Psalm 33-34

New King James Version

The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History

33 Rejoice ^(A)in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
²Praise the Lord with the harp;
^[a]Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
³Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

⁴For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
⁵He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

⁶^(B)By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the ^(C)host of them ^(D)by the breath of His mouth.
⁷^(E)He gathers the waters of the sea together ^[b]as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
⁹For ^(F)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

¹⁰^(G)The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
¹¹^(H)The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has ^(I)chosen as His own inheritance.

¹³^(J)The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
¹⁴From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
¹⁵He fashions their hearts individually;
^(K)He ^[c]considers all their works.

¹⁶^(L)No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
¹⁷^(M)A horse is a ^[d]vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

¹⁸^(N)Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
¹⁹To deliver their soul from death,
And ^(O)to keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
²¹For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
²²Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.

The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God

A Psalm of David ^(P)when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

34 I will ^(Q)bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
³Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

⁴I ^(R)sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
⁵They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
⁶This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷^(S)The ^[e]angel of the Lord ^(T)encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.

⁸Oh, ^(U)taste and see that the Lord is good;
^(V)Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
⁹Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no ^[f]want to those who fear Him.
¹⁰The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
^(W)But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

¹¹Come, you children, listen to me;
^(X)I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹²^(Y)Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking ^(Z)deceit.
¹⁴^(AA)Depart from evil and do good;
^(AB)Seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵^(AC)The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
¹⁶^(AD)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
^(AE)To ^[g]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁷The righteous cry out, and ^(AF)the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸^(AG)The Lord is near ^(AH)to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as ^[h]have a contrite spirit.

¹⁹^(AI)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
^(AJ)But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰He guards all his bones;
^(AK)Not one of them is broken.
²¹^(AL)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be ^[i]condemned.
²²The Lord ^(AM)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

Footnotes

Psalm 33:2 Lit. Sing to Him
Psalm 33:7 LXX, Tg., Vg. in a vessel
Psalm 33:15 understands
Psalm 33:17 false
Psalm 34:7 Or Angel
Psalm 34:9 lack
Psalm 34:16 destroy
Psalm 34:18 are crushed in spirit
Psalm 34:21 held guilty

Acts 16:22-40

New King James Version

²²Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes ^(A)and commanded them to be beaten with rods. ²³And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Saved

²⁵But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶^(B)Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^(C)all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. ²⁷And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. ²⁸But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

²⁹Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰And he brought them out and said, ^(D)“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹So they said, ^(E)“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴Now when he had brought them into his house, ^(F)he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

Paul Refuses to Depart Secretly

³⁵And when it was day, the magistrates sent the ^[a]officers, saying, “Let those men go.”

³⁶So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned ^(G)Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”

³⁸And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. ³⁹Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and ^(H)asked them to depart from the city. ⁴⁰So they went out of the prison ^(I)and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.