Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 26
A song of David.
1 Declare my innocence, O Eternal One!
I have walked blamelessly down this path.
I placed my trust in the Eternal and have yet to stumble.
2 Put me on trial and examine me, O Eternal One!
Search me through and through—from my deepest longings to every thought that crosses my mind.
3 Your unfailing love is always before me;
I have journeyed down Your path of truth.
A great theme throughout the psalms is the experience of coming before God. This Davidic psalm affirms the integrity of the worshiper before the Lord even while pleading for God’s mercy.
4 My life is not wasted among liars;
my days are not spent among cheaters.
5 I despise every crowd intent on evil;
I do not commune with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in the fountain of innocence
so that I might join the gathering that surrounds Your altar, O Eternal One.
7 From my soul, I will join the songs of thanksgiving;
I will sing and proclaim Your wonder and mystery.
8 Your house, home to Your glory, O Eternal One, radiates its light.
I am fixed on this place and long to be nowhere else.
9 When Your wrath pursues those who oppose You,
those swift to sin and thirsty for blood,
spare my soul and grant me life.
10 These men hold deceit in their left hands,
and in their right hands, bribery and lies.
11 But God, I have walked blamelessly down this path,
and this is my plea for redemption.
This is my cry for Your mercy.
12 Here I stand secure and confident
before all the people; I will praise the Eternal.
Imagine the scene: The Edomites have come with other nations to rob and betray Israel; it looks as though God has allowed Israel’s cousins, the descendants of Isaac through Esau, to steal from His temple and holy city. The Israelites are convinced they have kept Abraham’s covenant with God while the Edomites have forsaken the Lord and His people Israel. Their prayer is for God to provide refuge for those who seek and trust in Him, and to judge their enemies.
1 This is the vision that came to Obadiah:
Listen carefully to what the Eternal Lord says about the nation of Edom.
Learn from their fate.
We have been put on notice through the Eternal’s representative
who was sent to everyone among the nations saying,
“Get up. Get ready to charge against Edom in battle.”
2 Eternal One (to Edom): See how insignificant I will make you compared to other nations;
you will be completely despised by the rest of the world.
3 Your deep pride has blinded you to the truth,
tucked securely in the clefts of the rocks, safely out of reach.
You say to yourself,
“Whose attack can reach up here and bring me down to the ground?”
Edom named its capital city “Rock,” and many of the people there were cave dwellers, virtually unreachable.
4 Even if you fly high as the eagle, believing yourselves strong and free,
and put your nest among the stars,
I will have no trouble bringing you down.
This is declared by the Eternal One.
5 Consider how thoroughly you will be wiped out.
If thieves come to steal from you
And robbers arrive under cover of night,
won’t they take only what they want?
If the grape harvesters arrive,
doesn’t their hasty picking usually leave some fruit in the field for the poor?
6 But Esau, your nation will be ransacked;
there will be nothing left.
Every last treasure you had carefully hidden will be taken.
7 Your supposed allies—every last one—will turn against you;
they will run you out of your own town.
And those who promised you peace
will lie to your face and conquer you.
Even those who shared your bread will ambush you.
You won’t understand what is happening until it is too late.
8 Eternal One: When this day comes,
won’t I destroy the wisest citizens of Edom,
Make all insight vanish from Mount Esau,
and leave all helpless?
9 As for your warriors, great Edomite city of Teman,
they will be routed, shattered.
Their slaughtered bodies will cut off everyone’s path to Mount Esau
9 After I heard about these who would be sealed, I looked and saw a huge crowd of people, which no one could even begin to count, representing every nation and tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and waving palm branches. 10 They cried out with one loud voice.
Crowd: Salvation comes only from our God, who sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb.
John hears that 144,000 people out of Israel are destined to be sealed, but then he turns to see an innumerable multitude from every people group in the world. What he sees reveals the truth of what he hears: the number “144,000” is not an exact count of who will be saved but is a symbolic number (12 x 12 x 1000). “Twelve” is a number that signifies all the people of God, from both the Old and New Testaments. In reality, between the sixth and seventh seal, there is an interlude, an opportunity for people from every nation to enter into the people of God, to receive God’s mark, and to take their places among the redeemed.
11 All the heavenly messengers stood up, encircling the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell prostrate before the throne and worshiped God.
12 Heavenly Messengers, Elders, and Living Creatures: Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom
And thanksgiving and honor
And power and might
Be to our God on and on throughout all the ages. Amen.
One of the Elders (to me): 13 Who are these people clothed in white robes, and where have they come from?
John: 14 Sir, surely you know the answer to your own questions.
One of the Elders: These are coming from the time of great suffering and affliction. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, cleansing them pure white.
15 Responding out of a heart filled with praise, they congregate before the throne of God
and constantly worship Him day and night in His temple.
The One seated on the throne will always live among them.
16 They will never be hungry or thirsty again.
The sun or blazing heat will never scorch them,
17 Because the Lamb who stands at the center of the throne is their shepherd and they are His sheep,
and He will lead them to the water of life.
And God will dry every tear from their eyes.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.