Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40
I Desire to Do Your Will
(Psalm 40:13-17 parallels Psalm 70)
Heading
For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
Messiah’s Prayer of Thanks
1 I waited and waited for the Lord.
Then he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 Then he pulled me up from the deadly quicksand,
from the mud and muck.
He made my feet stand on a rock to keep my steps from slipping.
3 Then he put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear.
They will trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is everyone who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud
or to those who turn aside to falsehood.
5 Many are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God.
No one can explain to you all your thoughts for us.[a]
If I try to speak and tell about them,
they are too many to count.
Messiah’s Willing Sacrifice
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire.
Ears you have opened for me.[b]
You did not ask for burnt offerings and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come.
The book written on a scroll tells about me.
8 My God, I take pleasure in doing your will.
Your law[c] is in my heart.”
Messiah’s Preaching of Good News
9 I preach righteousness in the great assembly.
Indeed, I do not hold back my lips, O Lord, as you know.
10 I do not conceal your righteousness deep in my heart.
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not hide your mercy and your truth from the great assembly.
Messiah’s Prayer in Distress
11 Lord, you do not hold back your compassion from me.
Let your mercy and your truth always protect me,
12 although troubles without number surround me.
Punishments for my guilt have smothered me, so I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head, so my courage deserts me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to save me.
Lord, hurry to help me.
14 Let all who seek to end my life be frustrated and completely confused.[d]
Let everyone who desires my ruin be turned back and disgraced.
15 Let those who say to me, “Aha! We got you!” be dismayed,
because they have been put to shame.
16 But let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation always say,
“The Lord is great!”
17 Yet I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think about me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54
Ruthless Men Seek My Life
Heading
For the choir director. With stringed instruments.
A maskil by David. When the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Isn’t David hiding himself with us?”[a]
The Plea
1 God, save me by your name.
By your power judge me justly.
2 God, hear my prayer.
Turn your ear to the words of my mouth.
The Problem
3 For strangers have risen up against me.
Ruthless men seek my life. Interlude
They pay no attention to God.
The Solution
4 Indeed, God is my helper.
The Lord is the one who preserves my life.
5 Let evil return on those who oppress me.
In your faithfulness destroy them.
The Outcome
6 I will sacrifice willingly to you.
I will praise your name, O Lord, because it is good.
7 Surely, from all my distress he has delivered me.
My eyes have looked down on my enemies.
Psalm 51
Cleanse Me From My Sin
Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.[a]
David’s Plea for Forgiveness
1 Be gracious to me, God,
according to your mercy.
Erase my acts of rebellion
according to the greatness of your compassion.
2 Scrub me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
David’s Confession
3 For I admit my rebellious acts.
My sin is always in front of me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned,
and I have done this evil in your eyes.
So you are justified when you sentence me.
You are blameless when you judge.
5 Certainly, I was guilty when I was born.
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
David’s Need for Renewal
6 Since you desire truth on the inside,
in my hidden heart you teach me wisdom.
7 Remove my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness.
Let the bones you have crushed celebrate.
9 Hide your face from my sins.
Erase all my guilty deeds.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God.
Renew an unwavering spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence.
Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Sustain me with a willing spirit.
David’s Pledge of Renewed Service
13 I will teach rebels your ways,
and sinners will turn to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
the God who saves me.
My tongue will shout for joy about your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice,
or I would give it.
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices God wants are a broken spirit.
A broken and crushed heart, O God, you will not despise.
David’s Prayer for the People
18 As it pleases you, do good for Zion.
Build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with righteous sacrifices,
burnt offerings and whole offerings.
Then bulls will be offered up on your altar.
The Death of Saul and Jonathan
31 In the meantime, the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and fell mortally wounded at Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines were closing in on Saul and his sons. They struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua, the sons of Saul. 3 The attack directed at Saul was fierce. The archers targeted him and hit him, and he was seriously wounded.
4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, so that these uncircumcised fellows cannot come and run me through and abuse me!”
But his armor bearer would not do it, because he was too afraid. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul died together with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men, all on that same day.
7 When the men of Israel from the other side of the valley and those from beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and lived in those cities.
8 On the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those who had been killed in the battle, they found Saul and his three sons fallen at Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to the temple of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor and weapons in the temple of the Ashtartes,[a] and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
11 When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the strong, courageous men set out, traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons down from the wall of Beth Shan. They returned to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
12 The whole assembly fell silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul, who reported all the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
13 After they finished speaking, James responded, “Gentlemen, brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has reported how God for the first time has visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:
16 After these things I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord—
even all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord who does these things.[a]
18 “Long ago he made these things known. 19 So it is my judgment that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient times Moses has had those who proclaim him in every city, since he is being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
The Daughter of Jairus
21 When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him near the sea. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and repeatedly pleaded with him, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.”
24 Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following him, pressing tightly against him. 25 A certain woman who was there had a discharge of blood for twelve years. 26 She had suffered much under the care of many physicians and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. 27 When she heard what was being said about Jesus, she went up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe. 28 She said, “If I just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30 At that moment, Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing tightly against you and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
32 Nevertheless he kept looking around to see who had done this. 33 The woman was trembling with fear since she knew what had happened to her. She came forward, fell down in front of him, and told him the whole truth.
34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your suffering.”
35 While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue ruler’s house arrived, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?”
36 But when Jesus heard this report, he told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” 37 He did not allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 They went into the house of the synagogue ruler, and Jesus saw a commotion with people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
40 They laughed at him. But after he put everyone out, he took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Grasping the hand of the child, he said to her, “Talitha, koum!” (When translated, that means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”) 42 Immediately the little girl stood up and began to walk around. (She was twelve years old.) They were completely and utterly amazed. 43 Then he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and he told them to give her something to eat.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.