Psalm 68:1-10
The Voice
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.
Footnotes
- 68:7 Literally, selah, likely a musical direction from a Hebrew root meaning “to lift up”
Psalm 68:19-20
The Voice
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.
Job 22:1-20
The Voice
22 Eliphaz the Temanite made suggestions to Job.
2 Eliphaz: Can a strong person be of any use to God?
How about one who is wise? Can he help himself?
3 Is the Highest One[a] made happy if you are righteous?
Does He profit from your perfect ways?
4 Do you really think He takes you to task because you revere Him too much?
Is this why He brings allegations against you?
5 Is it not possible that you are, in fact, great with wickedness
and endless in your wrongdoing?
6 When your relatives came to you needing money,
for no good reason you took their clothes for collateral
and left them naked.
7 You have never given so much as a cup of water to the thirsty
or a crumb to the hungry.
8 You must think only the powerful and privileged possess the land
and can live in it any way they wish.
9 You have sent away widows who were wanting,
and you have obliterated the only support of orphans.
10 This is why you are surrounded by snares,
why you are overcome with dreadful fears,
11 Why you’re in the dark, without a glimmer to help you see,
sunk beneath the rush of flooding water.
12 Is not God up there at the crown of the highest arc of heaven?
And the highest stars!
See how lofty they are!
13 But you—you say, “What does God know?
Can He send His judgments through such thick darkness?
14 Those clouds are just a veil for Him so He does not have to look upon us
while He saunters, oblivious, through the chambers of the sky.”
15 Job, are you now guardian of the ancient road
where the wicked have traveled?
16 The wicked, who are captured
and taken off before their time,
their foundations washed out by a flooded river,
17 They are the ones who tell God, “Leave us be.”
They say, “What can the Highest One do to us?”
18 How are they repaid for their insolence?
You say, “He stuffs their homes with goodness,”
Then you shake your head and mutter,
“Far be it from me to understand the thoughts and plans of the wicked.”
19 The righteous would look upon their ruin and laugh for delight;
the innocent would taunt
20 By saying, “Sure enough, our enemies have gone to their annihilation,
and what they’ve left behind feeds a hungry fire.”
Footnotes
- 22:3 Hebrew, Shaddai
Galatians 2:1-10
The Voice
2 1-2 As a result of a revelation, I returned to Jerusalem 14 years later; and this time Barnabas and Titus accompanied me. When I arrived, I shared the exact gospel that I preach to the outsiders. I first shared God’s truth privately with those who were people of influence and leadership because I thought if they did not embrace the freedom of my good news, then any work I had done for Jesus here and any in the past would be spoiled.
One of the great stories in the Bible is the transformation of Saul, the Pharisee, from a persecutor of the church to the greatest missionary that history has ever witnessed. Seldom does Paul relate that story in his letters. He doesn’t need to because he usually does that in person when he is planting a church. But on this occasion, as he defends his call and the gospel, he retells a bit of his personal history to underscore the complete metamorphosis that has taken place in his life. In his former life, Paul admits—quite painfully, no doubt—that he tried to destroy this movement. Borrowing language from the prophets, Paul narrates how God unveiled to him the truth about Jesus. At just the right moment, even while Paul was an active enemy, God revealed His Son to Paul and called him to be heaven’s emissary to the nations. Paul immediately stopped his campaign against the church, which was just beginning to emerge from its Jewish roots and spread to the Gentile nations.
3 Listen carefully. None of the Jerusalem leaders insisted that Titus be circumcised, although he is Greek. 4 Some people who were pretending to be our brothers and sisters were brought in to spy on the freedom we enjoy in the Anointed One, Jesus—their agenda was clear: they wanted to enslave us. 5 But we didn’t give in to them. We didn’t entertain their thoughts for a minute! We resisted them so the true gospel—and not some counterfeit—would continue to be available to you.
6 It makes no difference to me (or to God for that matter) if people have power or influence. God doesn’t choose favorites among His children. Even the so-called pillars of the church didn’t contribute anything new to my understanding of the good news. 7 But it quickly became obvious to them what God was doing: He had entrusted me to carry the good news to the uncircumcised, just as Peter was called to preach to those who were circumcised. 8 God was at work in the ministry of Peter, as emissary[a] to the Jews, and was also moving and working with me in my ministry to the outsider nations.
9 When James, Cephas (whom you know as Peter), and John—three men purported to be pillars among the Jewish believers—saw that God’s favor was upon me to fulfill this calling, they welcomed and endorsed[b] both Barnabas and me. They agreed that our ministries would work as two hands, theirs advancing the mission of God among the Jews and ours toward the outsider nations, all with the same message of redemption. 10 In parting, they requested we always remember to care for the poor among us, which was something I was eager to do.
Read full chapterThe Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
