Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72
A song of Solomon.
1 True God, bestow Your honest judgments upon the king
and anoint the king’s son with Your righteousness.
2 May he be honest and fair in his judgments over Your people
and offer justice to the burdened and suffering.
3 Under his reign, may this land of mountains and hills know peace
and experience justice for all the people.
4 May the king offer justice to the burdened and suffering,
rescue the poor and needy,
and demolish the oppressor!
5 [May the people fear You][a] for as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon rises in the night sky, throughout the generations.
6 May the king be like the refreshing rains, which fall upon fields of freshly mown grass—
like showers that cool and nourish the earth.
7 May good and honest people flourish for as long as he reigns,
and may peace fill the land until the moon no longer rises.
8 May the king rule from one sea to the next,
and may his rule extend from the Euphrates River to the far reaches of the earth.
9 Let the desert wanderers bow down before him
and his enemies lay prostrate and taste the dirt.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the island kings
shower him with gifts
And the kings of Sheba and Seba bring him presents as well.
11 Let every king on earth bow down before him
and every nation be in his service.
12 For he will rescue the needy when they ask for help!
He will save the burdened and come to the aid of those who have no other help.
13 He offers compassion to the weak and the poor;
he will help and protect the lives of the needy!
14 He will liberate them from the fierce sting of persecution and violence;
in his eyes, their blood is precious.
15 May he live a long, long time
and the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May the people constantly lift up prayers for him,
and may they call upon God to bless him always.
16 Let grain grow plentifully in this land of promise,
let it sway in the breeze on the hilltops,
let it grow strong as do the cedars of Lebanon,
Woven throughout the psalms are songs describing and praising those anointed as kings over God’s people. Psalm 2, one of the introductory psalms, describes the king as the son of God, the ruler of nations, and the anointed one. During the monarchical period in Israel, psalms like these were tied to the kings themselves, idealizing them as perfectly just and righteous and victorious. But during the exile, God’s exiled people longed for freedom and the implications of these songs began to change. Many Jews began to interpret these psalms as referring to a coming ruler, a Davidic king who would usher in an eternal kingdom and perfect peace. This hope was realized in Jesus. So this is why the earliest followers of Jesus went back to the psalms again and again. They found within many of the psalms, the story of Jesus anticipated and celebrated.
And may those who live in the city bloom and flourish
just as the grass of the fields and meadows.
17 May his name live on forever
and his reputation grow for as long as the sun gives light.
May people from all nations find in him a blessing;
may all peoples declare him blessed.
18 May the Eternal God, the God of Israel, be blessed,
for He alone works miracles and wonders!
19 May His glorious name be blessed forever
and the whole earth be filled with His eternal glory!
Amen. Amen.
20 The prayers of King David, Jesse’s son, are ended.
Yodh
73 Your strong hands formed me and established me;
give me understanding so I can learn Your commands.
74 Let those who fear You see me and rejoice
because I hope in Your word.
75 I know, O Eternal One, Your rulings are right,
and when You humbled me, You did so out of faithfulness.
76 Now let Your unfailing love be my comfort,
in keeping with Your promise to Your servant.
77 Shower me with Your compassion so that I may live
because I find great joy in Your law.
78 Let the proud be humiliated,
for they sabotage me with a lie;
still I will fix my mind on Your directives.
79 Let those who fear You and know Your testimonies
come back and find me.
80 Let my heart be whole, my record according to what You require
so that I will not be humiliated.
Kaph
81 My soul is exhausted awaiting Your rescue
yet I keep hoping in Your word.
82 My eyes are strained as I look for what You promised,
saying, “When will You come to comfort me?”
83 Even though I have shriveled up like a wineskin left in the smoke,
I still remember what You require.
84 How long must Your servant wait?
When will You carry out justice and punish those who persecute me?
85 Those proud souls do not live according to Your commands,
and they have dug pits to entrap me.
86 Indeed, all Your commands are trustworthy,
but my enemies have harassed me with their lies; help me!
87 They have nearly ended my life on earth,
but as for me, I never abandoned Your statutes.
88 According to Your unfailing love, spare my life
so that I can live according to the decrees of Your mouth.
Lamedh
89 Forever, O Eternal One,
Your word stands in heaven, firm and resolute.
90 Your faithfulness endures to every generation;
You founded the earth, and it remains.
91 Everything remains today in keeping with Your laws,
for all things exist to serve You.
92 If I had not found joy in Your guidance,
then I would have died from my misery.
93 I will never forget Your precepts,
for through them You have given me life.
94 I belong to You, Lord; save me
because I have taken care to live by Your principles.
95 The wicked lie in wait, anxious to kill me;
I will set my mind on Your statutes.
96 I have seen the limit of all perfection,
but Your commands are all-encompassing.
22 Three years went by without Aram and Israel fighting at all. 2 During the third year, Jehoshaphat, Judah’s king, approached Israel’s king.
Ahab (to his servants): 3 Don’t you remember that Ramoth-gilead is ours? But we have done nothing to take it back from Aram’s king.
4 (to Jehoshaphat) I am going to wage war against Ramoth-gilead. Will you join me?
Jehoshaphat: I am with you. I will do what you do. My troops will be your troops; my horses will be your horses. 5 But first, ask the Eternal for His wisdom and guidance in this matter.
6 Israel’s king assembled the 400 prophets.
Ahab: Should I wage war against Ramoth-gilead or not?
Prophets: Yes, you should. The Lord will give the king victory in this matter.
Jehoshaphat: 7 I need counsel. Is there a prophet of the Eternal present whom we can ask for advice?
Ahab: 8 There is one prophet of the Eternal, but I despise him. He prophesies terrible things about me instead of good things. His name is Micaiah (Imlah’s son).
Jehoshaphat: The king shouldn’t speak as such; he is the Lord’s prophet.
9 Israel’s king summoned a commander and gave him instructions to find Micaiah (Imlah’s son) quickly.
10 At the threshing floor inside the gate of Samaria, Israel’s king and Jehoshaphat (Judah’s king) were both sitting on their own thrones wearing ornate royal robes holding court while all the prophets were spouting out prophesies in their presence. 11 Zedekiah (Chenaanah’s son) had crafted iron horns for himself and spoke.
Zedekiah: This is the Eternal’s message: “Take these horns to gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.”
Prophets: 12 Travel to Ramoth-gilead, and flourish. The Eternal One will hand it over to the king.
Commander (to Micaiah): 13 The prophets’ message is pleasing to the king. May your message be as pleasing as theirs.
Micaiah: 14 As certain as the Eternal, I will say only what He commands me to say—nothing more and nothing less.
Ahab (as Micaiah approached him): 15 Micaiah, should we or should we not wage war against Ramoth-gilead? We need your final say either way.
Micaiah: Do as you say, and be successful. The Eternal One will give it to the king.
Ahab: 16 How many times are you going to make me ask you to give me a true message from the Eternal?
Micaiah: 17 I saw a vision of Israel. In it, Israel was spread all throughout the mountains, wandering aimlessly. They were like lost sheep without a shepherd to guide them. In the vision, the Eternal said, “These sheep have no shepherd. May they all go back to their own homes and live in peace.”
Ahab (to Jehoshaphat): 18 Didn’t I warn you? Didn’t I say that he would give unfavorable prophecies toward me?
Micaiah: 19 You should heed the Eternal’s message. I saw a vision of the Eternal One sitting on His throne with the heavenly army surrounding Him on all sides. 20 In the vision, the Eternal said, “Who will be the one to entice Ahab into battle at Ramoth-gilead so he may die there?” Everyone had a different opinion about who should do the task.
21 Right then, a spirit revealed itself to the Eternal and said, “I will do it. I will draw Ahab into battle.”
22 The Eternal One asked, “How do you plan on doing this?”
The spirit answered, “I will become a spirit of deception within the words of his prophets.”
The Eternal spoke again, “I like this idea. You will succeed at drawing him into battle. Proceed quickly.” 23 Therefore, the Eternal has placed a spirit of deception in the mouths of all your prophets, and He has sent destruction upon you. You will lose.
24 Zedekiah (Chenaanah’s son) hit Micaiah on the cheek.
Zedekiah: That’s impossible. How is it that the Eternal’s Spirit communicated to you without me knowing about it?
Micaiah: 25 You will understand when the time comes for you to hide in a secret chamber.
Ahab: 26 In the meantime, take Micaiah back to Amon, the city’s governor, and to Joash, the king’s son. 27 Give them this message: “This is the command of Israel’s king: ‘Lock this man behind bars, and give him only crumbs of bread and drops of water until I come back safely from battle.’”
Micaiah: 28 All right. If you come back alive and in one piece, you will know that the Eternal did not communicate His message through me. All you people listen carefully.
2 My brothers and sisters, I did not pose as an expert with all the answers. I did not pretend to explain the mystery of God with eloquent speech and human wisdom. 2 I claimed to know nothing with certainty other than the reality that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who was crucified on our behalf. 3 I was moved to utter despair during my time with you. I would find myself trembling in dread and fear. 4 The sermons I preached were not delivered with the kind of persuasive elegance some have come to expect, but they were effective because I relied on God’s Spirit to demonstrate God’s power. 5 If this were not so, your faith would be based on human wisdom and not the power of God.
Christianity is not merely a set of ideas and propositions. One can agree with all the truths in the Bible and still miss the power of God. Paul knows the brothers and sisters in Corinth might attempt to reduce Christianity to a new philosophy based on human understanding, but the power of God cannot be fully grasped by our eight-pound brains. We must approach God humbly as creations, not as those aspiring to fully explain the Creator of the universe.
6 However, in the presence of mature believers, we do impart true wisdom—not the phony wisdom typical of this rebellious age or of the hostile powers who rule this age. Despite what you may think, these ruling spirits are losing their grip on this world. 7 But we do impart God’s mysterious and hidden wisdom. Before the ages began, God graciously decided to use His wisdom for our glory. 8 This wisdom has not been grasped by the ruling powers of this age; if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. 9 But as the Scriptures say,
No eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard
and it has never occurred to the human heart
All the things God prepared for those who love Him.[a]
10 God has shown us these profound and startling realities through His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep mysteries of God. 11 Who can see into a man’s heart and know his thoughts? Only the spirit that dwells within the man. In the same way, the thoughts of God are known only by His Spirit. 12 You must know that we have not received the spirit of this rebellious and broken world but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we may experience and comprehend the gifts that come from God. 13 We do not speak of these gifts of God in words shaped by human wisdom; we speak in words crafted by the Spirit because our collective judgment on spiritual matters is accessible to those who have the Spirit.
By now Jesus desires a community around Him, friends and followers who help Him carry this urgent, precious message to people. His message is not dissimilar to John’s: Turn away from sin; turn toward God. And so He calls a community to join Him. These first beloved followers are called “disciples,” which means “apprentices.” The first disciples are two brothers, Simon and Andrew. They are fishermen.
18 One day Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee when He saw Simon (also called Peter) and Andrew throwing their nets into the water. They were, of course, fishermen.
Jesus: 19 Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 Immediately Peter and Andrew left their fishnets and followed Jesus.
21 Going on from there, Jesus saw two more brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They, too, were fishermen. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee getting their nets ready to fish. Jesus summoned them, just as He had called to Peter and Andrew, 22 and immediately they left their boat and their father to follow Jesus.
23 And so Jesus went throughout Galilee. He taught in the synagogues. He preached the good news of the Kingdom, and He healed people, ridding their bodies of sickness and disease. 24 Word spread all over Syria, as more and more sick people came to Him. The innumerable ill who came before Him had all sorts of diseases, they were in crippling pain; they were possessed by demons; they had seizures; they were paralyzed. But Jesus healed them all. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, from Jerusalem, from the ten cities called the Decapolis, from Judea, and from the region across the Jordan followed him.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.