Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

3 A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom

O Lord, so many are against me. So many seek to harm me. I have so many enemies. ² So many say that God will never help me. ³ But Lord, you are my shield, my glory, and my only hope. You alone can lift my head, now bowed in shame.^[a]

⁴ I cried out to the Lord, and he heard me from his Temple in Jerusalem.^{[b] 5} Then I lay down and slept in peace and woke up safely, for the Lord was watching over me. ⁶ And now, although ten thousand enemies surround me on every side, I am not afraid. ⁷ I will cry to him, “Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God!” And he will slap them in the face, insulting them and breaking off their teeth.^[c]

⁸ For salvation comes from God. What joys he gives to all his people.

⁵ The Lord replied: “Look, and be amazed! You will be astounded at what I am about to do! For I am going to do something in your own lifetime that you will have to see to believe. ⁶ I am raising a new force on the world scene, the Chaldeans,^[a] a cruel and violent nation who will march across the world and conquer it. ⁷ They are notorious for their cruelty. They do as they like, and no one can interfere. ⁸ Their horses are swifter than leopards. They are a fierce people, more fierce than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry move proudly forward from a distant land; like eagles they come swooping down to pounce upon their prey. ⁹ All opposition melts away before the terror of their presence. They collect captives like sand.

¹⁰ “They scoff at kings and princes and scorn their forts. They simply heap up dirt against their walls and capture them! ^11 [b]They sweep past like wind and are gone, but their guilt is deep, for they claim their power is from their gods.”

¹² O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—is your plan in all of this to wipe us out? Surely not! O God our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these Chaldeans to chasten and correct us for our awful sins. ¹³ We are wicked, but they far more! Will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy those who are better than they?

¹⁴ Are we but fish, to be caught and killed? Are we but creeping things that have no leader to defend them from their foes? ¹⁵ Must we be strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets, while they rejoice? ¹⁶ Then they will worship their nets and burn incense before them! “These are the gods who make us rich,” they’ll say.

¹⁷ Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless wars?

² Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, ³ for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.

⁵ If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; ^7-8 and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.

⁹ A Christian who doesn’t amount to much in this world should be glad, for he is great in the Lord’s sight. ^10-11 But a rich man should be glad that his riches mean nothing to the Lord, for he will soon be gone, like a flower that has lost its beauty and fades away, withered—killed by the scorching summer sun. So it is with rich men. They will soon die and leave behind all their busy activities.