me back the joy that comes from being saved by you.
Give me a spirit that obeys you so that I will keep going.
13 Then I will teach your ways to those who commit lawless acts.
And sinners will turn back to you.
14 You are the God who saves me.
I have committed murder.
God, take away my guilt.
Then my tongue will sing about how right you are
no matter what you do.
15 Lord, open my lips so that I can speak.
Then my mouth will praise you.
16 You don’t take delight in sacrifice.
If you did, I would bring it.
You don’t take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The greatest sacrifice you want is a broken spirit.
God, you will gladly accept a heart
that is broken because of sadness over sin.
18 May you be pleased to give Zion success.
May it please you to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of those who do what is right.
Whole burnt offerings will bring delight to you.
And bulls will be offered on your altar.
Give the Lord His Share
26 You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own. You will take it over. You will make your homes in the land. 2 When you do, get some of the first share of everything your soil produces. Put it in a basket. It’s from the land the Lord your God is giving you. Take your gifts and go to the special place he will choose. He will put his Name there. 3 Speak to the priest in office at that time. Tell him, “I announce today to the Lord your God that I have come to this land. It’s the land he promised to give us. He promised it to our people of long ago.” 4 The priest will receive the basket from you. He’ll set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you will speak while the Lord is listening. You will say, “My father Jacob was a wanderer from the land of Aram. He went down into Egypt with a few people. He lived there and became the father of a great nation. It had huge numbers of people. 6 But the people of Egypt treated us badly. They made us suffer. They made us work very hard. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord. He is the God of our people who lived long ago. He heard our voice. He saw how much we were suffering. The Egyptians were treating us badly. They were making us work very hard. 8 So the Lord used his mighty hand and powerful arm to bring us out of Egypt. He did great and terrifying things. He did signs and amazing things. 9 He brought us to this place. He gave us this land. It’s a land that has plenty of milk and honey. 10 Now, Lord, I’m bringing you the first share of crops from the soil. After all, you have given them to me.” Place the basket in front of the Lord your God. Bow down to him. 11 Then you and the Levites and the outsiders among you will be full of joy. You will enjoy all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your family.
Paul Sends Titus to Corinth to Receive the Offering
16 God put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. Thanks should be given to God for this. 17 Titus welcomed our appeal. He is also excited about coming to you. It was his own idea. 18 Along with Titus, we are sending another brother. All the churches praise him for his service in telling the good news. 19 He was also chosen by the churches to go with us as we bring the offering. We are in charge of it. We want to honor the Lord himself. We want to show how ready we are to help. 20 We want to keep anyone from blaming us for how we take care of that large gift. 21 We are trying hard to do what both the Lord and people think is right.
22 We are also sending another one of our brothers with them. He has often proved to us in many ways that he is very committed. He is now even more committed because he has great faith in you. 23 Titus is my helper. He and I work together among you. Our brothers are messengers from the churches. They honor Christ. 24 So show them that you really love them. Show them why we are proud of you. Then the churches can see it.
The Story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Jesus told a story to some people who were sure they were right with God. They looked down on everyone else. 10 He said to them, “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee. The other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed. ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people,’ he said. ‘I am not like robbers or those who do other evil things. I am not like those who commit adultery. I am not even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. And I give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood farther away than the Pharisee. He would not even look up to heaven. He brought his hand to his heart and prayed. He said, ‘God, have mercy on me. I am a sinner.’
14 “I tell you, the tax collector went home accepted by God. But not the Pharisee. All those who lift themselves up will be made humble. And those who make themselves humble will be lifted up.”
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