Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: For flutes. A Davidic Psalm
A Prayer for God’s Help
5 Lord, listen to my words,
consider my groaning.
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,[a]
my king and my God,
for unto you will I pray.
3 Lord, in the morning you will hear my voice;
in the morning I will pray[b] to you,
and I will watch for your answer.[c]
4 Indeed, you aren’t a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will never dwell with you.
5 Boastful ones will not stand before you;
you hate all those who practice wickedness.
6 You will destroy those who speak lies.
The Lord abhors the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But I, because of the abundance of your gracious love,
may come into your house.
In awe of you, I will worship in your holy Temple.
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies.
Make your path straight before me.
9 But as for the wicked,[d]
they do not speak truth at all.
Inside them there is only wickedness.
Their throat is an open grave,
on their tongue is deceitful flattery.
10 Declare them guilty, God!
Let them fall by their own schemes.
Drive them away because of their many transgressions,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 Let all those who take refuge in you rejoice!
Let them shout for joy forever,
and may you protect them.
Let those who love your name exult in you.
12 Indeed, you will bless the righteous one, Lord,
like a large shield, you will surround him with favor.
To the Director: With stringed instruments. On an eight-stringed harp.[e] A Davidic Psalm
A Prayer in Times of Trouble
6 Lord, in your anger, do not rebuke me;
in your wrath, do not discipline me.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am fading away.
Heal me,
because my body[f] is distressed.
3 And my soul[g] is deeply distressed.
But you, Lord, how long do I wait?[h]
4 Return, Lord,
save my life!
Deliver me, because of your gracious love.
5 In death, there is no memory of you.
Who will give you thanks where the dead are?[i]
6 I am weary from my groaning.
Every night my couch is drenched with tears,
my bed is soaked through.
7 My eyesight has faded because of grief,
it has dimmed because of all my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all of you who practice evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord receives my prayer.
10 As for all my enemies, they will be put to shame;
they will be greatly frightened
and suddenly turn away ashamed.
A Prayer for Judging the Wicked
10 [a]Why do you stand far away, Lord?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
2 The wicked one arrogantly pursues the afflicted,[b]
who are trapped in the schemes he devises.
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own desire;
he blesses the greedy
and despises the Lord.
4 With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks,
“God will not seek justice.”[c]
He always presumes “There is no God.”
5 Their ways always seem prosperous.
Your judgments are on high,
far away from them.
They scoff at all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves,
“We will not be moved throughout all time,
and we will not experience adversity.”
7 Their mouth is full of curses, lies, and oppression,
their tongues[d] spread trouble and iniquity.
8 They wait[e] in ambush in the villages,
they kill the innocent in secret.
9 Their eyes secretly watch the helpless,
lying in wait like a lion in his den.
They lie in wait to catch the afflicted.
They catch the afflicted when they pull him into their net.
10 The victim[f] is crushed,
and he sinks down;
the helpless fall by their might.
11 The wicked say to themselves,
“God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face,
he will never see it.”
12 Rise up, Lord!
Raise your hand, God.
Don’t forget the afflicted!
13 Why do the wicked despise God
and say to themselves, “God[g] will not seek justice.”?[h]
14 But you do see!
You take note of trouble and grief
in order to take the matter into your own hand.
The helpless one commits himself[i] to you;
you have been the orphan’s helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
so that when you seek out his wickedness
you will find it no more.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
nations will perish from his land.
17 Lord, you heard the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen them,[j]
you will listen carefully,
18 to do justice for the orphan[k] and the oppressed,
so that men of the earth may cause terror no more.
To the Director: A Davidic Song.[l]
Confident Trust in God
11 I take refuge in the Lord.
So how can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to the mountains.”?
2 Look, the wicked have bent their bow
and placed their arrow[m] on the string,[n]
to shoot from the darkness[o] at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in his holy Temple;
the Lord’s throne is in the heavens.
His eyes see,
his glance[p] examines humanity.[q]
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence, he hates.
6 He rains on the wicked burning coals and sulfur;
a scorching wind is their destiny.[r]
7 Indeed, the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteousness;
the upright will see him face-to-face.
25 “To[a] whom, then, will you compare me,
and to whom should I be equal?”
asks the Holy One.
26 “Lift your eyes up to heaven and see
who created all these—
the one who leads out their vast array of stars by number,
calling them all by name—
because of his great might
and his[b] powerful strength[c]—
and[d] not one is missing.”
The Lord Watches Israel
27 “Jacob, why do you say—
and Israel, why do you complain—
‘My predicament is hidden from the Lord,
and my cause is ignored by my God.’?
28 Don’t you know?
Haven’t you heard?
The Lord is the eternal God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not grow tired or weary;
and[e] his understanding cannot be fathomed.
29 He’s the[f] one who gives might to the faint,
renewing strength for the powerless.
30 Even boys grow tired and weary,
and young men collapse and fall,
31 but those who keep waiting for the Lord will renew their strength.
Then[g] they’ll soar on wings like eagles;
they’ll run and not grow weary;
they’ll walk and not grow tired.”
Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians
15 Therefore, because I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[a] for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers. 17 I pray[b] that the God of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[c] the most glorious Father, would give you a wise spirit, along with revelation that comes through knowing the Messiah[d] fully. 18 Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence[e] that is produced by God[f] having called you,[g] the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints, 19 and the unlimited greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he brought about in the Messiah[h] when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm. 21 He is far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion, and every name that can be named, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. 22 God[i] has put everything under the Messiah’s[j] feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of[k] the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills everything in every way.[l]
Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee(A)
14 Now after John had been arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and proclaimed the gospel about the kingdom[a] of God. 15 He said, “The time is now! The kingdom of God is near! Repent, and keep believing the gospel!”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples(B)
16 While Jesus[b] was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen. 17 Jesus told them, “Follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of people!” 18 So immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He immediately called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit(C)
21 Then they went to Capernaum. As soon as it was the Sabbaths, Jesus[c] went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people[d] were utterly amazed at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one with authority, and not like their scribes. 23 All of a sudden,[e] there was a man in their synagogue who had an unclean spirit! He screamed, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 But Jesus rebuked him. “Be quiet,” he ordered, “and come out of him!” 26 At this, the unclean spirit shook the man,[f] cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him.
27 All the people were so stunned that they kept saying to each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He tells even the unclean spirits what to do, and they obey him!” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
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