Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 75
The God of History
Heading
For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[a] A psalm by Asaph. A song.
Opening Praise
1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks.
Your wonderful deeds reveal that your name is near.
God’s Declaration
2 Yes, I choose the appointed time.
I am the one who judges rightly.
3 The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking.
I am the one who holds its pillars firm. Interlude
4 I say to the boasters, “Do not boast,”
and to the wicked, “Do not raise a horn.[b]
5 Do not raise your horns to the heights.
Do not speak insolently with an outstretched neck.”
His People’s Response
6 Indeed, power to promote someone does not come
from the east or from the west or from the wilderness.
7 No, it is God who makes the decision.
He brings down one. He raises up another.
8 Indeed, a cup is in the hand of the Lord.
The wine foams. It is fully mixed.
He pours this out.
Yes, they drain its dregs.
All the wicked of the earth drink.
Closing Praise
9 As for me, I will proclaim this forever.
I will make music for the God of Jacob.
10 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked.
The horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
Psalm 76
The God of Victory
Heading
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A psalm by Asaph. A song.
God’s Fame
1 God is known in Judah. In Israel his name is great.
2 His shelter is in Salem. His dwelling place is in Zion.
God’s Victory
3 There he broke the flaming arrows, Interlude
the shield and the sword, and the weapons for battle.
4 You shine brightly as the Mighty One from the mountains full of prey.
5 The strong-hearted are plundered.
They have fallen into their final sleep.
Not one of the strong men can lift his hands.
6 At your rebuke,[c] O God of Jacob, both chariot and horses sleep.
7 You are to be feared, yes, you.
Who can stand before you at the time of your wrath?
8 From heaven you announced judgment.
The earth feared and was quiet
9 when you rose up to judge, O God, Interlude
and to save all the afflicted of the earth.
God’s Fame
10 Even the wrath of mankind[d] will bring you praise.
You wear what remains of your wrath like a belt.
11 Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them.
Let all who are around him bring tribute to the one who is fearsome.
12 He restrains the spirit of nobles.
He is fearsome against the kings of the earth.
Psalm 23
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Heading
A psalm by David.
The Shepherd Provides for His People
1 The Lord is my shepherd.
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
The Shepherd Protects His People
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
The Royal Host Provides for His People
Psalm 27
The Stronghold of My Life
Heading
By David.
Safe in God’s Stronghold
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers advance against me to eat my flesh,
when my foes and my enemies come against me,
it is they who will stumble and fall.
3 If an army lines up against me, my heart will not fear.
If war rises against me, even then I will keep trusting.
Happy in God’s Temple
4 One thing I ask from the Lord. This is what I seek:
that I live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,
and to seek him in his temple.[a]
5 Yes, he will hide me in his shelter on the day of trouble.
He will hide me in his tent.
He will set me high on a rock.
6 Then my head will be lifted up above the enemies who surround me.
I will offer sacrifices at his tent with a joyful shout.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Confident in Prayer
7 Hear me, O Lord. With my voice I call.
Be merciful to me and answer me.
8 When you say, “Seek my face,” my heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9 Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my help.
Do not reject me or forsake me, O God who saves me.
10 If my father and my mother abandoned me,
the Lord would take me in.
Walking in God’s Path
11 Lord, teach me your way,
and lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
12 Do not give me up to the desire of my foes,
because false witnesses rise up against me,
and so do those who breathe out violence.
At Home in God’s Land
13 Unless I was confident to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living—[b]
14 Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart,
and wait for the Lord!
22 The Philistines came up again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 23 David inquired of the Lord, who said, “Do not go directly at them. Go around to their rear. Come upon them opposite the balsam trees.[a] 24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then get ready, because then the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the army of the Philistines.” 25 So David did as the Lord commanded him. He struck the Philistines from Gibeon[b] all the way to Gezer.
David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem
6 David once again gathered all of the thirty thousand specially chosen men of Israel. 2 Then David and all the people who were with him set out and went to Baale Judah[c] to bring up the Ark of God, who is called by the name “The Lord of Armies, who sits above the cherubim.”
3 They transported the Ark of God on a new cart. They brought it out from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 ⎣⎦[d] with the Ark of God on it. Ahio was walking in front of the ark.
5 David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments, castanets,[e] lyres, harps, hand drums, rattles,[f] and cymbals.
6 But when they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out for the Ark of God and grabbed it because the oxen stumbled. 7 The anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence. So he died there beside the Ark of God.
8 David was angry because the Lord had burst out so violently against Uzzah, and he called that place Perez Uzzah,[g] as it is called to this day. 9 David was afraid of the Lord on that day. He said, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 David was not willing to move the Ark of the Lord to himself in the City of David.
So David diverted the ark to the house of Obed Edom the Gittite. 11 The Ark of the Lord remained at the house of Obed Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his whole household.
In Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was very distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he led a discussion in the synagogue with the Jews and those who feared God, as well as with those who happened to be in the marketplace every day.
18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this seed picker[a] trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be someone who is proclaiming foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
19 They took him and brought him to the council of the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are talking about? 20 You seem to be bringing in some ideas that are strange to our ears, so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there enjoyed doing nothing more than telling or listening to something new.)
22 Then Paul stood up in front of the council of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 For as I was walking around and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which had been inscribed, ‘To an unknown god.’ Now what you worship as unknown—this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made with hands. 25 Neither is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, since he himself gives all people life and breath and everything they have. 26 From one man,[b] he made every nation of mankind to live over the entire face of the earth. He determined the appointed times and the boundaries where they would live. 27 He did this so they would seek God[c] and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[d] As some of your own poets have said, ‘Indeed, we are also his offspring.’[e]
29 “Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and planning. 30 Although God overlooked the times of ignorance, he is now commanding all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he appointed. He provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some of them started to scoff. But others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 So Paul left the council. 34 However, some men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them were Dionysius (a member of the council of the Areopagus) and a woman named Damaris, as well as others with them.
Jesus Feeds More Than Four Thousand
8 In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 2 “I feel compassion for the crowd because they have already stayed with me three days and do not have anything to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way. Some of them have come from a long distance.”
4 His disciples replied, “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people here in this deserted place?”
5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they said.
6 He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave the pieces to his disciples to distribute to the crowd, and they did so. 7 They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and said that these should be distributed as well. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. They picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand men were there. Then he sent them away. 10 Right after that, Jesus got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.