Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Relief from Tormentors
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when the (A)Philistines captured him in Gath.
56 Be (B)merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies would (C)hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
(D)I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
(E)Are they not in Your book?
9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because (F)God is for me.
10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the Lord (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
13 (G)For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the (H)light of the living?
Prayer for Safety from Enemies(I)
To the Chief Musician. Set to [b]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David (J)when he fled from Saul into the cave.
57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
(K)And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
(L)Until these calamities have passed by.
2 I will cry out to God Most High,
To God (M)who performs all things for me.
3 (N)He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who [c]would swallow me up. Selah
God (O)shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
4 My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
(P)Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
5 (Q)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 (R)They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah
7 (S)My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake, (T)my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (U)I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the [d]nations.
10 (V)For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
11 (W)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
The Just Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [e]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 (X)The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 (Y)Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not (Z)heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6 (AA)Break[f] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 (AB)Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
(AC)Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your (AD)pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away (AE)as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the (AF)vengeance;
(AG)He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 (AH)So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who (AI)judges in the earth.”
Oppressed by the Wicked but Rejoicing in the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my [a]meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
(A)And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
(B)They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They devise iniquities:
“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
(C)All who see them shall flee away.
9 All men shall fear,
And shall (D)declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.
10 (E)The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory.
Praise to God for His Salvation and Providence
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the [b]vow shall be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
(F)To You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will (G)provide atonement for them.
4 (H)Blessed is the man You (I)choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
(J)We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
6 Who established the mountains by His strength,
(K)Being clothed with power;
7 (L)You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
(M)And the tumult of the peoples.
8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening [c]rejoice.
9 You [d]visit the earth and (N)water it,
You greatly enrich it;
(O)The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
(P)The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
The Lamb and the 144,000
14 Then I looked, and behold, [a]a (A)Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him (B)one hundred and forty-four thousand, [b]having His Father’s name (C)written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, (D)like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of (E)harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song (F)except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, (G)for they are virgins. These are the ones (H)who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These (I)were [c]redeemed from among men, (J)being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And (K)in their mouth was found no [d]deceit, for (L)they are without fault [e]before the throne of God.
The Proclamations of Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel (M)flying in the midst of heaven, (N)having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—(O)to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7 saying with a loud voice, (P)“Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; (Q)and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 And another angel followed, saying, (R)“Babylon[f] is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because (S)she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, (T)“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his (U)mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself (V)shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is (W)poured out full strength into (X)the cup of His indignation. (Y)He shall be tormented with (Z)fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And (AA)the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
12 (AB)Here is the [g]patience of the saints; (AC)here[h] are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying [i]to me, “Write: (AD)‘Blessed are the dead (AE)who die in the Lord from now on.’ ”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, (AF)“that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow (AG)them.”
Christ Brings Division(A)
49 (B)“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But (C)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is (D)accomplished! 51 (E)Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, (F)but rather division. 52 (G)For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 (H)Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Discern the Time(I)
54 Then He also said to the multitudes, (J)“Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55 And when you see the (K)south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. 56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern (L)this time?
Make Peace with Your Adversary
57 “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? 58 (M)When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort (N)along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.