Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 69
Prayer of an Innocent Sufferer: Save Me, O God
Heading
For the choir director. According to “Lilies.”[a] By David.
Prayer of an Innocent Sufferer
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink into the deep mud, where there is no place to stand.
I have entered deep waters, and the rapids rush over me.
3 I am worn out from my crying. My throat is sore.
My eyes are blurry, as I wait for my God.
The Unfairness of His Enemies
4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me, my lying enemies, are strong.
I must repay things I did not steal.
His Guilt and Shame
5 God, you know my folly,
and my guilt is not hidden from you.
30 I will praise God’s name in song.
I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
31 For the Lord this is better than an ox,
than a bull that has horns and hoofs.
32 The poor will see and be glad.
You who seek God, may your hearts live!
33 For the Lord listens to the needy,
and he does not despise the captives who belong to him.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that move in them,
35 for God will save Zion,
and he will build the cities of Judah.
Then people will settle there and possess it.
36 Then the descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell in it.
The Covenant of Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will make your descendants very numerous.”
3 Abram fell on his face. God spoke with him. He said, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. 5 Your name will not be Abram anymore, but your name will be Abraham,[a] for I have made you the father of a large group of nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful, and I will produce nations from you. Kings will come out of you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you as an everlasting covenant throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 I will give the land where you are living as an alien, all the land of Canaan, to you and to your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”
9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, a covenant between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised by cutting the foreskin off your flesh. It will be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Every boy among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, whether he is born in your house or purchased with money[b] from any foreigner who is not descended from you. 13 Every male who is born in your house or one who is purchased with your money must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked on your flesh as an everlasting covenant.
Abraham, an Example of Justification by Faith
4 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered according to the flesh? 2 If indeed Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had a reason to boast—but not before God. 3 For what does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to a person who works, his pay is not counted as a gift but as something owed. 5 But to the person who does not work but believes in the God who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness.
6 This is exactly what David says about the blessed state of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.[b]
Abraham Was Justified Before His Circumcision
9 Now then, does this blessing apply only to the circumcised or also to the uncircumcised? To be sure, we maintain that faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 10 So then, under what circumstances was it credited to him? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised at that time? He was not circumcised but uncircumcised, 11 and he received the mark of circumcision as the seal of the righteousness by faith that was already his while he was uncircumcised. So Abraham is the father of all the uncircumcised people who believe, so that righteousness would also be credited to them. 12 He is also the father of the circumcised people who are not merely circumcised but also walk in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.