Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 20
A Prayer for Victory for the King
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For the choir director. A psalm by David.
The People’s Prayer
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of distress.
May the name of the God of Jacob lift you up.
2 May he send you help from the holy place.
May he support you from Zion.
3 May he remember all your sacrificial gifts. Interlude
May he accept your burnt offerings.
4 May he give you whatever your heart desires.
May he fulfill all your plans.
5 We will shout joyfully when God saves you.
In the name of our God we will lift up our banners.
May the Lord fulfill all your prayers.
The King’s Response
6 Now I know that the Lord saves his Anointed.[a]
He answers him from his holy heavens
with powerful acts of salvation from his right hand.
The People’s Prayer
7 Some rely on chariots, and some on horses,
but we rely on the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
9 Lord, save the king! Answer us in the day we call!
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Get out of your country and away from your relatives and from your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse anyone who dishonors you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to travel to the land of Canaan. Eventually they arrived in the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land until he came to the Oak of Moreh at the place called Shechem. The Canaanites were in the land at that time.
7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.”[a] Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Faith
11 Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see. 2 For by this faith the ancients were commended in Scripture.[a]
3 By faith we know that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what is seen did not come from visible things.
4 By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did. By faith he was commended in Scripture as righteous; God testified favorably about his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he would not experience death, and he was not found because God took him away.[b] In fact, before he was taken away, he was commended in Scripture as one who “pleased God.”[c] 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. Indeed, it is necessary for the one who approaches God to believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things that had not been seen before, built an ark, in reverent fear, in order to save his family. By it he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance, and he left without knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as a stranger in the Promised Land, as if it did not belong to him, dwelling in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith Abraham also received the ability to conceive children, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was past the normal age, because he considered him faithful who made the promise.[d] 12 And so from one man, and he as good as dead, descendants were born as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand along the seashore.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.