Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
[a] To the director: A song of David, the Lord’s servant. He sang this song to the Lord when the Lord saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.
18 I love you, Lord!
You are my strength.
2 The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, my place of safety.
He is my God, the Rock I run to for protection.
He is my shield; by his power I am saved.[b]
He is my hiding place high in the hills.
3 I called to the Lord for help,
and he saved me from my enemies!
He is worthy of my praise!
4 Death had its ropes wrapped around me.
A deadly flood was carrying me away.
5 The ropes of the grave wrapped around me.
Death set its trap right there in front of me.
6 In my trouble I called to the Lord.
Yes, I cried out to my God for help.
There in his temple he heard my voice.
He heard my cry for help.
43 You saved me from those who fought against me.
You made me the ruler over nations.
People I never knew now serve me.
44 As soon as they heard about me, they were ready to obey.
Those foreigners fall helpless before me!
45 They lose all their courage
and come out of their hiding places shaking with fear.
46 The Lord lives!
I praise my Rock, the God who saves me.
How great he is!
47 He is the God who punishes my enemies for me,
the one who puts people under my control.
48 He saves me from my enemies!
You, Lord, help me defeat those who attack me.
You save me from cruel people.
49 Lord, that is why I praise you among the nations.
That is why I sing songs of praise to your name.
50 The Lord helps his king win battle after battle.
He shows his faithful love to his chosen one,[a]
to David and his descendants forever.
Saul Chases David
14 David went into the desert of Ziph and stayed in the mountains and fortresses there. Saul looked for David the whole time, but the Lord[a] didn’t let Saul catch him.
15 David was at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. He was afraid because Saul was coming to kill him. 16 But Saul’s son Jonathan went to see David at Horesh and encouraged him to have a stronger faith in God. 17 Jonathan told David, “Don’t be afraid. My father Saul won’t hurt you. You will become the king of Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father knows this.”
18 Jonathan and David both made an agreement before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, and David stayed at Horesh.
Titus and His Companions
16 I thank God because he gave Titus the same love for you that I have. 17 Titus agreed to do what we asked. In fact, he himself wanted very much to come see you. 18 We are sending with Titus the brother who is praised by all the churches. He is praised because of his service to the Good News. 19 Also, he was chosen by the churches to go with us when we carry this gift. We are doing this service to bring honor[a] to the Lord and to show that we really want to help.
20 We are being careful so that no one will criticize us about the way we are caring for this large gift. 21 We are trying to do what is right. We want to do what the Lord accepts as right and also what people think is right.
22 Also, we are sending with them our brother who is always ready to help. He has proved this to us in many ways. And he wants to help even more now because he has much faith in you.
23 Now about Titus—he is my partner. He is working together with me to help you. And about the other brothers—they are sent from the churches, and they bring honor to Christ. 24 So show these men that you really have love. Show them why we are proud of you. Then all the churches can see it.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International