Old/New Testament
David wrote this psalm when he was in the Judah wilderness.
A morning song[a]
63 God, you are my God.
I want to be near to you.
I need you to give me life,
like a thirsty person in a dry desert.
As a person needs water to live,
that is how I need you.[b]
2 When I have gone into your temple,
I have seen what you are like.
I have seen your great power and your glory.
3 Your faithful love for me is better than life itself.
So I will speak out to praise you.
4 Yes, I will thank you for as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands and I will pray to you.
5 You make me very happy,
better than a feast of good food.
I will sing happy songs to praise you.
6 When I lie on my bed,
I think about you all through the night.
7 You are the one who keeps me safe,
like a bird protects its babies under its wings.
So I sing happy songs.
8 I keep very near to you
and your strong right hand keeps me safe.
9 My enemies are trying to kill me,
but I know that they themselves will die.
They will go down into the deep hole of death.
10 Soldiers will kill them with swords.
Wild dogs will eat their dead bodies.
11 But the king will sing songs to praise God.[c]
Everybody who promises to serve God
will speak aloud to praise him.
But everyone who tells lies
will not be able to say anything!
David wrote this song for the music leader.
God will keep us safe[d]
64 God, please listen to me
as I tell you about my troubles.
Keep me safe from my enemies
when they attack me.
2 When evil men think of ways to hurt me,
hide me in a safe place.
Those people work together as a group
to do wicked things.
3 Their tongues are like
sharp swords that hurt people.
Their cruel words are like
arrows that they shoot at people.
4 They hide in secret places,
and they quickly shoot lies at good people.
They are not afraid that anyone will punish them.
5 They help each other to do evil things.
They decide where they will hide their traps,
and they say, ‘Nobody will see them!’
6 They think of wicked ideas to hurt people.
They say, ‘That is a great idea!’[e]
Nobody really understands what people think
deep inside themselves.
7 But God will punish them!
He will suddenly shoot an arrow at them
and it will hurt them a lot.[f]
8 Their own evil words will turn against them
and make them fall.
Everyone who sees them will shake their heads.
9 People will be afraid.
They will say, ‘Look at what God has done!’
They will think carefully about it all.
10 But people who serve the Lord should be happy
because of what he has done.
They should trust him to keep them safe.
Good, honest people should praise God,
because he is great!
This psalm is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
We trust God to save us[g]
65 God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion.
There, we will offer to you
the gifts that we have promised.
2 You answer our prayers.
All of us must come to you,
3 because of our many sins.
Our sins are too heavy for us to carry,
but you forgive the bad things that we do against you.[h]
4 You have blessed each person that you have chosen.
You let them live near to you in your home.
The good things that are in your holy temple
will make us very happy!
5 God, you are the one who saves us!
You answer our prayers,
and you do great things to rescue us.
People from everywhere on earth trust in you,
even those who live far away across the seas.
6 You used your power to make the mountains,
and you showed how strong you are.
7 You stop the seas from being angry,
so that their waters make no noise.[i]
You do the same with the angry nations.
8 People who live far away see
the great things that you have done.
It makes them afraid.
Everywhere on earth, east and west,
people sing happy songs to praise you.
9 You take care of the land.
You send rain to make the earth good for plants.
Your rivers are full of water.
You cause the earth to give good crops
so that the people have grain to eat.
10 When people plough their fields,
you send rain to make the earth wet.
You make the ground soft with the rain,
so that crops grow there.
11 Every year at harvest time,
you bless people with lots of good things.
Everywhere that you go,
there is plenty of food.[j]
12 Fresh grass covers the fields in the wilderness.
There are plenty of good things all over the hills,
so that people are very happy.
13 The fields are full of sheep.
The valleys are covered with crops.
Everywhere seems to shout and sing for joy!
Sin does not rule us any longer
6 Someone might say, ‘Perhaps we should continue to do wrong things. Then God can be kind to us in more and more ways.’ 2 No! Certainly we should not do that! Sin does not rule our lives any longer. That old life is dead! So it is not right that we should continue to do wrong things. 3 Remember what your baptism shows: When they baptized you, it shows that you are united with Christ Jesus. It also shows that, because Christ died, your old life also died.[a] 4 Your baptism shows that they buried you, just like they buried Christ after his death. It is like you died with him and they buried you with him. Because of that, God will also raise us, just as he raised Christ from death. God, the Father, is so great and powerful that he raised Christ to a new life. That means that we also can live our lives in a new way.
5 We have become united with Christ, and we have died like he died. Because of that, we will also be united with him in his new life. Just like Christ rose, we also will rise to a new life. 6 We know that God has caused our old nature to die with Christ on the cross. This happened so that God could make us free from the power of sin in our lives. We are no longer like slaves who have sin as their master. 7 Sin no longer has any authority over someone who has died.
8 So, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 God raised Christ, so that he became alive again after his death. Because of that, we know that he will never die again. Death has no authority over him any more. 10 When Christ died, he died once to destroy the power of sin for ever. Now that he is alive again, he lives to serve God. 11 So you also should think about yourselves in the same way. Sin has no power over you, as if you were dead. In your new life, you live to serve God, because you belong to Christ Jesus.
12 So do not let sin rule your life in this world. Do not do the wrong things that your body wants to do. 13 Sin can use your body to do things that are wrong. So do not let any parts of your body serve sin as their master. Instead, be ready to serve God as your Master. You can do that because you now have a new life. Your old life is dead. So give every part of your body to God. Then he will use you to do right things. 14 Sin will no longer have authority over you. You do not have a new life because you obey the Law which God gave to Moses. You have a new life because God is very kind to you.
Be careful to do what is right
15 Someone might say: ‘So we have a new life because God is kind to us. God's Law that he gave to Moses does not rule us any more. Then maybe we should continue to do wrong things. It will not make any difference.’ No, that is not true! 16 Remember this: When you agree to serve someone as a slave, you have to obey that person as your master. You may choose to serve sin as your master. If you do that, you will die.[b] Or you may choose to obey God. If you do that, you will live in a way that is right. 17 At one time, you were slaves to sin. But then you received God's true message, and you were happy to obey it. I thank God because of that! 18 As a result, God has made you free from the power of sin. You are now like slaves who serve everything that is right and good.
19 It is difficult for you to understand these things, because you are still weak. So I am using a human picture of slaves to help you to understand better. At one time, you agreed to serve bad things as your master. You let your body do wrong and disgusting things. You continued to do more and more bad things. So now, you must use your body to serve what is right and good. Then you will do more and more good things which show that you belong to God.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you did not even have to think about what was right and good. 21 You did things that you are ashamed about now. Nothing good came from them. In the end, the result of those things is death. 22 But now God has made you free from the power of sin. You have become God's slaves. Many good things come from that, because God is helping you to live in a good way. In the end, the result will be that you will live with him for ever.
23 If you serve sin as your master, it will pay you with death. But if you belong to our Lord Jesus Christ, God gives you a gift! That gift is life with God for ever.
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