Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 40
I Desire to Do Your Will
(Psalm 40:13-17 parallels Psalm 70)
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For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
Messiah’s Prayer of Thanks
1 I waited and waited for the Lord.
Then he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 Then he pulled me up from the deadly quicksand,
from the mud and muck.
He made my feet stand on a rock to keep my steps from slipping.
3 Then he put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear.
They will trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is everyone who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud
or to those who turn aside to falsehood.
5 Many are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God.
No one can explain to you all your thoughts for us.[a]
If I try to speak and tell about them,
they are too many to count.
Messiah’s Willing Sacrifice
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire.
Ears you have opened for me.[b]
You did not ask for burnt offerings and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come.
The book written on a scroll tells about me.
8 My God, I take pleasure in doing your will.
Your law[c] is in my heart.”
Messiah’s Preaching of Good News
9 I preach righteousness in the great assembly.
Indeed, I do not hold back my lips, O Lord, as you know.
10 I do not conceal your righteousness deep in my heart.
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not hide your mercy and your truth from the great assembly.
Messiah’s Prayer in Distress
11 Lord, you do not hold back your compassion from me.
Let your mercy and your truth always protect me,
An Oracle Against Shebna
15 This is what the Lord, the God of Armies, says.
Go to this administrator Shebna, who is in charge of the palace, and ask him, 16 “What are you doing here? Who gave you permission to carve a tomb here?”
(Shebna was carving out a tomb for himself on a height, chiseling a resting place for himself in the cliff!)
17 Watch out! The Lord is going to hurl you away violently, you ordinary man.[a] He is going to grab you tightly, 18 whirl you around and around,[b] and throw you like a ball into the open countryside. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be there, to the shame of your master’s house. 19 I will expel you from your office. You will be thrown out from your position.
20 On that day I will call for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority into his hand, and he will be a father for those who live in Jerusalem and for the house of Judah. 22 I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulder. Whatever he opens, no one will shut. Whatever he shuts, no one will open. 23 I will drive him like a nail into a solid place. He will be an honored throne for the house of his father. 24 They will hang all the splendor of his father’s house on him: the branches and leaves,[c] and all the small containers, from the large bowls all the way down to the smallest juglets.[d]
25 In that day, says the Lord of Armies, the nail that was driven into a solid place will give way. It will be sheared off and fall down. The load hanging on it will be cut off, because the Lord has spoken.
Not Another Gospel
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, 7 which is really not another gospel at all. There are, however, some who are trying to disturb you by perverting the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven would preach any gospel other than the one we preached to you—a curse on him! 9 As we have said before, so I now say again: If anyone preaches to you any gospel other than the one you received—a curse on him!
10 Am I now seeking the favor of people or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to gain the approval of people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Jesus Gave Paul the Gospel
11 But I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation from Jesus Christ.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.