Old/New Testament
Book V
Psalms 107–150
Psalm 107
He Redeemed Them From Trouble
Invocation to Give Thanks
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say this,
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.[a]
First Crisis: The Wilderness
4 They wandered in the wilderness, in the wasteland.
They did not find the way to a city where they could live.
5 They were hungry and also thirsty,
so their lives were draining away.
Refrain
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their distress.
He delivered them from their troubles.
7 He led them by a straight way to come to a city where they could live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his mercy and his wonderful deeds for all people,[b]
9 because he satisfies the desire of the thirsty,
and he fills the desire of the hungry with good things.
Second Crisis: Imprisonment
10 They were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death,
prisoners, bound in misery and chains,
11 because they had rebelled against the words of God,
and they despised the plan of the Most High.
12 So he broke their hearts with hard labor.
They stumbled, and there was no helper.
Refrain
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their distress.
He saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and he tore off their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his mercy and his wonderful deeds for all people,
16 because he shatters bronze doors,
and he cuts through iron bars.
Third Crisis: Rebellion
17 They became fools through their rebellious way,
and they brought affliction on themselves by their guilt.
18 They lost their appetite for food,
so they approached the gates of death.
Refrain
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their distress.
He saved them from their troubles.
20 He sent his word and healed them.
He rescued them from the pits that trapped them.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his mercy and his wonderful deeds for all people,
22 so let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell about his works with a joyful shout.
Fourth Crisis: On the Sea
23 They went down to the sea in ships.
They conducted trade on many waters.
24 They saw the deeds of the Lord
and his wonders on the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a violent storm,
which produced large waves.
26 They were raised up to the sky.
They sank down into the depths.
In their danger their courage melted.
27 They reeled and staggered like a drunk.
All their skill disappeared.
Refrain
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their distress.
He brought them out of their troubles.
29 He calmed the storm. Its waves were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew quiet,
and he guided them to the port they desired.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his mercy and his wonderful deeds for all people.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the session of the elders.
Curses and Blessings
33 He turned rivers into a wilderness
and flowing springs into thirsty ground.
34 He turned fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived in it.
35 He turned the wilderness into pools of water
and the desert into flowing springs.
36 Then he let the hungry live there,
and they founded a city where they could live.
37 Then they sowed fields, and they planted vineyards,
which produced abundant fruit.
38 Then he blessed them, so they increased greatly in number.
He did not let their herds of cattle decrease.
39 But then their numbers decreased,
and they were humbled by oppression, disaster, and sorrow.
40 He who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in confusion
where there was no road.
41 But he lifted up the needy out of affliction
and made their families like a flock.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
but all wickedness shuts its mouth.
Application: Be Wise
43 Whoever is wise, let him keep these things.
Let them take to heart the mercies of the Lord.
Psalm 108
My Heart Is Steadfast
(Psalm 108:1-5 parallels Psalm 57:7-11)
(Psalm 108:6-13 parallels Psalm 60:5-12)
Heading
A song. A psalm by David.
David’s Confident Praise
1 My heart is steadfast, O God.
I will sing and I will make music.
Indeed, I will sing with all my being.[c]
2 Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
3 I will give you thanks among the peoples, Lord,
and I will make music to you among the nations,[d]
4 because your great mercy reaches above the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
David’s Prayer
5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
6 So that the ones you love may be rescued,
bring salvation by your right hand and answer me.
David’s Confidence in God’s Help
7 God has spoken in his holiness.[e]
I will triumph. I will distribute Shechem,
and I will measure off the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is my helmet. Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin. On Edom I toss my sandal.
I shout aloud over Philistia.[f]
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Is it not you, O God, who have rejected us?
Is it not you, O God, who no longer go out with our armies?
12 Give us help against the foe,
for human help is worthless.
13 In God we will do mighty deeds.
He is the one who will trample our foes.
Psalm 109
Deceitful Men Have Opened Their Mouths
Heading
For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
The Problem and the Prayer
1 O God whom I praise, do not be silent,
2 because they have opened wicked, deceitful mouths against me.
They have spoken against me with lying tongues.
3 They surround me with hateful words.
They attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.[g]
5 They repay me with evil for good,
with hatred for my love.
The Curse
6 Appoint an evil one to testify against him,
and let an accuser[h] stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
and let his prayer be sin.
8 Let his days be few.
Let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children always wander and beg.
Let them seek food far from their ruined homes.[i]
11 Let a creditor confiscate all he has.
Let strangers plunder everything he worked for.
12 Let there be no one to extend mercy to him.
Let there be no one to show favor to his fatherless children.
13 Let his descendants be cut off.
In the next generation let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the guilt of his fathers be remembered before the Lord.
Let the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15 Let their sins remain before the Lord continually,
and let the memory of these people be cut off from the earth.
16 Because he did not remember to show mercy,
but he pursued the poor man and the needy
and the brokenhearted to put them to death.
17 Since he loved cursing, so let it fall on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 Since he wore cursing as his clothing,
let it enter into his stomach like water
and into his bones like oil.
19 Let it be like a garment wrapped around him,
like a belt tied around him forever.
20 May the Lord do all this to my accusers
and to those who speak evil against my life.
Prayer for Help
21 But you, Lord God, deal with me for the sake of your name.
Because of the goodness of your mercy, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded[j] within me.
23 Like a shadow after it lengthens, I go away.
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way from fasting,
and my flesh has become lean, without fat.
25 But I—I am scorned by them.
They see me. They shake their heads.
26 Help me, O Lord my God.
Save me according to your mercy.
27 Let them know that this is your hand.
You, O Lord, have done it.
28 They may curse, but you will bless.
They rose up, but they will be put to shame.
Then your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be dressed with disgrace.
Their shame will wrap around them like a robe.
Closing Praise
30 With my mouth I will keep on thanking the Lord.
In the midst of many people I will praise him.
31 For the Lord stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save his life from those who condemn him.
4 This is the way a person should think of us: as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2 In this connection, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3 But it is a trivial matter to me if I am evaluated by you or by a day in a human court. Why, I do not even evaluate myself. 4 I do not in fact know of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this; rather, the one who evaluates me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing ahead of time, until the Lord comes. He will bring to light whatever is hidden in darkness and also reveal the intentions of hearts. Then there will be praise for each person from God.
Lessons From Apostolic Life and Teaching
6 Brothers, I turned these things into a lesson using myself and Apollos as examples. I did this for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not be arrogant, favoring one person over the other. 7 For who makes you so special? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 8 Oh, you are already filled! You have already become rich! You have begun to reign without us! If only that were really true, so that we could reign with you!
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, in the lowliest position, like men sentenced to death, because we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak—but you are so strong! You are honored! But we are despised. 11 At the present we still hunger and thirst and lack proper clothing. We are treated roughly, and we have no settled place to live in. 12 We toil, working with our own hands. When we are verbally abused, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. 13 When slandered, we speak kind words. We have been treated like the world’s garbage, like everyone’s trash, right up to the present time.
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my dear children. 15 Indeed, even if you would have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you would not have many fathers. I say this, because in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 I urge you, therefore, be imitators of me. 17 That is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways in Christ,[a] just as I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord is willing, and I will find out about the power, not the talk, of those who are arrogant. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.