Book of Common Prayer
Assurance of God’s Eternal Protection
To the Chief Musician. On [a]a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.
61 Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For You have been a shelter for me,
(A)A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Your [b]tabernacle forever;
(B)I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
5 For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
6 You will prolong the king’s life,
His years as many generations.
7 He shall abide before God forever.
Oh, prepare mercy (C)and truth, which may [c]preserve him!
8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may daily perform my vows.
A Calm Resolve to Wait for the Salvation of God
To the Chief Musician. To (D)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
62 Truly (E)my soul silently waits for God;
From Him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my [d]defense;
I shall not be greatly (F)moved.[e]
3 How long will you attack a man?
You shall be slain, all of you,
(G)Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
4 They only consult to cast him down from his high position;
They (H)delight in lies;
They bless with their mouth,
But they curse inwardly. Selah
5 My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my [f]expectation is from Him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be [g]moved.
7 (I)In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.
8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;
(J)Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
The Blessed State of the Righteous
112 Praise[a] the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who (A)delights greatly in His commandments.
2 (B)His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 (C)Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness [b]endures forever.
4 (D)Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
5 (E)A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs (F)with discretion.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
(G)The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
7 (H)He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 His (I)heart is established;
(J)He will not be afraid,
Until he (K)sees his desire upon his enemies.
9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His [c]horn will be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked shall perish.
The Futility of Idols and the Trustworthiness of God
115 Not (A)unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
2 Why should the [a]Gentiles say,
(B)“So where is their God?”
3 (C)But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
4 (D)Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
7 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 (E)Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
9 (F)O Israel, trust in the Lord;
(G)He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord [b]has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 (H)He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase more and more,
You and your children.
15 May you be (I)blessed by the Lord,
(J)Who made heaven and earth.
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 (K)The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
18 (L)But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!
The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring(A)
11 There (B)shall come forth a [a]Rod from the [b]stem of (C)Jesse,
And (D)a Branch shall [c]grow out of his roots.
2 (E)The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But (F)with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall (G)strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “The(H) wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 (I)They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For (J)the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
Satan Bound 1,000 Years
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, (A)having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of (B)the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and (C)set a seal on him, (D)so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
The Saints Reign with Christ 1,000 Years
4 And I saw (E)thrones, and they sat on them, and (F)judgment was committed to them. Then I saw (G)the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, (H)who had not worshiped the beast (I)or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they (J)lived and (K)reigned with Christ for [a]a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such (L)the second death has no power, but they shall be (M)priests of God and of Christ, (N)and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Satanic Rebellion Crushed(O)
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out (P)to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, (Q)Gog and Magog, (R)to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 (S)They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (T)where[b] the beast and the false prophet are. And they (U)will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
30 (A)I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because (B)I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
The Fourfold Witness
31 (C)“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not [a]true. 32 (D)There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33 You have sent to John, (E)and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35 He was the burning and (F)shining lamp, and (G)you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 36 But (H)I have a greater witness than John’s; for (I)the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very (J)works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, (K)has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, (L)nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 (M)You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and (N)these are they which testify of Me. 40 (O)But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
41 (P)“I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. 44 (Q)How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek (R)the honor that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; (S)there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; (T)for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you (U)do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.