Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This song is for the music leader.
The Lord's servant, David, wrote it.
David sang these words to the Lord when the Lord saved him from the power of his enemies. This was at the time when Saul was king.
Thank you, Lord![a]
18 I love you, Lord.
You make me strong.
2 The Lord keeps me safe.
He is my great rock and my strong place.
God is my high rock.[b]
I run to him to hide and be safe.
He keeps me safe like a soldier's shield.
He is the strong place where I can hide safely.
3 I praise the Lord because he deserves it!
When I called to him for help,
he saved me from my enemies.
4 Death was near enough to catch me!
Danger was like a river that poured over me.
5 Death was tying me up with ropes,
to pull me into the deep hole of the grave.
6 In my trouble, I prayed to the Lord.
I called to my God to help me.
He heard my voice from his home in heaven.
My prayer reached his ears.
7 Then the earth moved and it shook.
Even the strong mountains shook,
because God was angry.
8 He breathed out smoke from his nose.
Fire and hot coals came out from his mouth,
to destroy his enemies.
9 God caused the sky to bend as he came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He sat on a cherub and he flew.
The wind carried him as he travelled.
11 God covered himself with darkness.
He hid himself in dark clouds that held rain.
12 Bright light went in front of him.
Hail and lightning fell from the clouds.
13 The Lord sent thunder from the sky.
People everywhere heard the voice of the Most High God.
14 The Lord shot his arrows of lightning.
He caused his enemies to run away.
15 When you shouted against your enemies, Lord,
even the bottom of the deep sea appeared.
People could see the foundations of the earth,
when you breathed out in anger.
16 The Lord reached down to me from above.
He took hold of me and he pulled me up out of the deep water.
17 Yes, he saved me from my powerful enemies.
The people who hated me were too strong for me,
but the Lord saved me from their power.
18 They attacked me when I was in trouble,
but the Lord helped me.
19 He led me out to a place where I would be safe.
He saved me because I made him happy.
24 People sing songs to praise God
for the things that he has done.
You also should remember to praise him.
25 People everywhere have seen the things that God has done.
But we look at them from far away.
26 Yes, God is very great!
We cannot know him completely.
Nobody can count the number of his years!
27 It is God who pulls up water from the earth
to make the clouds.
Then he causes it to become rain.
28 The rain pours down from the clouds.
There is plenty for the people on the earth.
29 Who understands how the clouds move across the sky?
How does the noise of thunder come from God's home?
30 Look at the lightning that God sends all over the sky!
But he causes the bottom of the sea to remain dark.
31 This is the way that God rules the people of the world.
He sends the rain to give them plenty of food.
32 He sends his lightning like an arrow.
He commands it to hit the right place.
33 He sends thunder to show that a storm is coming.
Even the cows know what is happening.’
14 Listen carefully to what I am telling you, Job.
Stop and think about the wonderful things that God does.
15 Do you know how God commands the storms?
Do you know how he sends the bright lightning from the clouds?
16 Can you explain how the clouds hang in the sky?
God knows everything perfectly
and he does these wonderful things.
17 When the hot wind blows from the south,
nothing moves on the earth.
Your body is too hot in the clothes that you wear.
18 God puts the clouds across the whole sky,
like a metal mirror that shines brightly.
Can you also do that? No!
19 Tell us, Job, what things we should say to God.
We cannot argue with him,
because our minds are in a dark place.
20 Should I tell God that I want to speak to him?
That would be the end of me!
21 Now the wind has blown all the clouds away.
The sun shines brightly in the sky.
It is too bright for us to look at.
22 God comes with his bright glory from the north!
His glory is all around him.
It makes us afraid.
23 Almighty God is so great that we cannot come near to him.
He is very powerful.
But he always does what is right and fair.
He is not cruel to people.
24 So people respect God with fear.
He does not listen to those who think that they are wise.’
Jesus stops a storm
23 Then Jesus got into a boat. His disciples also went with him. 24 Immediately a great storm began to blow across the lake. Water began to go into the boat and fill it. Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went to him and they woke him. ‘Master, save us!’ they said. ‘We will die here in the water!’ 26 Jesus said to them, ‘You should not be so afraid. You should trust me more than you do!’ Then he stood up and he spoke strongly to the wind and the water. ‘Stop!’ he said. Then the wind and the water became quiet again.
27 The disciples were very surprised. They asked each other, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the water obey him!’
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