Old/New Testament

A Desire for God’s House

84 How beautiful are the places where You live, O Lord of all! ² My soul wants and even becomes weak from wanting to be in the house of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. ³ Even the bird has found a home. The swallow has found a nest for herself where she may lay her young at Your altars, O Lord of all, my King and my God. ⁴ How happy are those who live in Your house! They are always giving thanks to You.

⁵ How happy is the man whose strength is in You and in whose heart are the roads to Zion! ⁶ As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, they make it a place of good water. The early rain fills the pools with good also. ⁷ They go from strength to strength. Every one of them stands before God in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. ⁹ Look upon our safe-covering, O God. And look upon the face of Your chosen one. ¹⁰ For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful. ¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right. ¹² O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!

A Prayer for the Nation’s Good

85 O Lord, You showed favor to Your land. You have returned those of Jacob who were taken away. ² You have forgiven the sins of Your people. You have covered all their sin. ³ You have taken away all Your anger. You have turned away from Your burning anger.

⁴ O God Who saves us, give us life again. Make Your anger toward us stop. ⁵ Will You be angry with us forever? Will You spread out Your anger to families of all times? ⁶ Will You not bring us back to life again so that Your people may be happy in You? ⁷ Show us Your loving-kindness, O Lord, and save us.

⁸ I will listen to what God the Lord will say. For He will speak peace to His people, to those who are right with Him. But do not let them turn again to foolish things. ⁹ For sure His saving power is near those who fear Him, so His shining-greatness may live in the land. ¹⁰ Loving-kindness and truth have met together. Peace and what is right and good have kissed each other. ¹¹ Truth comes up from the earth. And what is right and good looks down from heaven. ¹² Yes, the Lord will give what is good. And our land will give its fruit. ¹³ What is right and good will go before Him and make a way for His steps.

A Prayer for Help

86 Hear, O Lord, and answer me. For I am suffering and in need. ² Keep my life, for I am faithful to You. You are my God. Save Your servant who trusts in You. ³ Show me loving-kindness, O Lord. For I cry to You all day long. ⁴ Bring joy to Your servant. For I lift up my soul to You, O Lord. ⁵ For You are good and ready to forgive, O Lord. You are rich in loving-kindness to all who call to You. ⁶ Hear my prayer, O Lord. Listen to my cry for help. ⁷ I will call to You in the day of my trouble. For You will answer me. ⁸ There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord. And there are no works like Yours. ⁹ All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord. And they will bring honor to Your name. ¹⁰ For You are great and do great things. You alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O Lord. I will walk in Your truth. May my heart fear Your name. ¹² O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You with all my heart. I will bring honor to Your name forever. ¹³ For Your loving-kindness toward me is great. And You have saved my soul from the bottom of the grave.

¹⁴ O God, proud men have come up against me. A group of fighting men want to take my life. And they do not think of You. ¹⁵ But You, O Lord, are a God full of love and pity. You are slow to anger and rich in loving-kindness and truth. ¹⁶ Turn to me, and show me loving-kindness. Give Your strength to Your servant. And save the son of your woman servant. ¹⁷ Give me something special to see of Your favor. Then those who hate me may see it and be ashamed. Because You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

12 Christian brothers, I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of His loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him. ² Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect.

³ God has given me His loving-favor. This helps me write these things to you. I ask each one of you not to think more of himself than he should think. Instead, think in the right way toward yourself by the faith God has given you. ⁴ Our bodies are made up of many parts. None of these parts have the same use. ⁵ There are many people who belong to Christ. And yet, we are one body which is Christ’s. We are all different but we depend on each other. ⁶ We all have different gifts that God has given to us by His loving-favor. We are to use them. If someone has the gift of preaching the Good News, he should preach. He should use the faith God has given him. ⁷ If someone has the gift of helping others, then he should help. If someone has the gift of teaching, he should teach. ⁸ If someone has the gift of speaking words of comfort and help, he should speak. If someone has the gift of sharing what he has, he should give from a willing heart. If someone has the gift of leading other people, he should lead them. If someone has the gift of showing kindness to others, he should be happy as he does it.

⁹ Be sure your love is true love. Hate what is sinful. Hold on to whatever is good. ¹⁰ Love each other as Christian brothers. Show respect for each other. ¹¹ Do not be lazy but always work hard. Work for the Lord with a heart full of love for Him. ¹² Be happy in your hope. Do not give up when trouble comes. Do not let anything stop you from praying. ¹³ Share what you have with Christian brothers who are in need. Give meals and a place to stay to those who need it. ¹⁴ Pray and give thanks for those who make trouble for you. Yes, pray for them instead of talking against them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. ¹⁶ Live in peace with each other. Do not act or think with pride. Be happy to be with poor people. Keep yourself from thinking you are so wise. ¹⁷ When someone does something bad to you, do not pay him back with something bad. Try to do what all men know is right and good. ¹⁸ As much as you can, live in peace with all men. ¹⁹ Christian brothers, never pay back someone for the bad he has done to you. Let the anger of God take care of the other person. The Holy Writings say, “I will pay back to them what they should get, says the Lord.” ^{(A) 20} “If the one who hates you is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him water. If you do that, you will be making him more ashamed of himself.” ^{(B) 21} Do not let sin have power over you. Let good have power over sin!