Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26
Vindicate Me, O Lord
Heading
By David.
Affirmation of Innocence and Plea for Judgment
1 Judge me favorably, O Lord,
because I have walked in my integrity.
In the Lord I have trusted. I have not wavered.
2 Test me, O Lord, and examine me.
Refine my thoughts and my emotions,
3 for your mercy is in front of my eyes,
and I keep walking in your truth.
Separation From Evil
4 I do not sit with deceivers.
I do not associate with hypocrites.
5 I hate the company of evildoers.
I do not sit with the wicked.
Affirmation of Innocence and Love for God
6 I wash my hands from sin,
so I can march around your altar, O Lord,
7 to shout thanks to you
and to proclaim all your wonderful deeds.
8 Lord, I love the house where you reside,
the place where your glory dwells.
Separation From Evil
9 Do not snatch my soul away along with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 who grasp wicked schemes in their hands,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
Affirmation of Innocence and Prayer for Redemption
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground.
In the assemblies I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 28
My Rock
Heading
By David.
Protect Me From the Wicked
1 O Lord, I keep calling to you.
My Rock, do not be deaf to me.
If you remain silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the sound of my plea for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those evildoers.
They speak peace to their neighbors but hide evil in their hearts.
Punish the Wicked
4 Give to them what they have done to others.
According to their evil actions,
according to the deeds of their hands,
punish them.
Repay to them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not recognize the works of the Lord
or the deeds of his hands,
he will tear them down and not build them up.
Then I Will Praise You
6 Blessed be the Lord,
because he has heard the sound of my plea for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I am helped.
My heart also celebrates.
With my song I will give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed king.
9 Save your people, and bless the people that belong to you.
Shepherd them, and carry them forever.
Psalm 36
Concerning the Rebelliousness of the Wicked
Heading
For the choir director. By the servant of the Lord. By David.
1 A declaration about the rebellion of the wicked is deep in my heart.[a]
The Arrogance of the Wicked
There is no dread of God before his eyes,
2 because he flatters himself in his own eyes
too much to notice his guilt and to hate it.
3 The words from his mouth are deception and deceit.
He has given up being wise and doing good.
4 He plots deception even on his bed.
He sets out on a path that is not good.
He does not reject wrong.
The Goodness of God
5 Lord, your mercy reaches to the heavens.
Your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is as high as the mountains of God.
Your justice is as deep as the ocean.
You save both man and animal, O Lord.
7 How precious is your mercy, O God!
So all people[b] find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are satisfied by the rich food of your house.
You let them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life.
In your light we see light.
Closing Prayer
10 Stretch out your mercy over those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the proud trample me.
Do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers have fallen.
They have been thrown down.
They are not able to rise!
Psalm 39
Show Me My Life’s End
Heading
For the choir director. For Jeduthun.[a] A psalm by David.
The Psalmist’s Anguish
1 I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I do not sin with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are confronting me.”
2 I said nothing. I kept silent.
I did not even say anything good,
but my pain became worse.
3 Inside me my heart grew hot.
As I fretted, the fire burned.
So I spoke with my tongue.
The Shortness of Human Life
4 Lord, help me understand my end.
What is the limit of my days?
Let me know how fleeting I am.
5 See, you have cut short my days.[b]
My brief time before you is like nothing.
Indeed, every person, even at his best,
is just a puff of air.[c] Interlude
6 A man flickers like a mirage.
He really has no more effect than a breeze.[d]
He piles things up, never knowing who will get them.
The Enduring Goodness of God
7 But now what do I wait for, Lord?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my rebellious acts.
Do not let fools scorn me.
9 I said nothing.
I did not open my mouth,
because you are the one who caused this.
10 Stop punching me.
By the attack of your hand I am finished.
11 By your rebuke against guilt you discipline a man.
Like a moth you consume what he desires.
Indeed, every person is nothing but a puff of air. Interlude
Closing Prayer
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord.
Listen to my cry.
Do not ignore my tears,
for with you I am an alien,
just a visitor, as were all my ancestors.
13 Look away from me, so I can smile again
before I depart and am no more.
19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials that they should kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan had great admiration and respect for David. 2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul wants to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Settle down in a hiding place and conceal yourself. 3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you. I will see what the situation is, and I will tell you.”
4 Jonathan spoke favorably about David to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and his actions have served you very well. 5 He took his life into his hands when he struck the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and you celebrated. Why then would you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?”
6 Saul listened to the advice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.”
7 So Jonathan called David and told him about all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served in his presence as he had before.
8 Later, war broke out again. David went out and fought against the Philistines and inflicted a severe defeat on them, and they fled from him.
9 An evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing the lyre. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David evaded Saul’s attempt, and Saul’s spear stuck in the wall. That night David fled and successfully escaped.
11 Saul sent messengers to watch David’s house and to kill him in the morning, but David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not do something to save your life tonight, by tomorrow you will be put to death.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window. He took off, got away, and escaped. 13 Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed. She put something made of goat hair on its head and covered the statue with clothing. 14 When Saul sent messengers to capture David, she said, “He is sick.”
15 So Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him to me on the bed, so I can kill him.” 16 When the messengers came in, they saw that the idol was in the bed with the goat hair on its head.
17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?”
Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I have to kill you?’”
18 So David ran away and successfully escaped.
David’s Flight From Saul
David came to Samuel at Ramah and told him about everything that Saul had done to him. So he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.
An Angel Frees Peter
12 At about that time, King Herod[a] laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church, in order to mistreat them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter during the days of Unleavened Bread.
4 After arresting Peter, Herod put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. Herod intended to bring him before the people for trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church earnestly offered up prayer to God for him.
6 The very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound with two chains, while sentries were in front of the door, guarding the prison.
7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood near him, and a light shone in the cell. The angel woke Peter up by striking him on the side, saying, “Quick, get up!” The chains fell from his wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” So he did so. Then the angel told him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9 Peter went out, following the angel, but he did not realize that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed through the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city. It opened all by itself for them. They went outside, walked down one street, and immediately the angel left him.
11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.”
12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who is also called Mark. Many had gathered there and were praying. 13 When Peter knocked at the entrance gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Peter’s voice and was so overjoyed, she did not open the gate. Instead she ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
15 They told her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept on insisting it was so, and they started saying, “It’s his angel.”
16 Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned to them with his hand to be silent and described to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. He said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he left and went on to another place.
Jesus Forgives Sins
2 When Jesus again entered Capernaum some days later, people heard that he was home. 2 So many people were gathered together that there was no more room, not even by the door, and he was speaking the word to them. 3 Some people came to him bringing a paralyzed man, carried by four men. 4 Since they could not bring the man to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug through the roof above where he was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But there were some experts in the law sitting there and thinking in their hearts, 7 “Why does this fellow speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God alone?”
8 Jesus immediately knew in his spirit that they were thinking this way within themselves. He asked them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to tell the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 10 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”
12 At once the man got up, picked up the stretcher, and went out in front of everyone. So they were all amazed and glorified God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.