Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 139
God’s Attributes—Too Wonderful for Me!
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For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
God Is All-Knowing
1 Lord, you have investigated me,
and you know.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You understand my thoughts from far off.
3 You keep track of when I travel and when I stay,[a]
and you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before there is a word on my tongue,
you, Lord, already know it completely.
5 You put a fence behind me and in front of me,
and you have placed your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is too high—I cannot grasp it.
God Is Powerful and Good
13 For you created my inner organs.[a]
You wove me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and my soul knows that very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unfinished body.
In your book all of them were written.
Days were determined, before any of them existed.
17 Your thoughts to me are so precious, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
Jeremiah’s Complaint
10 I am so miserable, my mother, that you gave birth to me.
I am the man with whom the whole land argues and quarrels.
I have not lent or borrowed, but everyone curses me.
The Lord’s Response to Jeremiah
11 The Lord said:
I will surely set you free for your own good.
I will surely make your enemies plead with you
in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.
12 Can anyone break iron—iron from the north—or bronze?
13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder, without cost, because of all your sins throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know, for my anger is kindled in me, and you will burn continuously.
Jeremiah Responds
15 O Lord, you understand.
Remember me and care for me.
Take vengeance for me on those who persecute me.
You are slow to anger.
Do not take me away.
Keep in mind that for your sake I bear disgrace.
16 Your words came to me, and I devoured them.
Your words became my joy,
the delight of my heart,
because I bear your name,
O Lord God of Armies.
17 I did not sit with the band of partygoers,
nor did I celebrate with them.
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me.
You filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending?
Why is my wound incurable, refusing to heal?
Will you be as deceptive as an intermittent stream to me,
like a source of water that a person can’t depend on?
The Lord’s Response
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says.
If you repent, I will take you back,
so that you may stand before me.
If what you say is worthwhile and not worthless,
you will be my spokesman.
They must turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you like a bronze wall to this people.
They will fight against you,
but they will not overcome you,
because I am with you to save you
and to rescue you, declares the Lord.
21 I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked,
and I will deliver you from the grasp of the ruthless.
25 I also considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, as well as the one you sent to serve me in my need. 26 I sent him because he was longing for[a] all of you and was distressed, because you had heard that he was sick. 27 As a matter of fact, he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Now I am especially eager to send him, so that you may rejoice when you see him again, and I may be relieved. 29 Therefore, receive him in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard, 30 because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life in order to fill in what was lacking in your service to me.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.