Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 38
Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger
Heading
A psalm by David. To bring to remembrance.
Opening Plea
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in anger.
Do not discipline me in wrath.
The Greatness of David’s Burden
2 Indeed, your arrows have stuck in me.
Your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no health in my flesh because of your rage.
There is no wellness in my bones because of my sin,
4 because my guilt has gone over my head.
Like a heavy burden, it is too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and ooze because of my folly.
6 I am drooping. I am completely bent over.
All day long I go around mourning.
7 Even my back burns with pain.[a]
My whole body[b] is unhealthy.
8 I have become numb. I am totally crushed.
I groan loudly because of my anxious thoughts.
9 Lord, all my needs lie before you.
My sighs are not hidden from you.
10 My heart beats quickly. My strength leaves me.
Even the light of my eyes is gone from me.
11 My loved ones and my friends stand far away
because of the blow I have suffered.
My neighbors stand at a distance.
12 Those who pursue my life set traps.
Those who seek to harm me talk about my ruin.
All day long they plot deception.
13 I am deaf. I cannot hear.
Like a mute person, I cannot open my mouth.
14 I am like a man who cannot hear.
No response comes from his mouth.
David’s Confidence of Delivery
15 Yet I wait for you, Lord.
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16 So I said, “Do not let them celebrate because of me.
Do not let them gloat when my foot slips.”
17 Look! I am about to fall,
and I am always in pain,
18 so I declare my guilt,
and I am troubled by my sin.
19 My aggressive enemies are numerous.
Those who hate me for no reason are many.
20 Those who repay evil for good
slander me because I pursue what is good.
Closing Plea
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord.
My God, do not be far from me.
22 Hurry to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
Dalet: A Changed Heart
25 My soul[a] is stuck in the dust.
Revive my life according to your words.
26 I told you about my ways and you answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
27 Make me understand the meaning of your precepts.
Then I will meditate on your wonders.
28 My soul melts with sorrow.
By your words make me stand firm.
29 Turn me away from false ways,
and be gracious to me through your law.
30 I have chosen the way of truth.
I accept[b] your judgments.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord.
Do not let me be put to shame.
32 I run the way of your commandments,
for you have strengthened my heart.[c]
He: That You May Be Feared
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.
Then I will guard it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will guard your law.
I will keep it with all my heart.
35 Make me walk on the path of your commandments,
for I take pleasure in it.
36 Direct my heart toward your testimonies
and not toward material gain.
37 Keep my eyes from looking at worthless things.
Give me life according to your ways.[d]
38 Confirm your sayings to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away my disgrace which I dread,
for your judgments are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
Give me life in your righteousness.
Vav: Speak Before Kings
41 So let your mercies come to me, O Lord,
and let your salvation come according to your sayings.
42 Then I will give an answer to those who insult me,
because I trust in your words.
43 But do not tear away the word of truth from my mouth,
because I wait confidently for your judgments.
44 Then I will continually keep your law forever and ever.
45 Then I will walk around freely,
because I have sought your precepts.
46 Then I will speak of your testimonies before kings,
and I will not be put to shame.
47 For I delight in your commandments, which I love.
48 I lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love,
and I meditate on your statutes.
8 The Lord had in mind to ruin the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line. He did not restrain his hand from swallowing her up.
He made its rampart and wall mourn. Together they became weak.
9 Her gates have sunk down to the ground. He destroyed and shattered her bars.
Her king and her officials are exiled among the nations. There is no law.
Even her prophets have not received a vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and are silent.
They throw dust on their heads and put on sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are worn out with tears. I am troubled in my heart.
I am emotionally drained[a] over the breaking of the daughter of my people,
while children and infants grow weak in the public squares of the city.
12 They ask their mothers, “Where are the grain and wine?”
while they faint in the public squares of the city, like someone wounded,
while they take their last breath in their mothers’ laps.
13 What testimony can I give on your behalf?
What can I compare to you, daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I place next to you, so that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion?
Your wound is as wide as the sea. Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets saw visions for you, but they were empty and worthless.
They did not reveal your guilt, in order to turn away your captivity.
They saw oracles for you that were empty and misleading.
15 All who passed by clapped their hands over you.
They hissed and shook their head over the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was said to be the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?”
51 Look, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 But once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled:
Death is swallowed up in victory.[a]
55 Death, where is your sting?
Grave, where is your victory?[b] [c]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Lord of the Sabbath
12 At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick heads of grain and eat them. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, what your disciples are doing is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
3 But he said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered God’s house and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was lawful only for the priests to eat, not for him or his companions. 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath days, the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7 Yet if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand
9 Going on from there, he went into their synagogue. 10 A man was there who had a withered hand. Looking for a way to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on Sabbath days?”
11 He said to them, “Who among you, if you have one sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, as healthy as the other one. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, considering how they might put him to death.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.