Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 52
For the worship leader. A contemplative song[a] of David when the Edomite Doeg told Saul that David had received help from Ahimelech.
Psalm 52 recalls the callous way Doeg and Saul put to death the 85 priests of Nob (1 Samuel 22:6–19). The psalm ends with a memorable image: the one who keeps faith with God is like a lush olive tree cared for in His garden. While those who do not trust in Him are snatched up and torn away, those who do right will flourish under His care.
1 Why do you boast of all the trouble you stir up, O mighty one,
when the constant, unfailing love of God is what truly lasts?
2 Have you listened to yourself?
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
full of lies that slash and tear right to the soul.
3 You’ve fallen in love with evil and have no interest in what He calls good.
You prefer your own lies to speaking what is true.
[pause][b]
4 You love words that destroy people, don’t you,
lying tongue?
5 You won’t be smiling
when the True God brings His justice and destroys you forever.
He will come into your home, snatch you away,
and pull you from the land of the living.
[pause]
6 Those who are just will see what happens to you and be afraid.
And some of them will laugh and say,
7 “Hey, look! Over there is the one who didn’t take
shelter in the True God;
Instead, he trusted in his great wealth
and got what he wanted by destroying others!”
8 But my life is abundant—like a lush olive tree
cared for at the house of the one True God.
I put my trust in His kind love
forever and ever; it will never fail.
9 Because of all You have done,
I will humble myself and thank You forever.
With Your faithful people at my side,
I will put my hope in Your good reputation.
The Book of Deuteronomy, which precedes Joshua, records Moses giving a similar farewell speech prior to his death. Moses reminded the people of Israel where they had come from and foretold many of the things that later came to pass when they entered into the promised land of Canaan. Joshua’s speech does the same thing. He reminds the Israelites of their story, and he warns the people of Israel that if they turn from their faith in God they should expect curses instead of the blessings they have experienced.
24 So Joshua summoned all of the tribes of Israel together at Shechem, all the leaders, judges, officers, and elders, and they stood in the presence of the True God.
Joshua: 2 The Eternal One, the True God of Israel has told me to give you this message: “Many years ago, your ancestors, Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River where they served other gods.
11 When you crossed over the Jordan into the land of Canaan and came to Jericho, the leaders[a] of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave them all into your power.
12 I sent hornets ahead of you to run off the two kings of the Amorites; it was not done by your bow or sword. 13 I delivered to you fields you had not worked and towns you had not built, yet today you live in them. You eat the fruit of olive trees and of grape vineyards you did not even have to plant.”
14 So remember: fear the Eternal and serve Him sincerely and faithfully. Put away from you any gods your ancestors served across the Euphrates River or in Egypt, and serve only Him. 15 If you decide that you’re not willing to serve Him, then today is the day for you to choose whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors bowed to in the land beyond the great River, or the gods of the Amorites whose country you possess. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Eternal.
This people that complained in the wilderness now acknowledges that God alone gave them this land, and they pledge their faithfulness to Him.
People of Israel (responding): 16 Nothing could be further from our minds than abandoning the Eternal to serve other gods. 17 We know that the Eternal One our God rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. We remember that He performed all those great signs in front of us. He protected us from the people we passed as we traveled. 18 And we know that He removed the Amorites and all the peoples who lived in Canaan. We, too, will serve the Eternal One, for He is our True God.
Joshua (warning them): 19 If you think you will be able to serve the Eternal, you are wrong. He is a holy God and a jealous God; He will not tolerate your shortcomings and your sins. 20 If you desert Him and worship these foreign gods, He will fall upon you and totally consume you, even though He has done all this great good for you.
People of Israel: 21 All the same, we choose to serve the Eternal.
Joshua: 22 All right, then. You are witnesses—against yourselves, if it comes to that—that you have made this choice to serve the Eternal.
Israel: We are witnesses to it.
Joshua (repeating): 23 Then you must put all other gods away from you and turn your hearts to the Eternal God of Israel.
Israel: 24 We will serve the Eternal One, our God, and we will obey His voice.
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem and gave them statutes and ordinances to obey. 26 Joshua wrote the words in the scroll of the law, and he had a large stone set up underneath the oak tree near the Eternal’s holy place.
Joshua (to all the people): 27 This stone will also be a witness to your vow. It has heard all the words the Eternal spoke to us, so it will be a witness if you turn your backs on your True God.
28 So he sent the people away, back to the lands He had given them.
9 So what then? Are we Jews better off? Not at all. We have made it clear that people everywhere, Jews and non-Jews, are living under the power of sin. 10 Here’s what Scripture says:
No one is righteous—not even one.
11 There is no one who understands the truth;
no one is seeking after the one True God.
12 All have turned away; together they’ve become worthless.
No one does good, not even one.[a]
13 What comes out of their mouths is as foul as a rotting corpse;
their words stink of flattery.[b]
Viper venom hides beneath their lips;[c]
14 their mouths are full of curses, lies, and oppression.[d]
15 Their feet race to violence and bloodshed;
16 destruction and trouble line the roads of their lives,
17 And they’ve never taken the road to peace.[e]
18 You will never see the fear of God in their eyes.[f]
Sin is more than just wrong choices, bad decisions, and willful acts of disobedience that violate God’s Word and are contrary to His will. It is that and much more. Paul knows sin is missing the mark or deliberately stepping over the line, but he also knows that sin is a power at work in him and every child of Adam. As strange as it may sound, sin seems to have a will of its own. Like an addiction, sin takes hold of us and causes us to act in ways we never wanted. For Paul the cross of Jesus deals finally and definitively with the dual reality of sin. Not only are we forgiven of our sins—our willful acts of disobedience—but we are also liberated from the power of sin.
19 We want to be clear that whatever the law says, it says to everyone who is under its authority. Its purpose is to muzzle every mouth, to silence idle talk, and to bring the whole world under the standard of God’s justice. 20 Therefore, doing what the law prescribes will not make anyone right in the eyes of God—that’s not its purpose—but the law is capable of exposing the true nature of sin.
21 But now for the good news: God’s restorative justice has entered the world, independent of the law. Both the law and the prophets told us this day would come. 22 This redeeming justice comes through the faithfulness of Jesus,[g] the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who makes salvation a reality for all who believe—without the slightest partiality.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.