Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 69
For the worship leader. A song of David to the tune “Lilies.”[a]
This Davidic lament complains to God of enemies, false witnesses, insults, abandonment by friends and family, and even poisoning. Early Christians interpreted this psalm prophetically in order to understand Jesus’ experience in His suffering and death on the cross.
1 Reach down for me, True God; deliver me.
The waters have risen to my neck; I am going down!
2 My feet are swallowed in this murky bog;
I am sinking—there is no sturdy ground.
I am in the deep;
the floods are crashing in!
3 I am weary of howling;
my throat is scratched dry.
I still look for my God
even though my eyes fail.
4 My enemies despise me without any cause;
they outnumber the hairs on my head.
They torment me with their power;
they have absolutely no reason to hate me.
Now I am set to pay for crimes
I have never committed!
5 O True God, my foolish ways are plain before You;
my mistakes—no, nothing can be hidden from You.
30 The name of the True God will be my song,
an uplifting tune of praise and thanksgiving!
31 My praise will please the Eternal more than if I were to sacrifice an ox
or the finest bull. (Horns, hooves, and all!)
32 Those who humbly serve will see and rejoice!
All you seekers-after-God will revive your souls!
33 The Eternal listens to the prayers of the poor
and has regard for His people held in bondage.
34 All God’s creation: join together in His praise! All heaven, all earth,
all seas, all creatures of the ocean deep!
35 The True God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah
So that His servants may own it and live there once again.
36 Their children and children’s children shall have it as their inheritance,
and those who love His name will live in it.
14 So don’t be afraid, Jacob, though you are nothing but a worm.
People of Israel, you little bug, you have nothing to fear.
Eternal One: I will help you. I am One who saves you,
the Holy One of Israel.
15 I will turn you into a formidable threshing sledge
with brand new sharp blades that will mow down entire mountains
and turn the hills into chaff.
16 You will separate value from waste, and a great wind
and a strong storm will take away what is useless and unimportant.
You will take joy in the Eternal.
You will glow with pride in the Holy One of Israel.
17 And when people thirst, when those poor souls with parched tongues
look in vain for something to drink,
I, the Eternal, the God of Israel, won’t leave them to suffer. I will respond
18 By making the hard, brown hills sparkle with streams of fresh water
and causing valleys to come alive with springs.
I will see that gentle pools wait on the desert floor for the weary traveler,
and great fountains bubble up from dry ground;
19 In the desert, I will plant cedars, woody acacias,
myrtles, and olive trees.
I will establish great cypresses to flourish in the desert places,
plant oaks and pine trees side by side.
20 They’ll see all this and understand. They’ll ponder together
and come to know that it is the power of the Eternal One that produced this.
They will know that the Holy One of Israel created it.
The mystery of Jesus’ identity occupies His contemporaries and will continue to occupy generations of believers for centuries to come. As the twelve journey with Him, it gradually becomes clearer who this man is, where He comes from, and how His existence will profoundly affect the rest of human history. The question of “Who is this man?” cannot be answered overnight.
29 The morning after this conversation, John sees Jesus coming toward him. In eager astonishment, he shouts out:
John the Baptist: Look! This man is more than He seems! He is the Lamb sent from God, the sacrifice to erase the sins of the world! 30 He is the One I have been saying will come after me, who existed long before me and is much greater than I am. 31 No one recognized Him—myself included. But I came baptizing[a] with water so that He might be revealed to Israel. 32 As I watched, the Spirit came down like a dove from heaven and rested on Him. 33 I didn’t recognize Him at first, but the One who sent me to baptize told me, “The One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit will be the person you see the Spirit come down and rest upon.” 34 I have seen this with my own eyes and can attest that this One is the Son of God!
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.