Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88
Darkness Is My Friend
The Headings
A song. A psalm. By the Sons of Korah.
For the choir director. According to mahalath leannoth.[a]
A maskil[b] of Heman the Ezrahite.
Opening Plea
1 O Lord, the God who saves me, by day I cry out.
At night I cry before you.
2 May my prayer come before you.
Turn your ear to my cry.
The Problem
3 Indeed, my soul has had its fill of troubles,
and my life has arrived at the grave.
4 I am treated like those who go down to the pit.
I am like someone without strength.
5 I am turned loose with the dead.
I am like the slain who lie in the grave,
like the ones you do not remember anymore,
like those who are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in dark places, in the depths.
7 Your wrath presses against me. Interlude
You have battered me with all your breakers.
8 You have distanced my acquaintances from me.
You have made me repulsive to them.
I am shut in and I cannot get out.
9 My eyesight grows dim from affliction.
I call to you, O Lord, every day.
I spread out my hands to you.
The Darkness of Death
10 Is it for the dead that you do a miracle? Interlude
Do the spirits of the dead rise up and praise you?
11 Is your mercy declared in the tomb,
your faithfulness in decay?
12 Is your wonderful work known in the darkness?
Is your righteousness known in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I cry to you, O Lord,
and in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, O Lord, do you reject my soul?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 I have been afflicted
and I have been close to death since my youth.
I have endured your terrors.
I am in despair.
16 Your rage has swept over me.
Your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like water.
They have battered me completely.
18 You have distanced my loved one and friend from me.
My only friend is darkness.
Psalm 91
The Shadow of Your Wings
The General Principle
1 One who lives in the shelter of the Most High
will stay in the shadow of the Almighty.
Application to Oneself
2 I will say to the Lord,
“My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”
Application to Others
3 Surely he will rescue you from the fowler’s trap,
from the destructive plague.
4 With his feathers he will cover you,
and under his wings you will find refuge.
His truth will be your shield and armor.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the plague that prowls in the darkness,
nor the pestilence that destroys at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe it with your eyes.
You will see the punishment of the wicked.
Application to Oneself
9 Yes, you, Lord, are my refuge!
Application to Others
If you make the Most High your shelter,
10 evil will not overtake you.
Disaster will not come near your tent.
11 Yes, he will give a command to his angels concerning you,
to guard you in all your ways.
12 They will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra.
You will trample the young lion and the serpent.
God’s Promise of Delivery
14 The Lord says,[a]
Because he clings to me, I will rescue him.
I will protect him, because he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him in distress.
I will deliver him and I will honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
and I will let him see my salvation.
Psalm 92
It Is Good to Praise the Lord
Heading
A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath.
A Call to Praise
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
2 to proclaim your mercy in the morning
and your faithfulness every night,
3 with a ten-stringed instrument and with a harp,
with a melody on a lyre.
The Blessings of Praise
4 Yes, you make me glad by your work, O Lord.
I sing loudly at the works of your hands.
5 How great are your works, O Lord.
Your thoughts are very deep!
The Folly and Fall of the Wicked
6 The senseless man does not know,
and the fool does not understand this—
7 when the wicked spring up like weeds,
and all evildoers bloom like flowers,
they will be destroyed forever.
Central Affirmation
8 But you are exalted forever, O Lord.
The Fall of the Wicked
9 Without a doubt your enemies, O Lord,
without a doubt your enemies will perish.
All evildoers will be scattered.
The Blessing of the Righteous
10 But you have raised my horn like that of a wild ox.[b]
I am drenched with fresh oil.[c]
11 My eyes have looked in triumph over my adversaries.
When evildoers rise against me, my ears hear their defeat.
12 The righteous will shoot up like a palm tree.
They will grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Planted in the house of the Lord,
they will shoot up in the courtyards of our God.
14 They will still produce fruit in old age.
They will stay fresh and green.
Closing Praise
15 Yes, they can proclaim, “The Lord is upright.
He is my Rock, and he does no wrong.”
Samuel Becomes a Prophet
3 The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days. Prophetic vision was not common.
2 Now it happened that Eli’s eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see. Once when Eli was lying down in his place 3 and God’s lamp had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s temple, where God’s ark was. 4 The Lord called Samuel, and Samuel said, “I am here.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “I am here, since you called me.”
Eli said, “I did not call. Lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
6 Then the Lord called once more, “Samuel!”
So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “I am here, since you called me.”
He answered, “I did not call, my son. Lie down again.”
7 Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord’s presence,[a] that is, the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 The Lord called Samuel for the third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said, “I am here, since you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the young man. 9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”
So Samuel went and once again lay down in his place. 10 The Lord came and stood there and called as he had the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Look, I am going to do something in Israel that will make both ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 On that day I am going to carry out against Eli everything that I have spoken against his house, from beginning to end. 13 I have told him that I am going to judge his house forever because of their guilty behavior, which he knew about. This will happen because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he did not restrain them. 14 I have sworn to the house of Eli that the guilt of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for with sacrifice or offering.”
15 So Samuel lay there until morning.[b] Then he opened the doors to the Lord’s house. Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. 16 But Eli called to Samuel, “Samuel, my son!”
He said, “I am here.”
17 Eli said, “What is the message that he has spoken to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God punish you severely and double it,[c] if you hide from me one word of all of the things that he spoke to you.”
18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him.
Eli said, “He is the Lord. Let him do whatever is good in his eyes.”
19 Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him. The Lord let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because at Shiloh the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord. ⎣So Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord for all Israel, from one end of the land to the other end.⎦[d]
37 Now when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Gentlemen, brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter answered them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your[a] sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40 He testified solemnly with many other words and was appealing to them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 Those who[b] accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added.
The Christians Lived in Unity
42 They continued to hold firmly to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers. 43 Awe came over every soul,[c] and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They were selling their possessions and property and were distributing the proceeds according to what anyone needed.
46 Day after day, with one mind, they were devoted to meeting in the temple area, as they continued to break bread in their homes. They shared their food with glad and sincere hearts, 47 as they continued praising God and being viewed favorably by all the people. Day after day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
The Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World
5 As some were talking about the temple, how it was decorated with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said, 6 “These things that you see here—the days will come when there will not be one stone left on another—every one will be thrown down.”
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will these things happen? And what is the sign that these things are about to happen?”
8 He said, “Watch out so that you are not deceived! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 Whenever you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end will not be right then.”
10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be horrifying sights and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 It will turn out to be your opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand how to defend yourselves, 15 for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers,[a] relatives, and friends. They will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all people for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By patient endurance you will gain your lives.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.