Book of Common Prayer
Supplication for Rescue and Grateful Trust in God.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Silent Dove Among Those Far Away.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts] when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled on me;
All day long the adversary oppresses and torments me.
2
My enemies have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
3
When I am afraid,
I will put my trust and faith in You.
4
In God, whose word I praise;
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not fear.
What can mere man do to me?
5
All day long they twist my words and say hurtful things;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6
They attack, they hide and lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have [expectantly] waited to take my life.
7
Cast them out because of their wickedness.
In anger bring down the peoples, O God!
8
You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not recorded in Your book?
9
Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.(A)
10
In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11
In God have I put my trust and confident reliance; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12
Your vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will give thank offerings to You.
13
For You have rescued my soul from death,
Yes, and my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of life.
Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts of David] when he fled from Saul in the cave.
57 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious and merciful to me,
For my soul finds shelter and safety in You,
And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge and be confidently secure
Until destruction passes by.
2
I will cry to God Most High,
Who accomplishes all things on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan].
3
He will send from heaven and save me;
He calls to account him who tramples me down. Selah.
God will send out His lovingkindness and His truth.
4
My life is among lions;
I must lie among those who breathe out fire—
The sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
5
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory and majesty be over all the earth.
6
They [a]set a net for my steps;
My very life was bowed down.
They dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah.
7
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident!
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises [to You]!
8
Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9
I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the people;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
10
For Your faithfulness and lovingkindness are great, reaching to the heavens,
And Your truth to the clouds.
11
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory and majesty be over all the earth.
Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts of David].
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods (heavenly beings)?
Do you judge fairly, O sons of men?(B)
2
No, in your heart you devise wrongdoing;
On earth you deal out the violence of your hands.
3
The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These go astray from birth, speaking lies [even twisted partial truths].
4
Their poison is like the venom of a serpent;
They are like the deaf horned viper that stops up its ear,
5
So that it does not listen to the voice of charmers,
Or of the skillful enchanter casting [cunning] spells.
6
O God, break their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
7
Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.
8
Let them be as a snail which melts away (secretes slime) as it goes along,
Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.
9
Before your cooking pots can feel the fire of thorns [burning under them as fuel],
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.
10
The [unyieldingly] righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance [of God];
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11
Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”
Prayer for Protection from Secret Enemies.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my [a]complaint;
Guard my life from the terror of the enemy.
2
Hide me from the secret counsel and conspiracy of the ungodly,
From the scheming of those who do wrong,
3
Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword.
They aim venomous words as arrows,
4
To shoot from ambush at the blameless [one];
Suddenly they shoot at him, without fear.
5
They encourage themselves in [their pursuit of] an evil agenda;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
They say, “Who will discover us?”
6
They devise acts of injustice, saying,
“We are ready with a well-conceived plan.”
For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep (mysterious, unsearchable).
7
But God will shoot them with an [unexpected] arrow;
Suddenly they will be wounded.
8
So they will be caused to stumble;
Their own tongue is against them;
All who gaze at them will shake the head [in scorn].
9
Then all men will fear [God’s judgment];
They will declare the work of God,
And they will consider and wisely acknowledge what He has done.
10
The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him;
All the upright in heart will glory and offer praise.
God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Man.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 To You belongs silence [the submissive wonder of reverence], and [it bursts into] praise in Zion, O God;
And to You the vow shall be performed.
2
O You who hear prayer,
To You all mankind comes.
3
Wickedness and guilt prevail against me;
Yet as for our transgressions,
You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].
4
Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be filled with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
5
By awesome and wondrous things You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,
You who are the trust and hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;
6
Who creates the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power,
7
Who stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples,
8
So they who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs [the evidence of Your presence].(A)
You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
9
You visit the earth and make it overflow [with water];
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You provide their grain, when You have prepared the earth.
10
You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges;
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.
11
You crown the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths overflow.
12
The pastures of the wilderness drip [with dew],
And the hills are encircled with joy.
13
The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy and they sing.
Restoration Promised
30 “So it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you [a]call them to mind in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and you have returned to the Lord your God and have listened to and obeyed His voice with all your heart and with all your soul, in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your children, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes [in your return from exile], and have compassion on you, and will gather you together again from all the peoples (nations) where He has scattered you. 4 Even if any of your dispersed are at the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together from there, and from there He will bring you back. 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it; and He shall make you prosper and multiply—even more than your fathers.
6 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants [that is, He will remove the desire to sin from your heart], so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live [as a recipient of His blessing]. 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who have persecuted you. 8 And you shall again listen to and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the Lord your God shall make you abundantly prosperous in [b]everything that you do, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your land; for the Lord will again delight over you for good, just as He delighted over your fathers, 10 if you listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being).
Paul Describes Himself
10 Now I, Paul, urge you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am meek [so they say] when with you face to face, but bold [outspoken and fearless] toward you when absent! 2 I ask that when I do come I will not be driven to the boldness that I intend to show toward those few who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh [like men without the Spirit]. 3 For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. 4 The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete.
7 You are looking [only] at the outward appearance of things. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, he should reflect and consider this, that just as he is Christ’s, so too are we. 8 For even though I boast rather freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed [of the truth], 9 nor do I want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters; 10 for they say, “His letters are weighty and forceful and impressive, but his [a]personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible [of no account].” 11 Let such people realize that what we say by word in letters when we are absent, is the same as what we are in action when present.
12 We do not have the audacity to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with some who [supply testimonials to] commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack wisdom and behave like fools. 13 We, on the other hand, will not boast beyond our proper limit, but [will keep] within the [b]limits of our commission (territory, authority) which God has granted to us as a measure, which reaches and includes even you. 14 We are not overstepping the limits of our province, as if we did not [legitimately] reach to you, for we were the [very] first to come even as far as you with the good news of Christ. 15 We do not go beyond our proper limit, boasting in the work of other men, but we have the hope that as your faith [in Christ and His divine power] continues to grow, our field among you may be greatly expanded [but still within the limits of our commission], 16 so that we may preach the gospel even in the lands beyond you, but not to boast in work already accomplished in another one’s field of activity. 17 However, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”(A) 18 For it is not he who commends and praises himself who is approved [by God], but it is the one whom the Lord commends and praises.
31 Then taking the [a]twelve [disciples] aside, He said to them, “Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled and completed.(A) 32 He will be betrayed and handed over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities), and will be mocked and ridiculed and insulted and abused and spit on,(B) 33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise [from the dead].”(C) 34 But the disciples understood none of these things [about the approaching death and resurrection of Jesus]. This statement was hidden from them, and they did not grasp the [meaning of the] things that were said [by Jesus].
Bartimaeus Receives Sight
35 As He was approaching Jericho [on His way to Jerusalem], it happened that a blind man was sitting beside the road begging.(D) 36 Now when he heard a crowd going by, he began to ask what this was [about]. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 So he shouted out, saying, “Jesus, [b]Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!” 39 Those who were leading the way were sternly telling him to keep quiet; but he screamed all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered that the blind man be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me regain my sight!” 42 Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well.” 43 Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus, glorifying and praising and honoring God. And all the people, when they saw it, praised God.
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