A Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance

1431 Let my prayer come to you, O Lord; give ear to my requests for your grace; keep faith with me, and give me an answer in your righteousness; 2 Let not your servant come before you to be judged; for no man living is upright in your eyes. 3 The evil man has gone after my soul; my life is crushed down to the earth: he has put me in the dark, like those who have long been dead. 4 Because of this my spirit is overcome; and my heart is full of fear. 5 I keep in mind the early days of the past, giving thought to all your acts, even to the work of your hands. 6 My hands are stretched out to you: my soul is turned to you, like a land in need of water. (Selah.)

7 Be quick in answering me, O Lord, for the strength of my spirit is gone: let me see your face, so that I may not be like those who go down into the underworld. 8 Let the story of your mercy come to me in the morning, for my hope is in you: give me knowledge of the way in which I am to go; for my soul is lifted up to you. 9 O Lord, take me out of the hands of my haters; my soul is waiting for you. 10 Give me teaching so that I may do your pleasure; for you are my God: let your good Spirit be my guide into the land of righteousness. 11 Give me life, O Lord, because of your name; in your righteousness take my soul out of trouble. 12 And in your mercy put an end to my haters, and send destruction on all those who are against my soul; for I am your servant.

A Prayer for Rescue and Prosperity

1441 Praise be to the God of my strength, teaching my hands the use of the sword, and my fingers the art of fighting: 2 He is my strength, and my Rock; my high tower, and my saviour; my keeper and my hope: he gives me authority over my people. 3 Lord, what is man, that you keep him in mind? or the son of man that you take him into account? 4 Man is like a breath: his life is like a shade which is quickly gone. 5 Come down, O Lord, from your heavens: at your touch let the mountains give out smoke. 6 With your storm-flames send them in flight: send out your arrows for their destruction. 7 Put out your hand from on high; make me free, take me safely out of the great waters, and out of the hands of strange men; 8 In whose mouths are false words, and whose right hand is a right hand of deceit.

9 I will make a new song to you, O God; I will make melody to you on an instrument of ten cords. 10 It is God who gives salvation to kings; and who kept his servant David from the wounding sword. 11 Make me free, and take me out of the hands of strange men, in whose mouths are false words, and whose right hand is a right hand of deceit. 12 Our sons are like tall young plants; and our daughters like the shining stones of a king's house; 13 Our store-houses are full of all good things; and our sheep give birth to thousands and ten thousands in our fields. 14 Our oxen are well weighted down; our cows give birth safely; there is no going out, and there is no cry of sorrow in our open places. 15 Happy is the nation whose ways are so ordered: yes, happy is the nation whose God is the Lord.

Praise for the LORD's Goodness and Power

1451 Let me give glory to you, O God, my King; and blessing to your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I give you blessing, praising your name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his power may never be searched out. 4 One generation after another will give praise to your great acts, and make clear the operation of your strength. 5 My thoughts will be of the honour and glory of your rule, and of the wonder of your works. 6 Men will be talking of the power and fear of your acts; I will give word of your glory. 7 Their sayings will be full of the memory of all your mercy, and they will make songs of your righteousness. 8 The Lord is full of grace and pity; not quickly angry, but great in mercy. 9 The Lord is good to all men; and his mercies are over all his works.

10 All the works of your hands give praise to you, O Lord; and your saints give you blessing. 11 Their words will be of the glory of your kingdom, and their talk of your strength; 12 So that the sons of men may have knowledge of his acts of power, and of the great glory of his kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your rule is through all generations. 14 The Lord is the support of all who are crushed, and the lifter up of all who are bent down. 15 The eyes of all men are waiting for you; and you give them their food in its time. 16 By the opening of your hand, every living thing has its desire in full measure. 17 The Lord is upright in all his ways, and kind in all his works. 18 The Lord is near all those who give honour to his name; even to all who give honour to him with true hearts. 19 To his worshippers, he will give their desire; their cry comes to his ears, and he gives them salvation. 20 The Lord will keep all his worshippers from danger; but he will send destruction on all sinners. 21 My mouth will give praise to the Lord; let all flesh be blessing his holy name for ever and ever.

21 In the law it is said, By men of other tongues and by strange lips will my words come to this people; and not even so will they give ear to me, says the Lord. 22 For this reason tongues are for a sign, not to those who have faith, but to those who have not: but the prophet's word is for those who have faith, and not for the rest who have not. 23 If, then, the church has come together, and all are using tongues, and there come in men without knowledge or faith, will they not say that you are unbalanced? 24 But if all are teaching as prophets, and a man without faith or knowledge comes in, he is tested by all, he is judged by all; 25 The secrets of his heart are made clear; and he will go down on his face and give worship to God, saying that God is truly among you.

26 What is it then, my brothers? when you come together everyone has a holy song, or a revelation, or a tongue, or is giving the sense of it. Let everything be done for the common good. 27 If any man makes use of a tongue, let it not be more than two, or at the most three, and in turn; and let someone give the sense: 28 But if there is no one to give the sense, let him keep quiet in the church; and let his words be to himself and to God. 29 And let the prophets give their words, but not more than two or three, and let the others be judges of what they say. 30 But if a revelation is given to another who is seated near, let the first be quiet. 31 For you may all be prophets in turn so that all may get knowledge and comfort; 32 And the spirits of the prophets are controlled by the prophets; 33 For God is not a God whose ways are without order, but a God of peace; as in all the churches of the saints.

34 Let women keep quiet in the churches: for it is not right for them to be talking; but let them be under control, as it says in the law. 35 And if they have a desire for knowledge about anything, let them put questions to their husbands privately: for talking in the church puts shame on a woman.

36 What? was it from you that the word of God went out? or did it only come in to you? 37 If any man seems to himself to be a prophet or to have the Spirit, let him take note of the things which I am writing to you, as being the word of the Lord. 38 But if any man is without knowledge, let him be so. 39 So then, my brothers, let it be your chief desire to be prophets; but let no one be stopped from using tongues. 40 Let all things be done in the right and ordered way.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:21-40

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:15-25

(Read 1 Corinthians 14:15-25)

There can be no assent to prayers that are not understood. A truly Christian minister will seek much more to do spiritual good to men's souls, than to get the greatest applause to himself. This is proving himself the servant of Christ. Children are apt to be struck with novelty; but do not act like them. Christians should be like children, void of guile and malice; yet they should not be unskilful as to the word of righteousness, but only as to the arts of mischief. It is a proof that a people are forsaken of God, when he gives them up to the rule of those who teach them to worship in another language. They can never be benefitted by such teaching. Yet thus the preachers did who delivered their instructions in an unknown tongue. Would it not make Christianity ridiculous to a heathen, to hear the ministers pray or preach in a language which neither he nor the assembly understood? But if those who minister, plainly interpret Scripture, or preach the great truths and rules of the gospel, a heathen or unlearned person might become a convert to Christianity. His conscience might be touched, the secrets of his heart might be revealed to him, and so he might be brought to confess his guilt, and to own that God was present in the assembly. Scripture truth, plainly and duly taught, has a wonderful power to awaken the conscience and touch the heart.

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:26-33

(Read 1 Corinthians 14:26-33)

Religious exercises in public assemblies should have this view; Let all be done to edifying. As to the speaking in an unknown tongue, if another were present who could interpret, two miraculous gifts might be exercised at once, and thereby the church be edified, and the faith of the hearers confirmed at the same time. As to prophesying, two or three only should speak at one meeting, and this one after the other, not all at once. The man who is inspired by the Spirit of God will observe order and decency in delivering his revelations. God never teaches men to neglect their duties, or to act in any way unbecoming their age or station.

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:34-40

(Read 1 Corinthians 14:34-40)

When the apostle exhorts Christian women to seek information on religious subjects from their husbands at home, it shows that believing families ought to assemble for promoting spiritual knowledge. The Spirit of Christ can never contradict itself; and if their revelations are against those of the apostle, they do not come from the same Spirit. The way to keep peace, truth, and order in the church, is to seek that which is good for it, to bear with that which is not hurtful to its welfare, and to keep up good behaviour, order, and decency.