Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song of Victory
For the director of music. By the Lord’s servant, David. David sang this song to the Lord. He sang it when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.
18 I love you, Lord. You are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my protection, my Savior.
My God is my rock.
I can run to him for safety.
He is my shield and my saving strength, my high tower.
3 I will call to the Lord.
He is worthy of praise.
And I will be saved from my enemies.
20 The Lord spared me because I did what was right.
Because I have not done evil, he has rewarded me.
21 I have followed the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil by turning away from my God.
22 I remember all his laws.
I have not broken his rules.
23 I am innocent before him.
I have kept myself from doing evil.
24 The Lord rewarded me because I did what was right.
I did what the Lord said was right.
25 Lord, you are loyal to those who are loyal.
You are good to those who are good.
26 You are pure to those who are pure.
But you are against those who are bad.
27 You save those who are not proud.
But you make humble those who are proud.
28 Lord, you give light to my lamp.
My God brightens the darkness around me.
29 With your help I can attack an army.
With God’s help I can jump over a wall.
30 The ways of God are without fault.
The Lord’s words are pure.
He is a shield to those who trust him.
31 Who is God? Only the Lord.
Who is the Rock? Only our God.
32 God is my protection.
He makes my way free from fault.
18 You left God who is the Rock, your Father.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them.
His sons and daughters had made him angry.
20 He said, “I will turn away from them.
I will see what will happen to them.
They are evil people.
They are unfaithful children.
28 Israel has no sense.
They do not understand.
29 I wish they were wise and understood this.
I wish they could see what will happen to them.
30 One person cannot chase 1,000 people.
And 2 people cannot fight 10,000.
This only happens if the Lord has sold them.
Their Rock would have to give them up.
31 The rock of these people is not like our Rock.
Our enemies agree to that.
32 Their vine comes from Sodom.
Their fields are like Gomorrah.
Their grapes are full of poison.
Their bunches of grapes are bitter.
33 Their wine is like snake poison,
like the deadly poison of cobras.
34 “I have been saving this.
I have it locked in my storehouses.
35 I will punish those who do wrong. I will repay them.
Sometime their foot will slip.
Their day of trouble is near.
And their punishment will come quickly.”
36 The Lord will defend his people.
He will have mercy on his servants.
He will see that their strength is gone.
He will see that nobody is left, slaves or free.
37 Then he will say, “Where are their gods?
Where is the rock they trusted?
38 Who ate the fat from their sacrifices?
Who drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let those gods come to help you!
Let them protect you!
39 “Now you will see that I am the one God!
There is no god but me.
I send life and death.
I can hurt, and I can heal.
No one can escape from me.
Praise to God
33 Yes, God’s riches are very great! God’s wisdom and knowledge have no end! No one can explain the things God decides. No one can understand God’s ways. 34 As the Scripture says,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Who has been able to give the Lord advice?” Isaiah 40:13
35 “No one has ever given God anything
that he must pay back.” Job 41:11
36 Yes, God made all things. And everything continues through God and for God. To God be the glory forever! Amen.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.