Psalm 31:9-16

The Voice

⁹Show me Your grace, Eternal One, for I am in a tight spot.
    My eyes are aching with grief;
    my body and soul are withering with miseries.
¹⁰My life is devoured by sorrow,
    and my years are haunted with mourning.
My sin has sapped me of all my strength;
    my body withers under the weight of this suffering.

¹¹To all my enemies I am an object of scorn.
    My neighbors especially are ashamed of me.
My friends are afraid to be seen with me.
    When I walk down the street, people go out of their way to avoid me.
¹²I am as good as dead to them. Forgotten!
    Like a shattered clay pot, I am easily discarded and gladly replaced.
¹³For I hear their whispered plans;
    terror is everywhere!
They conspire together,
    planning, plotting, scheming to take my life.

¹⁴But I pour my trust into You, Eternal One.
    I’m glad to say, “You are my God!”
¹⁵I give the moments of my life over to You, Eternal One.
    Rescue me from those who hate me and who hound me with their threats.
¹⁶Look toward me, and let Your face shine down upon Your servant.
    Because of Your gracious love, save me!

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Isaiah 54:9-10

The Voice

⁹    I think this is like the time when Noah lived.
        I promised that I would never again destroy the world by a flood.
    So now I am promising never again to be so angry
        and punishing as I was when I sent you away.
¹⁰    Even if the mountains heave up from their anchors,
        and the hills quiver and shake, I will not desert you.
    You can rely on My enduring love;
        My covenant of peace will stand forever.

So says the Eternal One, whose love won’t give up on you.

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Hebrews 2:10-18

The Voice

Here is God’s Son: Creator, Sustainer, Great High Priest. Jesus has to take on our feeble flesh and suffer a violent death. He suffers for what we need.

¹⁰It only makes sense that God, by whom and for whom everything exists, would choose to bring many of us to His side by using suffering to perfect Jesus, the founder of our faith, the pioneer of our salvation. ¹¹As I will show you, it’s important that the One who brings us to God and those who are brought to God become one, since we are all from one Father. This is why Jesus was not ashamed to call us His family, ¹²saying, in the words of the psalmist,

I will speak Your Name to My brothers and sisters
when I praise You in the midst of the community.^[a]

¹³And in the words of Isaiah,

I will wait for the Eternal One.^[b]

And again,

Look, here I am with the children God has given Me.^[c]

¹⁴Since we, the children, are all creatures of flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood, so that by dying He could destroy the one who held power over death—the devil— ¹⁵and destroy the fear of death that has always held people captive.

¹⁶So notice—His concern here is not for the welfare of the heavenly messengers, but for the children of Abraham. ¹⁷He had to become as human as His sisters and brothers so that when the time came, He could become a merciful and faithful high priest of God, called to reconcile a sinful people. ¹⁸Since He has also been tested by suffering, He can help us when we are tested.

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