Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 40
I Desire to Do Your Will
(Psalm 40:13-17 parallels Psalm 70)
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For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
Messiah’s Prayer of Thanks
1 I waited and waited for the Lord.
Then he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 Then he pulled me up from the deadly quicksand,
from the mud and muck.
He made my feet stand on a rock to keep my steps from slipping.
3 Then he put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear.
They will trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is everyone who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud
or to those who turn aside to falsehood.
5 Many are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God.
No one can explain to you all your thoughts for us.[a]
If I try to speak and tell about them,
they are too many to count.
Messiah’s Willing Sacrifice
11 Ephraim has multiplied his altars for sin offerings,
but for him they became altars for sinning.
12 Though I wrote many teachings from my law for them,
they regarded them as strange.
13 They offer sacrifices to me just to get the meat.[a]
They sacrifice flesh and eat it,
but the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their guilt
and punish their sins.
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and built palaces.[b]
Judah has multiplied its fortified cities,
but I will send fire on its cities,
which will devour its citadels.
10 Israel was a spreading[a] vine.
He produced fruit for himself.
The more fruit he produced, the more altars he made.
The richer the land became, the richer he made his sacred memorial stones.
2 Their hearts are insincere,[b]
so now they will suffer for their guilt.
The Lord will break down their altars
and destroy their sacred memorial stones.
Live to Please God
13 Continue to show brotherly love. 2 Do not fail to show love to strangers, for by doing this some have welcomed angels without realizing it. 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated, as if you yourselves were also suffering bodily.
4 Marriage is to be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. 5 Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For God has said:
I will never leave you,
and I will never forsake you.[a]
6 So then we say with confidence:
The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?[b]
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Carefully consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. For it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which are of no help to those who make them a way of life.
10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the high priest brings the blood of the animals sacrificed for sins into the Most Holy Place, and then their bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 Jesus suffered outside the gate for this reason: to sanctify people by his own blood. 13 So then let us go to him, outside of the camp, bearing his disgrace. 14 For we do not have a permanent city here, but we are looking for the city that is coming. 15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us constantly offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.