Book of Common Prayer
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
A Prayer for Help
1 I patiently waited, Lord,
for you to hear my prayer.
You listened 2 and pulled me
from a lonely pit
full of mud and mire.
You let me stand on a rock
with my feet firm,
3 and you gave me a new song,
a song of praise to you.
Many will see this,
and they will honor and trust
you, the Lord God.
4 You bless all of those
who trust you, Lord,
and refuse to worship idols
or follow false gods.
5 You, Lord God, have done
many wonderful things,
and you have planned
marvelous things for us.
No one is like you!
I would never be able to tell
all you have done.
6 (A) Sacrifices and offerings
are not what please you;
gifts and payment for sin
are not what you demand.
But you made me willing
to listen and obey.
7 And so, I said, “I am here
to do what is written
about me in the book,
where it says,
8 ‘I enjoy pleasing you.
Your Law is in my heart.’ ”
9 When your people worshiped,
you know I told them,
“Our Lord always helps!”
10 When all your people met,
I did not keep silent.
I said, “Our Lord is kind.
He is faithful and caring,
and he saves us.”
11 You, Lord, never fail
to have pity on me;
your love and faithfulness
always keep me secure.
12 I have more troubles
than I can count.
My sins are all around me,
and I can't find my way.
My sins outnumber
the hairs on my head,
and I feel weak.
13 Please show that you care
and come to my rescue.
Hurry and help me!
14 Disgrace and confuse
all who want me dead;
turn away and disgrace
all who want to hurt me.
15 Embarrass and shame
everyone who says,
“Just look at you now!”
16 Our Lord, let your worshipers
rejoice and be glad.
They love you for saving them,
so let them always say,
“The Lord is wonderful!”
17 I am poor and needy,
but, Lord God,
you care about me,
and you come to my rescue.
Please hurry and help.
(For the music leader. Use with stringed instruments. A special psalm that David wrote when the people of Ziph went to Saul and said, “David is hiding here with us.”)
Trusting God in Times of Trouble
1 (A) Save me, God, by your power
and prove that I am right.
2 Listen to my prayer
and hear what I say.
3 Cruel strangers have attacked
and want me dead.
Not one of them cares
about you.
4 You will help me, Lord God,
and keep me from falling;
5 you will punish my enemies
for their evil deeds.
Be my faithful friend
and destroy them.
6 I will bring a gift
and offer a sacrifice
to you, Lord.
I will praise your name
because you are good.
7 You have rescued me
from all my troubles,
and my own eyes have seen
my enemies fall.
(For the music leader. A psalm by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had been with Bathsheba.)
A Prayer for Forgiveness
1 (A) You are kind, God!
Please have pity on me.
You are always merciful!
Please wipe away my sins.
2 Wash me clean from all
of my sin and guilt.
3 I know about my sins,
and I cannot forget
the burden of my guilt.
4 (B) You are really the one
I have sinned against;
I have disobeyed you
and have done wrong.
So it is right and fair for you
to correct and punish me.
5 I have sinned and done wrong
since the day I was born.
6 But you want complete honesty,
so teach me true wisdom.
7 Wash me with hyssop[a]
until I am clean
and whiter than snow.
8 Let me be happy and joyful!
You crushed my bones,
now let them celebrate.
9 Turn your eyes from my sin
and cover my guilt.
10 Create pure thoughts in me
and make me faithful again.
11 Don't chase me away from you
or take your Holy Spirit
away from me.
12 Make me as happy as you did
when you saved me;
make me want to obey!
13 I will teach sinners your Law,
and they will return to you.
14 Keep me from any deadly sin.
Only you can save me!
Then I will shout and sing
about your power to save.
15 Help me to speak,
and I will praise you, Lord.
16 Offerings and sacrifices
are not what you want.
17 The way to please you
is to be truly sorry
deep in our hearts.
This is the kind of sacrifice
you won't refuse.
18 Please be willing, Lord,
to help the city of Zion
and to rebuild its walls.
19 Then you will be pleased
with the proper sacrifices,
and we will offer bulls
on your altar once again.
3 (A) You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God's right side.[a] 2 Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth. 3 You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God. 4 Christ gives meaning to your[b] life, and when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory.
5 Don't be controlled by your body. Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex. Don't be immoral or indecent or have evil thoughts. Don't be greedy, which is the same as worshiping idols. 6 God is angry with people who disobey him by doing[c] these things. 7 And this is exactly what you did, when you lived among people who behaved in this way. 8 But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others. 9 (B) And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits.
10 (C) Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better. 11 It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian,[d] and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
Jesus Heals an Army Officer's Servant
(Matthew 8.5-13; John 4.43-54)
7 After Jesus had finished teaching the people, he went to Capernaum. 2 In this town an army officer's servant was sick and about to die. The officer liked his servant very much. 3 And when he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish leaders to ask him to come and heal the servant.
4 The leaders went to Jesus and begged him to do something. They said, “This man deserves your help! 5 He loves our nation and even built us a synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.
When Jesus wasn't far from the house, the officer sent some friends to tell him, “Lord, don't go to any trouble for me! I am not good enough for you to come into my house. 7 And I am certainly not worthy to come to you. Just say the word, and my servant will get well. 8 I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “In all of Israel I've never found anyone with this much faith!”
10 The officer's friends returned and found the servant well.
A Widow's Son
11 Soon Jesus and his disciples were on their way to the town of Nain, and a big crowd was going along with them. 12 As they came near the gate of the town, they saw people carrying out the body of a widow's only son. Many people from the town were walking along with her.
13 When the Lord saw the woman, he felt sorry for her and said, “Don't cry!”
14 Jesus went over and touched the stretcher on which the people were carrying the dead boy. They stopped, and Jesus said, “Young man, get up!” 15 The boy sat up and began to speak. Jesus then gave him back to his mother.
16 Everyone was frightened and praised God. They said, “A great prophet is here with us! God has come to his people.”
17 News about Jesus spread all over Judea and everywhere else in that part of the country.
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