Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

57 O God, have pity, for I am trusting you! I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this storm is past. ² I will cry to the God of heaven who does such wonders for me. ³ He will send down help from heaven to save me because of his love and his faithfulness. He will rescue me from these liars who are so intent upon destroying me. ⁴ I am surrounded by fierce lions—hotheads whose teeth are sharp as spears and arrows. Their tongues are like swords. ⁵ Lord, be exalted above the highest heavens! Show your glory high above the earth. ⁶ My enemies have set a trap for me. Frantic fear grips me. They have dug a pitfall in my path. But look! They themselves have fallen into it!

⁷ O God, my heart is quiet and confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! ⁸ Rouse yourself, my soul! Arise, O harp and lyre! Let us greet the dawn with song! ⁹ I will thank you publicly throughout the land. I will sing your praises among the nations. ¹⁰ Your kindness and love are as vast as the heavens. Your faithfulness is higher than the skies.

¹¹ Yes, be exalted, O God, above the heavens. May your glory shine throughout the earth.

³⁶ When she arrived home she found that Nabal had thrown a big party. He was roaring drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything about her meeting with David until the next morning. ^37-38 By that time he was sober, and when his wife told him what had happened, he had a stroke and lay paralyzed^[a] for about ten days, then died, for the Lord killed him.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise the Lord! God has paid back Nabal and kept me from doing it myself; he has received his punishment for his sin.”

Then David wasted no time in sending messengers to Abigail to ask her to become his wife. ⁴⁰ When the messengers arrived at Carmel and told her why they had come, ⁴¹ she readily agreed to his request. ⁴² Quickly getting ready, she took along five of her serving girls as attendants, mounted her donkey, and followed the men back to David. So she became his wife.

³⁹ Then, accompanied by the disciples, he left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. ⁴⁰ There he told them, “Pray God that you will not be overcome by temptation.”^[a]

^41-42 He walked away, perhaps a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed this prayer: “Father, if you are willing, please take away this cup of horror from me. But I want your will, not mine.” ⁴³ Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him, ⁴⁴ for he was in such agony of spirit that he broke into a sweat of blood, with great drops falling to the ground as he prayed more and more earnestly. ⁴⁵ At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples—only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief.

⁴⁶ “Asleep!” he said. “Get up! Pray God that you will not fall when you are tempted.”