Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 77
For the Music Director. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I cried out to God with my voice,
even to God with my voice; and He listened to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out and does not weary,
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I remember God, and I groan;
I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
the years long ago.
6 May I remember my song in the night;
may I meditate in my heart;
my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord cast off forever,
and will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever,
and have His promises failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious,
and has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” Selah
10 Then I said, “This is my grief;
yet I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate also on all Your work
and ponder on Your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holiness;
what god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who can do wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the nations.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 The waters saw You, O God.
The waters saw You; they were afraid;
the depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered.
Your arrows flashed about.
18 The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind,
and Your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way is through the sea,
and Your path in the great waters,
and your footsteps are not seen.
20 You led Your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
9 “When You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry by the Red Sea, 10 You enacted signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land because You knew how arrogantly they had acted against them. Thus, You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so they might pass through the midst of the sea on dry ground, and cast their pursuers into the deep like a stone into stormy waters. 12 By day You led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to light the way for them to go.
13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them just requirements, true laws, good statutes and commandments. 14 You also revealed to them Your Holy Sabbath and, by the hand of Moses Your servant, set in place for them the precepts, statutes, and laws. 15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.
Do Not Make Your Brother Stumble
13 Therefore let us no longer pass judgment on one another, but rather determine not to put a stumbling block or an obstacle in a brother’s way. 14 I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what is good to you be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God does not mean eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which produce peace and the things that build up one another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but it is evil for the man who causes someone to fall by what he eats. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine, nor do anything whereby your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
22 The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it is not from faith, for whatever is not from faith is sin.
Please Others, Not Yourself
15 We who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak and not please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.