Book of Common Prayer
BOOK TWO
Psalms 42–72
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 (A)My soul thirsts for God, for the (B)living God.
When shall I come and [c]appear before God?
3 (C)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(D)“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
(E)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(F)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 (G)Why are you [d]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(H)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[e]For the help of His countenance.
6 [f]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [g]the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(I)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will (J)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (K)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock,
(L)“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a [h]breaking of my bones,
My enemies [i]reproach me,
(M)While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 (N)Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [j]help of my countenance and my God.
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
43 Vindicate (O)me, O God,
And (P)plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2 For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
(Q)Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Hannah’s Prayer(A)
2 And Hannah (B)prayed and said:
(C)“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
(D)My [a]horn is exalted in the Lord.
[b]I smile at my enemies,
Because I (E)rejoice in Your salvation.
2 “No(F) one is holy like the Lord,
For there is (G)none besides You,
Nor is there any (H)rock like our God.
3 “Talk no more so very proudly;
(I)Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of (J)knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.
4 “The(K) bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even (L)the barren has borne seven,
And (M)she who has many children has become feeble.
6 “The(N) Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.
7 The Lord (O)makes poor and makes rich;
(P)He brings low and lifts up.
8 (Q)He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
(R)To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.
(S)“For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He has set the world upon them.
9 (T)He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the (U)wicked shall be silent in darkness.
The Truth Shall Make You Free
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you (A)abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the (B)truth, and (C)the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, (D)“We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, (E)whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And (F)a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 (G)Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
The Glory of God in Zion
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the (A)city of our God,
In His holy mountain.
2 (B)Beautiful in [a]elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
3 God is in her palaces;
He is known as her refuge.
4 For behold, (C)the kings assembled,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, and so they marveled;
They were troubled, they hastened away.
6 Fear (D)took hold of them there,
And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,
7 As when You break the (E)ships of Tarshish
With an east wind.
8 As we have heard,
So we have seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God will (F)establish it forever. Selah
The Glories of the City of God
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.
87 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 (A)The Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 (B)Glorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God! Selah
4 “I will make mention of [a]Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me;
Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia:
‘This one was born there.’ ”
5 And of Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her;
And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
6 The Lord will record,
When He (C)registers the peoples:
“This one was born there.” Selah
7 Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”
The Command to Love
3 Behold (A)what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that (B)we should be called children of [a]God! Therefore the world does not know [b]us, (C)because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, (D)now we are children of God; and (E)it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, (F)we shall be like Him, for (G)we shall see Him as He is. 3 (H)And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Sin and the Child of God
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and (I)sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know (J)that He was manifested (K)to take away our sins, and (L)in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 (M)He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, (N)that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.