Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 30
You Brought Me Up From the Grave
Heading
A psalm. A song for the dedication of the Temple. By David.
Praise for Answered Prayer
1 I will exalt you, O Lord,
because you lifted me up.
You did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried out to you,
and you healed me.
3 Lord, you snatched my life from the grave.
You kept me alive so I did not go down into the pit.
Join Me in Prayer
4 Make music to the Lord, you his favored ones,
and give thanks when you remember[a] his holiness,
5 for we spend a moment under his anger,
but we enjoy a lifetime in his favor.
In the evening, weeping comes to stay through the night,
but in the morning, there is rejoicing!
Wrestling in Prayer
6 But I—I said in my security,
“I will never be knocked down.”
7 Lord, in your favor you made strength
stand like a mountain for me.
Then you hid your face. I was terrified.
8 To you, O Lord, I call.
To the Lord I cry for mercy:
9 “What gain is there in shedding my blood,
in sending me down to destruction?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your truth?
10 Lord, hear and be merciful to me.
Lord, be a helper for me.”
A Happy Outcome
11 You turned my mourning into dancing.
You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my whole being[b] may make music to you
and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I thank you forever.
Elisha and the Woman of Shunem
8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to eat a meal with her. So whenever he passed by, he would stop there for a meal.
9 Then she said to her husband, “Listen. I know that the man who passes by here all the time is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small upper room on the roof, and let’s put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp there for him. Then whenever he comes to us, he can stay there.”
11 One day when Elisha came there, he went into the room and lay down. 12 Then he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the woman of Shunem.” He called her, and she stood in front of him.
13 Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘You have been very concerned about us. What can we do for you? Is there something we can request for you from the king or from the commander of the army?’”
She said, “I am living among my own people.”
14 Then he said, “What can be done for her?”
Then Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”
15 He said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood at the doorway.
16 Then he said to her, “At this time next year, you will be holding a son.”
But she said, “No, my lord, you man of God. Do not deceive your servant.”
17 But the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son at that same time of year, just as Elisha said to her.
My Constant Struggle With My Sinful Nature
14 Certainly we know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not keep doing what I want. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 But now it is no longer I who am doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 Indeed, I know that good does not live in me, that is, in my sinful flesh. The desire to do good is present with me, but I am not able to carry it out. 19 So I fail to do the good I want to do. Instead, the evil I do not want to do, that is what I keep doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who am doing it, but it is sin living in me.
21 So I find this law[a] at work: When I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 I certainly delight in God’s law according to my inner self, 23 but I see a different law at work in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me captive to the law of sin, which is present in my members. 24 What a miserable wretch I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 I thank God[b] through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my sinful flesh I serve the law of sin.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.