Psalm 31-32

New King James Version

The Lord a Fortress in Adversity

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

31 In ^(A)You, O Lord, I ^[a]put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
²^(B)Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of ^[b]refuge,
A ^[c]fortress of defense to save me.

³^(C)For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, ^(D)for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.
⁴Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
⁵^(E)Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of ^(F)truth.

⁶I have hated those ^(G)who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
⁷I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have ^(H)known my soul in ^[d]adversities,
⁸And have not ^(I)shut^[e] me up into the hand of the enemy;
^(J)You have set my feet in a wide place.

⁹Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
^(K)My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my ^[f]body!
¹⁰For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
¹¹^(L)I am a ^[g]reproach among all my enemies,
But ^(M)especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
^(N)Those who see me outside flee from me.
¹²^(O)I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a ^[h]broken vessel.
¹³^(P)For I hear the slander of many;
^(Q)Fear is on every side;
While they ^(R)take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.

¹⁴But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵My times are in Your ^(S)hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
¹⁶^(T)Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
¹⁷^(U)Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
^(V)Let them be silent in the grave.
¹⁸^(W)Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which ^(X)speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

¹⁹^(Y)Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
²⁰^(Z)You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
^(AA)You shall keep them secretly in a ^[i]pavilion
From the strife of tongues.

²¹Blessed be the Lord,
For ^(AB)He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a ^[j]strong city!
²²For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.

²³Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
²⁴^(AC)Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord.

The Joy of Forgiveness

A Psalm of David. A ^[k]Contemplation.

32 Blessed is he whose ^(AD)transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
²Blessed is the man to whom the Lord ^(AE)does not ^[l]impute iniquity,
And ^(AF)in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
⁴For day and night Your ^(AG)hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
⁵I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
^(AH)I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

⁶^(AI)For this cause everyone who is godly shall ^(AJ)pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
⁷^(AK)You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with ^(AL)songs of deliverance. Selah

⁸I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
⁹Do not be like the ^(AM)horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

¹⁰^(AN)Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But ^(AO)he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
¹¹^(AP)Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Footnotes

Psalm 31:1 have taken refuge
Psalm 31:2 strength
Psalm 31:2 Lit. house of fortresses
Psalm 31:7 troubles
Psalm 31:8 given me over
Psalm 31:9 Lit. belly
Psalm 31:11 despised thing
Psalm 31:12 Lit. perishing
Psalm 31:20 shelter
Psalm 31:21 fortified
Psalm 32:1 Heb. Maschil
Psalm 32:2 charge his account with

Matthew 21:18-32

New King James Version

The Fig Tree Withered^(A)

¹⁸^(B)Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹^(C)And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree^(D)

²⁰^(E)And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”

²¹So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, ^(F)if you have faith and ^(G)do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, ^(H)but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. ²²And ^(I)whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Jesus’ Authority Questioned^(J)

²³^(K)Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and ^(L)said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

²⁴But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵The ^(M)baptism of ^(N)John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ we ^(O)fear the multitude, ^(P)for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my ^(Q)vineyard.’ ²⁹He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, ^(R)“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³²For ^(S)John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; ^(T)but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward ^[a]relent and believe him.