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 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 defender.
3 I will call to the Lord, who 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
and 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,
because I did what the Lord said was right.
25 Lord, you are loyal to those who are loyal,
and 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 the humble,
but you bring down 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,
and 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
and see what will happen to them.
They are evil people,
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 a thousand people,
and two people cannot fight ten thousand
unless their Rock has sold them,
unless the Lord has given them up.
31 The rock of these people is not like our Rock;
our enemies agree to that.
32 Their vine comes from Sodom,
and 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,
and I have it locked in my storehouses.
35 I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them.
Soon their foot will slip,
because their day of trouble is near,
and their punishment will come quickly.”
36 The Lord will defend his people
and have mercy on his servants.
He will see that their strength is gone,
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,
and who drank the wine of their drink offerings?
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, and his wisdom and knowledge have no end! No one can explain the things God decides or understand his ways. 34 As the Scripture says,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been able to give him 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 him and for him. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.