Old/New Testament
Psalm 70
For the worship leader. A song of David for remembering.
1 O God, hurry to save me;
Eternal One, hurry to my side.
2 For those who seek to kill me,
God, may they burn in disgrace and humiliation!
Repulse the attacks; ridicule the efforts
of those taking pleasure in my pain.
3 I hear their taunts: “Nah, nah, nah . . . .”
Let those hecklers fall back upon their brays—ashamed and confused—
4 But let those who pursue You
celebrate and have joy because of You.
And let the song of those who love Your saving grace
never cease: “God is great!”
5 But I am poor and in serious need,
so hurry to my side, God,
Because You are my helper, my liberator.
Eternal One, please don’t wait.
Psalm 71
1 I have found shelter in You, Eternal One;
I count on You to shield me always from humiliation and disgrace.
2 Rescue and save me in Your justice.
Turn Your ear to me, and hurry to deliver me from my enemies.
3 Be my rock of refuge where I can always hide.
You have given the order to keep me safe;
You are my solid ground—my rock and my fortress.
4 Save me from the power of sinful people, O my God,
from the grip of unjust and cruel men.
5 For You are my hope, Eternal One;
You, Lord, have been the source of my confidence since I was young.
6 I have leaned upon You since I came into this world;
I have relied on You since You took me safely from my mother’s body,
So I will ever praise You.
7 Many find me a mystery,
but You are my rock and my shelter—my soul’s asylum.
8 My mouth overflows with praise to You
and proclaims Your magnificence all day long.
9 Do not set me aside when I am old;
do not abandon me when I am worn out.
10 For my enemies often voice evil against me;
those who desire to kill me plot together in secret.
11 They say, “God has abandoned him;
let’s go after him right now and seize him.
There’s no one around to rescue him.”
12 God, stay close by me.
Come quick, O my God, and help me!
13 May my enemies be covered in shame and then die;
may those who seek to harm me
be overwhelmed with contempt and disgrace.
14 But I will keep hope alive,
and my praise to You will grow exponentially.
15 I will bear witness to Your merciful acts;
throughout the day I will speak of all the ways You deliver,
although, I admit, I do not know the entirety of either.
16 I will come with stories of Your great acts, my Lord, the Eternal.
I will remind them of Your justice, only Yours.
17 You have taught me since I was young, O God,
and I still proclaim the wonderful things You have done.
18 Now as I grow old and my hair turns gray,
I ask that You not abandon me, O God.
Allow me to share with the generation to come
about Your power;
Let me speak about Your strength and wonders
to all those yet to be born.
19 God, Your justice stretches to the heavens,
You who have done mighty things!
Who is like You, O God?
20 You have made me see hard times: I’ve experienced many miserable days,
but You will restore me again.
You will raise me up
from the deep pit.
21 You will greatly increase my status
and be my comfort once again.
22 I will praise You with music played on a harp
because You have been faithful, O my God.
I will sing praises to You with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 I will shout for joy
as I sing Your praises;
my soul will celebrate because You have rescued me.
24 All day long I will declare how Your justice saved me,
for those who have plotted to bring me harm
are now ashamed and humiliated.
22 For we know that all creation groans in unison with birthing pains up until now. 23 And there is more; it’s not just creation—all of us are groaning together too. Though we have already tasted the firstfruits of the Spirit, we are longing for the total redemption of our bodies that comes when our adoption as children of God is complete— 24 for we have been saved in this hope and for this future. But hope does not involve what we already have or see. For who goes around hoping for what he already has? 25 But if we wait expectantly for things we have never seen, then we hope with true perseverance and eager anticipation.
26 A similar thing happens when we pray. We are weak and do not know how to pray, so the Spirit steps in and articulates prayers for us with groaning too profound for words. 27 Don’t you know that He who pursues and explores the human heart intimately knows the Spirit’s mind because He pleads to God for His saints to align their lives with the will of God? 28 We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. 29-30 From the distant past, His eternal love reached into the future. You see, He knew those who would be His one day, and He chose them beforehand to be conformed to the image of His Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn of a new family of believers, all brothers and sisters. As for those He chose beforehand, He called them to a different destiny so that they would experience what it means to be made right with God and share in His glory.
31 So what should we say about all of this? If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should we fear? 32 If He did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over on our account, then don’t you think that He will graciously give us all things with Him? 33 Can anyone be so bold as to level a charge against God’s chosen? Especially since God’s “not guilty” verdict is already declared. 34 Who has the authority to condemn? Jesus the Anointed who died, but more importantly, conquered death when He was raised to sit at the right hand of God where He pleads on our behalf. 35 So who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing. 36 As the psalm says,
On Your behalf, our lives are endangered constantly;
we are like sheep awaiting slaughter.[a]
37 But no matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us. 38 For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, 39 height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.