The Joy of Forgiveness

A Psalm of David. A ^[a]Contemplation.

The Memorial Stones

4 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed ^(A)over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: ^2 (B)“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where ^(C)the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in ^(D)the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, ⁶ that this may be ^(E)a sign among you ^(F)when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ Then you shall answer them that ^(G)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for ^(H)a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

⁸ And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

¹⁰ So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. ¹¹ Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ^(I)ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. ¹² And ^(J)the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. ¹³ About forty thousand ^[a]prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho.

Seeing the Invisible

¹⁶ Therefore we ^(A)do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is ^(B)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For ^(C)our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ^18 (D)while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Assurance of the Resurrection

5 For we know that if ^(E)our earthly ^[a]house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house ^(F)not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this ^(G)we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our ^[b]habitation which is from heaven, ³ if indeed, ^(H)having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. ⁴ For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, ^(I)but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also ^(J)has given us the Spirit as ^[c]a guarantee.