Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of Faith in Troubled Times
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
31 Lord, I trust in you;
let me never be disgraced.
Save me because you do what is right.
2 Listen to me
and save me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a strong city to save me.
3 You are my rock and my protection.
For the good of your name, lead me and guide me.
4 Set me free from the trap they set for me,
because you are my protection.
5 I give you my life.
Save me, Lord, God of truth.
6 I hate those who worship false gods.
I trust only in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
because you saw my suffering;
you knew my troubles.
8 You have not handed me over to my enemies
but have set me in a safe place.
9 Lord, have mercy, because I am in misery.
My eyes are weak from so much crying,
and my whole being is tired from grief.
10 My life is ending in sadness,
and my years are spent in crying.
My troubles are using up my strength,
and my bones are getting weaker.
11 Because of all my troubles, my enemies hate me,
and even my neighbors look down on me.
When my friends see me,
they are afraid and run.
12 I am like a piece of a broken pot.
I am forgotten as if I were dead.
13 I have heard many insults.
Terror is all around me.
They make plans against me
and want to kill me.
14 Lord, I trust you.
I have said, “You are my God.”
15 My life is in your hands.
Save me from my enemies
and from those who are chasing me.
16 Show your kindness to me, your servant.
Save me because of your love.
17 Lord, I called to you,
so do not let me be disgraced.
Let the wicked be disgraced
and lie silent in the grave.
18 With pride and hatred
they speak against those who do right.
So silence their lying lips.
19 How great is your goodness
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you have given to those who trust you.
You do this for all to see.
20 You protect them by your presence
from what people plan against them.
You shelter them from evil words.
21 Praise the Lord.
His love to me was wonderful
when my city was attacked.
22 In my distress, I said,
“God cannot see me!”
But you heard my prayer
when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you who belong to him.
The Lord protects those who truly believe,
but he punishes the proud as much as they have sinned.
24 All you who put your hope in the Lord
be strong and brave.
A Prayer for Help
Of David.
35 Lord, battle with those who battle with me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Pick up the shield and armor.
Rise up and help me.
3 Lift up your spears, both large and small,
against those who chase me.
Tell me, “I will save you.”
4 Make those who want to kill me
be ashamed and disgraced.
Make those who plan to harm me
turn back and run away.
5 Make them like chaff blown by the wind
as the angel of the Lord forces them away.
6 Let their road be dark and slippery
as the angel of the Lord chases them.
7 For no reason they spread out their net to trap me;
for no reason they dug a pit for me.
8 So let ruin strike them suddenly.
Let them be caught in their own nets;
let them fall into the pit and die.
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will be happy when he saves me.
10 Even my bones will say,
“Lord, who is like you?
You save the weak from the strong,
the weak and poor from robbers.”
11 Men without mercy stand up to testify.
They ask me things I do not know.
12 They repay me with evil for the good I have done,
and they make me very sad.
13 Yet when they were sick, I put on clothes of sadness
and showed my sorrow by fasting.
But my prayers were not answered.
14 I acted as if they were my friends or brothers.
I bowed in sadness as if I were crying for my mother.
15 But when I was in trouble, they gathered and laughed;
they gathered to attack before I knew it.
They insulted me without stopping.
16 They made fun of me and were cruel to me
and ground their teeth at me in anger.
17 Lord, how long will you watch this happen?
Save my life from their attacks;
save me from these people who are like lions.
18 I will praise you in the great meeting.
I will praise you among crowds of people.
19 Do not let my enemies laugh at me;
they hate me for no reason.
Do not let them make fun of me;
they have no cause to hate me.
20 Their words are not friendly
but are lies about peace-loving people.
21 They speak against me
and say, “Aha! We saw what you did!”
22 Lord, you have been watching. Do not keep quiet.
Lord, do not leave me alone.
23 Wake up! Come and defend me!
My God and Lord, fight for me!
24 Lord my God, defend me with your justice.
Don’t let them laugh at me.
25 Don’t let them think, “Aha! We got what we wanted!”
Don’t let them say, “We destroyed him.”
26 Let them be ashamed and embarrassed,
because they were happy when I hurt.
Cover them with shame and disgrace,
because they thought they were better than I was.
27 May my friends sing and shout for joy.
May they always say, “Praise the greatness of the Lord,
who loves to see his servants do well.”
28 I will tell of your goodness
and will praise you every day.
18 The Lord created the heavens.
He is the God who formed the earth and made it.
He did not want it to be empty,
but he wanted life on the earth.
This is what the Lord says:
“I am the Lord. There is no other God.
19 I did not speak in secret
or hide my words in some dark place.
I did not tell the family of Jacob
to look for me in empty places.
I am the Lord, and I speak the truth;
I say what is right.
20 “You people who have escaped from other nations,
gather together and come before me;
come near together.
People who carry idols of wood don’t know what they are doing.
They pray to a god who cannot save them.
21 Tell these people to come to me.
Let them talk about these things together.
Who told you long ago that this would happen?
Who told about it long ago?
I, the Lord, said these things.
There is no other God besides me.
I am the only good God. I am the Savior.
There is no other God.
22 “All people everywhere,
follow me and be saved.
I am God. There is no other God.
23 I will make a promise by my own power,
and my promise is true;
what I say will not be changed.
I promise that everyone will bow before me
and will promise to follow me.
24 People will say about me, ‘Goodness and power
come only from the Lord.’”
Everyone who has been angry with him
will come to him and be ashamed.
25 But with the Lord’s help, the people of Israel
will be found to be good,
and they will praise him.
Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents as the Lord wants, because this is the right thing to do. 2 The command says, “Honor your father and mother.”[a] This is the first command that has a promise with it— 3 “Then everything will be well with you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”[b]
4 Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5 Slaves, obey your masters here on earth with fear and respect and from a sincere heart, just as you obey Christ. 6 You must do this not only while they are watching you, to please them. With all your heart you must do what God wants as people who are obeying Christ. 7 Do your work with enthusiasm. Work as if you were serving the Lord, not as if you were serving only men and women. 8 Remember that the Lord will give a reward to everyone, slave or free, for doing good.
9 Masters, in the same way, be good to your slaves. Do not threaten them. Remember that the One who is your Master and their Master is in heaven, and he treats everyone alike.
Jesus Calms a Storm
35 That evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Let’s go across the lake.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him in the boat just as he was. There were also other boats with them. 37 A very strong wind came up on the lake. The waves came over the sides and into the boat so that it was already full of water. 38 Jesus was at the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a cushion. His followers woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are drowning!”
39 Jesus stood up and commanded the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and it became completely calm.
40 Jesus said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 The followers were very afraid and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.