The Book of Common Prayer Part 64

PSALM 21. _Domine, in virtute tua_.

The King shall rejoice in thy strength, O Lord: exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation.

2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire: and hast not denied him the request of his lips.

3 For thou shalt prevent him with the blessings of goodness: and shalt set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest him a long life: even for ever and ever.

5 His honour is great in thy salvation: glory and great wors.h.i.+p shalt thou lay upon him.

6 For thou shalt give him everlasting felicity: and make him glad with the joy of thy countenance.

7 And why? because the King putteth his trust in the Lord: and in the mercy of the most Highest he shall not miscarry.

8 All thine enemies shall feel thine hand: thy right hand shall find out them that hate thee.

9 Thou shalt make them like a fiery oven in time of thy wrath: the Lord shall destroy them in his displeasure, and the fire shall consume them.

10 Their fruit shalt thou root out of the earth: and their seed from among the children of men.

11 For they intended mischief against thee: and imagined such a device as they are not able to perform.

12 Therefore shalt thou put them to flight: and the strings of thy bow shalt thou make ready against the face of them.

13 Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing, and praise thy power.

DAY 4 EVENING PRAYER

PSALM 22. _Deus, Deus meus_.

O my G.o.d, my G.o.d, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me: and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint?

2 O my G.o.d, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not: and in the night-season also I take no rest.

3 And thou continuest holy: O thou wors.h.i.+p of Israel.

4 Our fathers hoped in thee: they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them.

5 They called upon thee, and were holpen: they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded.

6 But as for me, I am a worm, and no man: a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people.

7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying,

8 He trusted in G.o.d, that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, if he will have him.

9 But thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb: thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother's b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

10 I have been left unto thee ever since I was born: thou art my G.o.d, even from my mother's womb.

11 O go not from me, for trouble is hard at hand: and there is none to help me.

12 Many oxen are come about me: fat bulls of Basan close me in on every side.

13 They gape upon me with their mouths: as it were a ramping and a roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my gums: and thou shalt bring me into the dust of death.

16 For many dogs are come about me: and the council of the wicked layeth siege against me.

17'They pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all my bones: they stand staring and looking upon me.

18 They part my garments among them: and cast lots upon my vesture.

19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: thou art my succour, haste thee to help me.

20 Deliver my soul from the sword: my darling from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the lion's mouth: thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the unicorns.

22 I will declare thy Name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23 O praise the Lord, ye that fear him: magnify him, all ye of the seed of Jacob, and fear him, all ye seed of Israel;

24 For he hath not despised, nor abhorred, the low estate of the poor: he hath not hid his face from him, but when he called unto him he heard him.

25 My praise is of thee in the great congregation: my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear him.

26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied: they that seek after the Lord shall praise him; your heart shall live for ever.

27 All the ends of the world shall remember themselves, and be turned unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall wors.h.i.+p before him.

28 For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the Governor among the people.

29 All such as be fat upon earth: have eaten and wors.h.i.+pped.

30 All they that go down into the dust shall kneel before him: and no man hath quickened his own soul.

31 My seed shall serve him: they shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation.

32 They shall come, and the heavens shall declare his righteousness: unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made.

PSALM 23. _Dominus regit me_.

The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing.