Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer After a Defeat
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated twelve thousand Edomites at the Valley of Salt.
60 God, you have rejected us and scattered us.
You have been angry, but please come back to us.
2 You made the earth shake and crack.
Heal its breaks because it is shaking.
3 You have given your people trouble.
You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.
4 You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you.
Now they can stand up against the enemy. Selah
5 Answer us and save us by your power
so the people you love will be rescued.
6 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
8 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, surely you have rejected us;
you do not go out with our armies.
11 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless,
12 but we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
Israel Returns to God
14 Israel, return to the Lord your God,
because your sins have made you fall.
2 Come back to the Lord
and say these words to him:
“Take away all our sin
and kindly receive us,
and we will keep the promises we made to you.
3 Assyria cannot save us,
nor will we trust in our horses.
We will not say again, ‘Our gods,’
to the things our hands have made.
You show mercy to orphans.”
4 The Lord says,
“I will forgive them for leaving me
and will love them freely,
because I am not angry with them anymore.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel,
and they will blossom like a lily.
Like the cedar trees in Lebanon,
their roots will be firm.
6 They will be like spreading branches,
like the beautiful olive trees
and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon.
7 The people of Israel will again live under my protection.
They will grow like the grain,
they will bloom like a vine,
and they will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Israel, have nothing to do with idols.
I, the Lord, am the one who answers your prayers and watches over you.
I am like a green pine tree;
your blessings come from me.”
9 A wise person will know these things,
and an understanding person will take them to heart.
The Lord’s ways are right.
Good people live by following them,
but those who turn against God die because of them.
Don’t Worry
22 Jesus said to his followers, “So I tell you, don’t worry about the food you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. 24 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest, they don’t have storerooms or barns, but God feeds them. And you are worth much more than birds. 25 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it. 26 If you cannot do even the little things, then why worry about the big things? 27 Consider how the lilies grow; they don’t work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 28 God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So how much more will God clothe you? Don’t have so little faith! 29 Don’t always think about what you will eat or what you will drink, and don’t keep worrying. 30 All the people in the world are trying to get these things, and your Father knows you need them. 31 But seek God’s kingdom, and all your other needs will be met as well.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.