Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Song of Praise for Being Kept Safe

21 O Lord, in Your strength the king is glad! How great is his joy in Your saving power! ² You have given him the desire of his heart. You have not kept from him anything that he has asked for. ³ For You meet him with gifts of good things. You set a crown of pure gold on his head. ⁴ He asked You for life and You gave it to him, a long life forever and ever. ⁵ His honor is great because of Your help. You have given him greatness and power. ⁶ You have given him honor and respect forever. And You make him glad with the joy of being with You.

⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord. Because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he will not be shaken. ⁸ Your hand will find all who fight against You. Your right hand will find those who hate You. ⁹ You will make them like a stove of fire in the time of Your anger. The Lord will eat them up in His anger. And the fire will destroy them. ¹⁰ You will destroy their children from the earth, and their sons from the children of men. ¹¹ For they planned much trouble against You. They have made sinful plans that will come to nothing. ¹² For You will make them turn their backs when You take up Your bow against them. ¹³ Be honored in Your strength, O Lord. We will sing and praise Your power.

¹⁴ Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel. I will help you,” says the Lord. “The One Who bought you and sets you free is the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁵ See, I have made you a new, sharp, crushing tool with teeth. You will beat the mountains and crush them. You will make the hills like dry grass. ¹⁶ You will make the wind blow over them, and it will carry them away. The storm will send them everywhere. But you will have joy in the Lord. You will be glad in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ “The suffering and those in need look for water, but there is none. Their tongue is dry with thirst. I the Lord will answer them. I the God of Israel will not leave them alone. ¹⁸ I will open rivers on the dry mountain tops, and give water in the valleys. I will make the desert a pool of water, and the dry land wells of water. ¹⁹ I will put in the desert the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree. I will put the juniper tree in the desert, together with the box tree and the cypress. ²⁰ Then men will see and know and think about and understand that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has made it happen.

¹⁴ I am sure you are wise in all things and full of much good. You are able to help and teach each other. ¹⁵ I have written to you with strong words about some things. I have written so you would remember. God helped me write like this. ¹⁶ I am able to write these things because God made me a missionary to the people who are not Jews. I work as a servant of Jesus Christ. I preach the Good News of God so the people who are not Jews may be as a gift to God. The Holy Spirit will set them apart so God will be pleased with them. ¹⁷ I have reason to be proud of my work for God. It is because I belong to Christ Jesus. ¹⁸ I can only speak of what Christ has done through me. I have helped the people who are not Jews to obey Him. I have done it by words and by living with them. ¹⁹ God showed them His power through me. The Holy Spirit did powerful works through me in front of them. From Jerusalem to the country of Illyricum I have preached the Good News of Christ. ²⁰ It is my desire to preach the Good News where it has never been preached. I want to preach only where Christ is not known. ²¹ The Holy Writings say, “Those who have never known about Him will see. And those who have never heard about Him will understand.” ^(A)