Book of Common Prayer
A Call to Praise and Obedience
95 Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord.
Let’s shout praises to the Rock who saves us.
2 Let’s come to him with thanksgiving.
Let’s sing songs to him,
3 because the Lord is the great God,
the great King over all gods.
4 The deepest places on earth are his,
and the highest mountains belong to him.
5 The sea is his because he made it,
and he created the land with his own hands.
6 Come, let’s worship him and bow down.
Let’s kneel before the Lord who made us,
7 because he is our God
and we are the people he takes care of,
the sheep that he tends.
Today listen to what he says:
8 “Do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,
as they were that day at Massah in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tested me
and tried me even though they saw what I did.
10 I was angry with those people for forty years.
I said, ‘They are not loyal to me
and have not understood my ways.’
11 I was angry and made a promise,
‘They will never enter my rest.’”
A Cry for Help
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A psalm of David.
69 God, save me,
because the water has risen to my neck.
2 I’m sinking down into the mud,
and there is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water,
and the flood covers me.
3 I am tired from calling for help;
my throat is sore.
My eyes are tired from waiting
for God to help me.
4 There are more people who hate me for no reason than hairs on my head;
powerful enemies want to destroy me for no reason.
They make me pay back
what I did not steal.
5 God, you know what I have done wrong;
I cannot hide my guilt from you.
6 Lord God All-Powerful,
do not let those who hope in you be ashamed because of me.
God of Israel,
do not let your worshipers be disgraced because of me.
7 For you, I carry this shame,
and my face is covered with disgrace.
8 I am like a stranger to my closest relatives
and a foreigner to my mother’s children.
9 My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.
When people insult you, it hurts me.
10 When I cry and fast,
they make fun of me.
11 When I wear clothes of sadness,
they joke about me.
12 They make fun of me in public places,
and the drunkards make up songs about me.
13 But I pray to you, Lord, for favor.
God, because of your great love, answer me.
You are truly able to save.
14 Pull me from the mud,
and do not let me sink.
Save me from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
15 Do not let the flood drown me
or the deep water swallow me
or the grave close its mouth over me.
16 Lord, answer me because your love is so good.
Because of your great kindness, turn to me.
17 Do not hide from me, your servant.
I am in trouble. Hurry to help me!
18 Come near and save me;
rescue me from my enemies.
19 You see my shame and disgrace.
You know all my enemies and what they have said.
20 Insults have broken my heart
and left me weak.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
I found no one to comfort me.
21 They put poison in my food
and gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their own feasts cause their ruin;
let their feasts trap them and pay them back.
23 Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see
and their backs be forever weak from troubles.
24 Pour your anger out on them;
let your anger catch up with them.
25 May their place be empty;
leave no one to live in their tents.
26 They chase after those you have hurt,
and they talk about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Charge them with crime after crime,
and do not let them have anything good.
28 Wipe their names from the book of life,
and do not list them with those who do what is right.
29 I am sad and hurting.
God, save me and protect me.
30 I will praise God in a song
and will honor him by giving thanks.
31 That will please the Lord more than offering him cattle,
more than sacrificing a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Poor people will see this and be glad.
Be encouraged, you who worship God.
33 The Lord listens to those in need
and does not look down on captives.
34 Heaven and earth should praise him,
the seas and everything in them.
35 God will save Jerusalem
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will live there and own the land.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit that land,
and those who love him will live there.
Should the Wicked Be Rich?
A psalm of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel,
to those who have pure hearts.
2 But I had almost stopped believing;
I had almost lost my faith
3 because I was jealous of proud people.
I saw wicked people doing well.
4 They are not suffering;
they are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like the rest of us;
they don’t have problems like other people.
6 They wear pride like a necklace
and put on violence as their clothing.
7 They are looking for profits
and do not control their selfish desires.
8 They make fun of others and speak evil;
proudly they speak of hurting others.
9 They brag to the sky.
They say that they own the earth.
10 So their people turn to them
and give them whatever they want.
11 They say, “How can God know?
What does God Most High know?”
12 These people are wicked,
always at ease, and getting richer.
13 So why have I kept my heart pure?
Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?
14 I have suffered all day long;
I have been punished every morning.
15 God, if I had decided to talk like this,
I would have let your people down.
16 I tried to understand all this,
but it was too hard for me to see
17 until I went to the Temple of God.
Then I understood what will happen to them.
18 You have put them in danger;
you cause them to be destroyed.
19 They are destroyed in a moment;
they are swept away by terrors.
20 It will be like waking from a dream.
Lord, when you rise up, they will disappear.
21 When my heart was sad
and I was angry,
22 I was senseless and stupid.
I acted like an animal toward you.
23 But I am always with you;
you have held my hand.
24 You guide me with your advice,
and later you will receive me in honor.
25 I have no one in heaven but you;
I want nothing on earth besides you.
26 My body and my mind may become weak,
but God is my strength.
He is mine forever.
27 Those who are far from God will die;
you destroy those who are unfaithful.
28 But I am close to God, and that is good.
The Lord God is my protection.
I will tell all that you have done.
No One Is Right
5 The Lord says, “Walk up and down the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around and discover these things.
Search the public squares of the city.
If you can find one person who does honest things,
who searches for the truth,
I will forgive this city.
2 Although the people say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
they don’t really mean it.”
3 Lord, don’t you look for truth in people?
You struck the people of Judah,
but they didn’t feel any pain.
You crushed them,
but they refused to learn what is right.
They became more stubborn than a rock;
they refused to turn back to God.
4 But I thought,
“These are only the poor, foolish people.
They have not learned the way of the Lord
and what their God wants them to do.
5 So I will go to the leaders of Judah
and talk to them.
Surely they understand the way of the Lord
and know what God wants them to do.”
But even the leaders had all joined together to break away from the Lord;
they had broken their ties with him.
6 So a lion from the forest will attack them.
A wolf from the desert will kill them.
A leopard is waiting for them near their towns.
It will tear to pieces anyone who comes out of the city,
because the people of Judah have sinned greatly.
They have wandered away from the Lord many times.
7 The Lord said, “Tell me why I should forgive you.
Your children have left me
and have made promises to idols that are not gods at all.
I gave your children everything they needed,
but they still were like an unfaithful wife to me.
They spent much time in houses of prostitutes.
8 They are like well-fed horses filled with sexual desire;
each one wants another man’s wife.
9 Shouldn’t I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?” says the Lord.
“Shouldn’t I give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves?
25 If you follow the law, your circumcision has meaning. But if you break the law, it is as if you were never circumcised. 26 People who are not Jews are not circumcised, but if they do what the law says, it is as if they were circumcised. 27 You Jews have the written law and circumcision, but you break the law. So those who are not circumcised in their bodies, but still obey the law, will show that you are guilty. 28 They can do this because a person is not a true Jew if he is only a Jew in his physical body; true circumcision is not only on the outside of the body. 29 A person is a Jew only if he is a Jew inside; true circumcision is done in the heart by the Spirit, not by the written law. Such a person gets praise from God rather than from people.
3 So, do Jews have anything that other people do not have? Is there anything special about being circumcised? 2 Yes, of course, there is in every way. The most important thing is this: God trusted the Jews with his teachings. 3 If some Jews were not faithful to him, will that stop God from doing what he promised? 4 No! God will continue to be true even when every person is false. As the Scriptures say:
“So you will be shown to be right when you speak,
and you will win your case.” Psalm 51:4
5 When we do wrong, that shows more clearly that God is right. So can we say that God is wrong to punish us? (I am talking as people might talk.) 6 No! If God could not punish us, he could not judge the world.
7 A person might say, “When I lie, it really gives him glory, because my lie shows God’s truth. So why am I judged a sinner?” 8 It would be the same to say, “We should do evil so that good will come.” Some people find fault with us and say we teach this, but they are wrong and deserve the punishment they will receive.
All People Are Guilty
9 So are we Jews better than others? No! We have already said that Jews and those who are not Jews are all guilty of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say:
“There is no one who always does what is right,
not even one.
11 There is no one who understands.
There is no one who looks to God for help.
12 All have turned away.
Together, everyone has become useless.
There is no one who does anything good;
there is not even one.” Psalm 14:1–3
13 “Their throats are like open graves;
they use their tongues for telling lies.” Psalm 5:9
“Their words are like snake poison.” Psalm 140:3
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and hate.” Psalm 10:7
15 “They are always ready to kill people.
16 Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery.
17 They don’t know how to live in peace.” Isaiah 59:7–8
18 “They have no fear of God.” Psalm 36:1
Jesus Is God’s Son
30 “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is fair. I don’t try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me.
31 “If only I tell people about myself, what I say is not true. 32 But there is another who tells about me, and I know that the things he says about me are true.
33 “You have sent people to John, and he has told you the truth. 34 It is not that I need what humans say; I tell you this so you can be saved. 35 John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.
36 “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than that of John. The things I do, which are the things my Father gave me to do, prove that the Father sent me. 37 And the Father himself who sent me has given proof about me. You have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like. 38 His teaching does not live in you, because you don’t believe in the One the Father sent. 39 You carefully study the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. They do in fact tell about me, 40 but you refuse to come to me to have that life.
41 “I don’t need praise from people. 42 But I know you—I know that you don’t have God’s love in you. 43 I have come from my Father and speak for him, but you don’t accept me. But when another person comes, speaking only for himself, you will accept him. 44 You try to get praise from each other, but you do not try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe? 45 Don’t think that I will stand before the Father and say you are wrong. The one who says you are wrong is Moses, the one you hoped would save you. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because Moses wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.