Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 75
The God of History
Heading
For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[a] A psalm by Asaph. A song.
Opening Praise
1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks.
Your wonderful deeds reveal that your name is near.
God’s Declaration
2 Yes, I choose the appointed time.
I am the one who judges rightly.
3 The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking.
I am the one who holds its pillars firm. Interlude
4 I say to the boasters, “Do not boast,”
and to the wicked, “Do not raise a horn.[b]
5 Do not raise your horns to the heights.
Do not speak insolently with an outstretched neck.”
His People’s Response
6 Indeed, power to promote someone does not come
from the east or from the west or from the wilderness.
7 No, it is God who makes the decision.
He brings down one. He raises up another.
8 Indeed, a cup is in the hand of the Lord.
The wine foams. It is fully mixed.
He pours this out.
Yes, they drain its dregs.
All the wicked of the earth drink.
Closing Praise
9 As for me, I will proclaim this forever.
I will make music for the God of Jacob.
10 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked.
The horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
15 When the sons of the prophets, who were watching him from Jericho, saw this, they said, “Elijah’s spirit is resting on Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.
16 They said to him, “Look, here are your servants, fifty strong men. Please, let them go and search for your master in case the Spirit of the Lord lifted him up and then set him down on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.”
But he said, “Don’t send them.”
17 But they urged him to the point of embarrassment, so he said, “Send them.” So they sent the fifty men. They searched for three days, but they did not find him.
18 When they returned to Elisha, he was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t go’?”
Elisha Demonstrates God’s Power
19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the site of the city is good, as my lord can see, but the water is bad, and the land deprives people of children.”
20 So he said, “Bring me a new dish and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt in. He said, “This is what the Lord says. I have healed this water. No longer will death or loss of children come from it.” 22 So the water has remained healed to this day, according to the word which Elisha spoke.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one that you have had since the beginning. The old command is the message you heard. 8 At the same time, the command I am writing is new—it is true in Jesus[a] and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and nothing causes him to stumble. 11 The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.