Old/New Testament
Psalm 68
For the worship leader. A song of David.
Psalm 68 is a hymn describing God as a Divine Warrior, marching from Sinai through the wilderness to make His home in Jerusalem.
1 May the True God rise up and show Himself;
may those who are united against Him be dispersed,
while the people who hate Him run away at the sight of Him.
2 As smoke disappears when it is blown by the wind,
may You blow away Your enemies forever.
As wax melts in the presence of fire,
may the wicked heart melt away in God’s presence.
3 But may those who are righteous rejoice
in the presence of the True God—so may they be glad and rejoice.
Yes, let them celebrate with joy!
4 Sing songs of praise to the name that belongs to the True God!
Let your voices ring out in songs of praise to Him, the One who rides through the deserted places.
His name is the Eternal;
celebrate in His glorious presence.
5 The True God who inhabits sacred space
is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.
6 He makes a home for those who are alone.
He frees the prisoners and leads them to prosper.
Yet those who rebel against Him live in the barren land without His blessings and prosperity.
7 O True God, when You led Your enslaved people from Egypt,
when You journeyed with us through the wilderness,
[pause][a]
8 The whole world trembled! The sky poured down rain
at the power of Your presence; even Mount Sinai trembled in Your presence,
the presence of the True God, the God of Israel.
9 You sent a heavy downpour to soak the ground, O True God.
You refreshed the land—the land Your people would inherit—when it was parched and dry.
10 Your covenant people made their homes in the land,
and because You are so good, You provided for those crushed by poverty, O True God.
11 The Lord gives the word;
there are very many women ready to tell the good news:
12 “Kings who lead the armies are on the run!
They are on the run!
And the woman who stays at home is ready, too,
ready to enjoy the treasures that they’ve left behind!”
13 When they lay down among the campfires and open the saddlebags, imagine what they’ll find—
a beautiful dove, its wings covered with silver,
its feathers a shimmering gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings from that place,
it was snowing in Zalmon.
15 O Mount Bashan, you mighty mountain of the True God;
mountain of many peaks, O Mount Bashan.
16 Why are you so jealous, O mountain of many peaks,
when you look at the mountain the True God has chosen as His dwelling place?
The Eternal will surely abide on Mount Zion forever.
17 The chariots of God are innumerable;
there are thousands upon thousands of them.
The Lord is in their midst, just as He was at Mount Sinai.
He has come into the holy place.
18 When You ascended the sacred mountain,
with Your prisoners in tow, Your captives in chains,
You sat in triumph receiving gifts from men,
Even from those who rebel against You, so that You, the Eternal God, might take up residence there.
19 Blessed be the Lord
who carries our heavy loads every day,
the True God who is our salvation.
[pause]
20 We know our God is the God who delivers us,
and the Eternal, the Lord, is the One who saves us from the grip of death.
21 The True God will certainly shatter the skulls of those who oppose Him;
He’ll smash the hairy head of the man who continues on his sinful ways.
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring the enemy back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the deepest parts of the sea,
23 So that you may plant your feet in their blood
and your dogs may lick up their portion of the foe.”
24 The solemn march in Your honor, O True God, has come into view;
the march that celebrates my God, my King, has come into the sanctuary.
25 The singers went first, and the musicians came last
between rows of girls who played tambourines.
26 Come, let us gather to bless the True God
and to praise the Eternal, He who is the fountain of Israel, the source of our life!
27 Look! There are the rulers of Benjamin, the youngest in the lead.
A great crowd follows
The princes of Judah,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 [Your God is the One who has given you strength];[b]
show Your power, O True God, as You have done for us.
29 Because of Your magnificent temple in Jerusalem,
many kings will line up to bring You gifts.
30 Reprimand the beasts in the tall grass,
the herds of bulls that are with the people’s calves,
Trampling over the pieces of silver.
He has driven out the people who love to be at war.
31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt;
the people of Ethiopia[c] will reach out their hands to the one True God.
32 Let all the kingdoms of the earth sing to the True God.
Sing songs of praise to the Lord.
[pause]
33 To Him who rides high up beyond the heavens, which have been since ancient times,
watch and listen. His voice speaks, and it is powerful and strong.
34 Attribute power to the one True God;
His royal splendor is evident over Israel,
and His power courses through the clouds.
35 O True God, You are awesome from the holy place where You dwell.
The True God of Israel Himself
grants strength and power to His people.
Blessed be our God!
Psalm 69
For the worship leader. A song of David to the tune “Lilies.”[d]
This Davidic lament complains to God of enemies, false witnesses, insults, abandonment by friends and family, and even poisoning. Early Christians interpreted this psalm prophetically in order to understand Jesus’ experience in His suffering and death on the cross.
1 Reach down for me, True God; deliver me.
The waters have risen to my neck; I am going down!
2 My feet are swallowed in this murky bog;
I am sinking—there is no sturdy ground.
I am in the deep;
the floods are crashing in!
3 I am weary of howling;
my throat is scratched dry.
I still look for my God
even though my eyes fail.
4 My enemies despise me without any cause;
they outnumber the hairs on my head.
They torment me with their power;
they have absolutely no reason to hate me.
Now I am set to pay for crimes
I have never committed!
5 O True God, my foolish ways are plain before You;
my mistakes—no, nothing can be hidden from You.
6 Don’t let Your hopeful followers face disgrace because of me,
O Lord, Eternal One, Commander of heaven’s armies;
Don’t let Your seekers be shamed on account of me,
O True God of Israel.
7 I have been mocked when I stood up for You;
I cower, shamefaced.
8 You know my brothers and sisters?
They now reject me—they act as if I never existed.
I’m like a stranger to my own family.
9 And here’s why: I am consumed with You, completely devoted to protecting Your house;
when they insult You, they insult me.
10 When I mourn and discipline my soul by fasting,
they deride me.
11 And when I put on sackcloth,
they mock me.
12 Those who sit at the gate gossip about me;
I am shamed by the slurred songs of drunkards.
13 But, Eternal One, I just pray the time is right
that You would hear me. And, True God,
because You are enduring love, that You would answer.
In Your faithfulness, please, save me.
14 Pluck me from this murky bog;
don’t let it pull me down!
Pull me from this rising water;
take me away from my enemies to dry land.
15 Don’t let the flood take me under
or let me, Your servant, be swallowed into the deep
or let the yawning pit seal me in!
16 O Eternal One, hear me. Answer me. For Your enduring love is good comfort;
in Your great mercy, turn toward me.
17 Yes, shine Your face upon me, Your servant;
put an end to my anguish—don’t wait another minute.
18 Come near; rescue me!
Set me free from my enemies.
19 You know all my opponents;
You see them, see the way they treat me—
humiliating me with insults, trying to disgrace me.
20 All this ridicule has broken my heart,
killed my spirit.
I searched for sympathy, and I came up empty.
I looked for supporters, but there was no one.
21 Even more, they gave me poison for my food
and offered me only sour vinegar to drink.
22 Let them be ambushed at the dinner table,
caught in a trap when they least expect it.
23 Cloud their vision so they cannot see;
make their bodies shake, their knees knock in terror.
24 Pour out Your fiery wrath upon them!
Make a clean sweep; engulf them with Your flaming fury.
25 May their camps be bleak
with not one left in any tent.
26 Because they have persecuted the one You have struck,
add insult to those whom You have wounded.
27 Compound their sins; don’t let them off the hook!
Keep them from entering into Your mercy.
28 Blot out their names from Your book of life
so they will not be recorded alongside those who are upright before You.
29 I am living in pain; I’m suffering,
so save me, True God, and keep me safe in troubled times!
30 The name of the True God will be my song,
an uplifting tune of praise and thanksgiving!
31 My praise will please the Eternal more than if I were to sacrifice an ox
or the finest bull. (Horns, hooves, and all!)
32 Those who humbly serve will see and rejoice!
All you seekers-after-God will revive your souls!
33 The Eternal listens to the prayers of the poor
and has regard for His people held in bondage.
34 All God’s creation: join together in His praise! All heaven, all earth,
all seas, all creatures of the ocean deep!
35 The True God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah
So that His servants may own it and live there once again.
36 Their children and children’s children shall have it as their inheritance,
and those who love His name will live in it.
8 Therefore, now no condemnation awaits those who are living in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King, 2 because when you live in the Anointed One, Jesus, a new law takes effect. The law of the Spirit of life breathes into you and liberates you from the law of sin and death. 3 God did something the law could never do. You see, human flesh took its toll on God’s law. In and of itself, the law is not weak; but the flesh weakens it. So to condemn the sin that was ruling in the flesh, God sent His own Son, bearing the likeness of sinful flesh, as a sin offering. 4 Now we are able to live up to the justice demanded by the law. But that ability has not come from living by our fallen human nature; it has come because we walk according to the movement of the Spirit in our lives.
5 If you live your life animated by the flesh—namely, your fallen, corrupt nature—then your mind is focused on the matters of the flesh. But if you live your life animated by the Spirit—namely, God’s indwelling presence—then your focus is on the work of the Spirit. 6 A mind focused on the flesh is doomed to death, but a mind focused on the Spirit will find full life and complete peace. 7 You see, a mind focused on the flesh is declaring war against God; it defies the authority of God’s law and is incapable of following His path. 8 So it is clear that God takes no pleasure in those who live oriented to the flesh.
The power of sin and death has been eclipsed by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit breathes life into our mortal, sin-infested bodies—thanks to what Jesus has done for us. By sending His Son in “the likeness of sinful flesh,” God judges sin finally and completely. The sins of the world are concentrated and condemned in the flesh of Jesus as He hangs on the cross. So now there is no condemnation remaining for those who’ve entered into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
9 But you do not live in the flesh. You live in the Spirit, assuming, of course, that the Spirit of God lives inside of you. The truth is that anyone who does not have the Spirit of the Anointed living within does not belong to God. 10 If the Anointed One lives within you, even though the body is as good as dead because of the effects of sin, the Spirit is infusing you with life now that you are right with God. 11 If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you.
As Paul ponders the story of redemption, he finds in the family unit a beautiful image of what salvation means. Those who enter into God’s salvation are adopted into God’s family. Before we receive the gift of God’s grace, we are homeless orphans searching for some place to belong. But now all that has changed. The Father reaches out through His Son to all those orphaned by sin and death, and He brings them into His family. We are adopted into His forever family and fully enfranchised as His heirs.
12 So, my brothers and sisters, you owe the flesh nothing! You do not need to live according to its ways, so abandon its oppressive regime. 13 For if your life is just about satisfying the impulses of your sinful nature, then prepare to die. But if you have invited the Spirit to destroy these selfish desires, you will experience life. 14 If the Spirit of God is leading you, then take comfort in knowing you are His children. 15 You see, you have not received a spirit that returns you to slavery, so you have nothing to fear. The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy. 16 Through that prayer, God’s Spirit confirms in our spirits that we are His children. 17 If we are God’s children, that means we are His heirs along with the Anointed, set to inherit everything that is His. If we share His sufferings, we know that we will ultimately share in His glory.
18 Now I’m sure of this: the sufferings we endure now are not even worth comparing to the glory that is coming and will be revealed in us. 19 For all of creation is waiting, yearning for the time when the children of God will be revealed. 20 You see, all of creation has collapsed into emptiness, not by its own choosing, but by God’s. Still He placed within it a deep and abiding hope 21 that creation would one day be liberated from its slavery to corruption and experience the glorious freedom of the children of God.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.