Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 51[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.[b]
51 Have mercy on me, O God, because of[c] your loyal love.
Because of[d] your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.[e]
2 Wash away my wrongdoing.[f]
Cleanse me of my sin.[g]
3 For I am aware of[h] my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.[i]
4 Against you—you above all[j]—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So[k] you are just when you confront me;[l]
you are right when you condemn me.[m]
5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.[n]
6 Look,[o] you desire[p] integrity in the inner man;[q]
you want me to possess wisdom.[r]
7 Cleanse me[s] with hyssop[t] and I will be pure;[u]
wash me[v] and I will be whiter than snow.[w]
8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.[x]
May the bones[y] you crushed rejoice.[z]
9 Hide your face[aa] from my sins.
Wipe away[ab] all my guilt.
10 Create for me a pure heart, O God.[ac]
Renew a resolute spirit within me.[ad]
11 Do not reject me.[ae]
Do not take your holy Spirit[af] away from me.[ag]
12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.[ah]
15 For this is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered;[a]
if you calmly trusted in me, you would find strength,[b]
but you are unwilling.
16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’
so you will indeed flee.
You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’
so your pursuers will be fast.
17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier;[c]
at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away,[d]
until the remaining few are as isolated[e]
as a flagpole on a mountaintop
or a signal flag on a hill.”
The Lord Will Not Abandon His People
God’s Promised Rest
4 Therefore we must be wary[a] that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in[b] with those who heard it in faith.[c] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[d] And yet God’s works[e] were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[f] 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier:[g] “They will never enter my rest!” 6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience. 7 So God[h] again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David[i] after so long a time, as in the words quoted before,[j] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![k] Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[l] would not have spoken afterward about another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s[m] rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from God,[n] but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
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