Book of Common Prayer
Faith Persevering in Trial(A)
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
40 I (B)waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of (C)the miry clay,
And (D)set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
3 (E)He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.
4 (F)Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 (G)Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
(H)And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
6 (I)Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 (J)I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is (K)within my heart.”
9 (L)I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness
In the great assembly;
Indeed, (M)I do not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You Yourself know.
10 (N)I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
From the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord;
(O)Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
(P)My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.
13 (Q)Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me!
14 (R)Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who seek to destroy my [a]life;
Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor
Who wish me evil.
15 Let them be (S)confounded because of their shame,
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries
To the Chief Musician. With [a]stringed instruments. A [b]Contemplation of David (A)when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?”
54 Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your strength.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen up against me,
And oppressors have sought after my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah
4 Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who [c]uphold my life.
5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.
[d]Cut them off in Your [e]truth.
6 I will freely sacrifice to You;
I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For He has delivered me out of all trouble;
(B)And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.
A Prayer of Repentance
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David (A)when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
(B)Blot out my transgressions.
2 (C)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 (D)Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil (E)in Your sight—
(F)That You may be found just [a]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
5 (G)Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 (H)Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be (I)whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken (J)may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (K)Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your (L)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your (M)generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For (N)You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 (O)The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with (P)the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
Fear God, Keep Your Vows
5 Walk (A)prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather (B)than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
2 Do not be (C)rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words (D)be few.
3 For a dream comes through much activity,
And (E)a fool’s voice is known by his many words.
4 (F)When you make a vow to God, do not delay to (G)pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—
5 (H)Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
6 Do not let your (I)mouth cause your flesh to sin, (J)nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your [a]excuse and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But (K)fear God.
The Changeless Promise(A)
15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: (B)Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of (C)one, (D)“And to your Seed,” who is (E)Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, (F)which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God [a]in Christ, (G)that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if (H)the inheritance is of the law, (I)it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Purpose of the Law
19 What purpose then does the law serve? (J)It was added because of transgressions, till the (K)Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was (L)appointed through angels by the hand (M)of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, (N)but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined (O)all under sin, (P)that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(A)
22 Immediately Jesus [a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 (B)And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. (C)Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now [b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him (D)walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, [c]“Be of good (E)cheer! [d]It is I; do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw [e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of (F)little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat [f]came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly (G)You are the Son of God.”
Many Touch Him and Are Made Well(H)
34 (I)When they had crossed over, they came [g]to the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36 and begged Him that they might only (J)touch the hem of His garment. And (K)as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.