Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 3
Confidence in Troubled Times
A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom.(A)
1 Lord, how my foes increase!
There are many who attack me.(B)
2 Many say about me,
“There is no help for him in God.”(C)
3 But You, Lord, are a shield around me,(D)
my glory,(E) and the One who lifts up my head.(F)
4 I cry aloud to the Lord,
and He answers me from His holy mountain.(G)
God’s First Answer
5 Look at the nations[a](A) and observe(B)—
be utterly astounded!(C)
For something is taking place in your days
that you will not believe(D)
when you hear about it.(E)
6 Look! I am raising up(F) the Chaldeans,[b]
that bitter,(G) impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
7 They are fierce(H) and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter(I) than leopards(J)
and more fierce[c] than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour.(K)
9 All of them come to do violence;
their faces(L) are set in determination.[d]
They gather(M) prisoners like sand.(N)
10 They mock(O) kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh(P) at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture(Q) it.
11 Then they sweep(R) by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty;[e] their strength is their god.
Habakkuk’s Second Prayer
12 Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God?
My Holy One,(S) You[f] will not die.
Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock,(T) You destined them to punish us.
13 Your eyes(U) are too pure(V) to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?(W)
Why are You silent
while one[g] who is wicked swallows up
one[h] who is more righteous than himself?
14 You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,(X)
like marine creatures that have no ruler.
15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,(Y)
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.(Z)
17 Will they therefore empty their net[i]
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?
Trials and Maturity
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials,(A) 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.(B) 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 An indecisive[a] man is unstable in all his ways.(C)
9 The brother of humble circumstances should boast in his exaltation, 10 but the one who is rich should boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field.(D) 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will wither away while pursuing his activities.(E)
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