Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, hear my cry.
Listen to my prayer.
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth.
I am afraid.
Carry me away to a high mountain.
3 You have been my protection,
like a strong tower against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your Holy Tent forever.
Protect me as a bird protects its young under its wings. Selah
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me the things that belong to those who fear you.
6 Give the king a long life.
Let him live many years.
7 Let him rule in the presence of God forever.
Protect him with your love and truth.
8 Then I will praise your name forever.
And every day I will keep my promises.
Trust Only in God
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A song of David.
62 I wait patiently for God.
Only he can save me.
2 He is my rock, who saves me.
He protects me like a strong, walled city.
I will not be defeated.
3 How long will you attack me?
Will all of you throw me down?
I am like a leaning wall, like a fence ready to fall.
4 You are planning to make me fall.
You enjoy telling lies about me.
With your mouth you bless me.
But in your heart you curse me. Selah
5 I wait patiently for God to save me.
Only he gives me hope.
6 He is my rock, who saves me.
He protects me like a strong, walled city.
I will not be defeated.
7 My honor and salvation come from God.
He is my mighty rock and my protection.
8 People, trust God all the time.
Tell him all your problems.
God is our protection. Selah
9 People are only a breath.
Even the greatest men are just a lie.
On the scales, they weigh nothing.
Together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in force.
Stealing is of no use.
Even if you gain more riches,
don’t put your trust in them.
11 God has said this,
and I have heard it over and over:
God, you are strong.
12 Lord, you are loving.
You reward a person for what he does.
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A song of David.
68 Let God come and scatter his enemies.
Let those who hate him run away.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is driven away by the wind.
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked be destroyed before God.
3 But those who do right should be glad.
They should rejoice before God.
They should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God. Sing praises to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides through the desert.
His name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy Temple.
He is a father to orphans.
He defends the widows.
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out with joy.
But those who turn against God will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out.
You marched through the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook,
and the sky poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain.
You refreshed your tired land.
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
11 The Lord gave the command.
And a great army told the news:
12 “Kings and their armies run away.
The women at home divide the wealth taken in war.”
13 Those who stayed behind by the sheepfold
will get the riches taken in battle.
14 God scattered kings
like snow on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountains of Bashan are great mountains.
Mount Bashan has many peaks.
16 Why do you mountains with many peaks look down
on Mount Zion, which God chose for his home?
The Lord will live there forever.
17 God comes with millions of chariots.
The Lord comes from Mount Sinai to his holy place.
18 He went up to the heights.
He led a parade of captives.
He received the payment he demanded from the people,
even from those who turned against him.
And the Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord, day by day.
God our Savior helps us. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us.
The Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will crush his enemies’ heads,
the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
23 Then you can stick your feet in their blood.
And your dogs can lick their share.”
24 God, people have seen your victory march.
God my King marched into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front, and the instruments are behind.
In the middle are the girls with the tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place.
Praise the Lord in the gathering of Israel.
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there are the leaders of Judah with their group.
There also are the leaders of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 God, order up your power.
Show the mighty power you have used for us before.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish Egypt, the beast among the tall grass along the river.
Punish the leaders of nations, those bulls among the cows.
Then they will bring you their silver.
Scatter those nations that love war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt with forced payment.
The people of Cush will pray to God.
32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
Sing praises to the Lord. Selah
33 Sing to the one who rides through the skies, which are from long ago.
He speaks with a thundering voice.
34 Announce that God is powerful.
He rules over Israel.
His power is in the skies.
35 God, you are wonderful in your Temple.
The God of Israel gives his people strength and power.
Praise God!
14 But sometimes something senseless happens on earth. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. This is truly senseless. 15 So I decided it was more important to enjoy life. The best that people can do here on earth is to eat, drink and enjoy life. These joys will help people do the hard work God gives them here on earth.
We Cannot Understand All God Does
16 I used my mind to learn about all that happens on earth. I saw how busy people are. They work day and night and hardly ever sleep. 17 I also saw all that God has done. Nobody can understand what God does here on earth. No matter how hard a person tries to understand it, he cannot. Even if a wise man says he understands, he really cannot. No one at all can really understand it.
Is Death Fair?
9 I thought about something else and tried hard to understand it. I saw that God takes care of both good people and wise people and what they do. But no one knows if he will see good or bad times.
2 Both good and bad things happen to everyone.
They happen to those who are fair and to those who are wicked.
They happen to those who are good and to those who are evil.
They happen to those who sacrifice and to those who do not.
The same things happen to a good person
as happen to a sinner.
The same things happen to a person who makes promises to God
as to one who does not.
3 This is something unfair that happens here on earth. The same things happen to everyone. So men’s minds are full of evil and foolish thoughts while they live. After that, they join the dead. 4 But anyone still alive has hope. Even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5 The living know they will die.
But the dead no longer think about such things.
Dead people have no more reward.
People forget them.
6 After a person is dead,
he can no longer show love or hate or jealousy.
And he will never again share
in the things that happen here on earth.
Enjoy Life While You Can
7 So go eat your food and enjoy it.
Drink your wine and be happy.
It is all right with God
if you do this.
8 Put on nice clothes
and make yourself look good.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you love. Enjoy all the days of this short life God has given you here on earth. It is all you have. So enjoy the work you have to do here on earth. 10 Whatever work you do, do your best. This is because you are going to the grave. There is no working, no planning, no knowledge and no wisdom there.
The Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Some of you people still want to be under the law of Moses. Tell me, do you know what the law says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one son was a slave woman. The mother of the other son was a free woman. 23 Abraham’s son from the slave woman was born in the normal human way. But the son from the free woman was born because of the promise God made to Abraham.
24 This makes a picture for us. The two women are like the two agreements between God and men. One agreement is the law that God made on Mount Sinai.[a] The people who are under this agreement are like slaves. The mother named Hagar is like that agreement. 25 She is like Mount Sinai in Arabia and is a picture of the earthly Jewish city of Jerusalem. This city is a slave, and all its people are slaves to the law. 26 But the heavenly Jerusalem which is above is like the free woman. She is our mother. 27 It is written in the Scriptures:
“Be happy, Jerusalem.
You are like a woman who never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never felt the pain of giving birth to children.
But you will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.” Isaiah 54:1
28 My brothers, you are God’s children because of his promise, as Isaac was then. 29 The son who was born in the normal way treated the other son badly. It is the same today. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son! The son of the free woman will receive everything his father has. But the son of the slave woman will receive nothing.”[b] 31 So, my brothers, we are not children of the slave woman. We are children of the free woman.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Then Jesus left that place and went to the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat there.
30 Great crowds came to Jesus. They brought their sick with them: the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31 The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak were able to speak again. The crippled were made strong again. Those who could not walk were able to walk again. The blind were able to see again. And they praised the God of Israel for this.
More Than 4,000 People Fed
32 Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”
33 His followers asked him, “Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are far away from any town.”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “We have seven loaves and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God for the food. Then Jesus divided the food and gave it to his followers. They gave the food to the people. 37 All the people ate and were satisfied. After this, the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 38 There were about 4,000 men there who ate, besides women and children. 39 After they ate, Jesus told the people to go home. He got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.