Ascribe to the Lord Glory
A Psalm of David.
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,1
cascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
3 The voice of the Lord is over ethe waters;
the God of glory fthunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is gpowerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks hthe cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to iskip like a calf,
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of lKadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes mthe deer give birth3
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over nthe flood;
the Lord sits enthroned oas king forever.
11 May the Lord give pstrength to his people!
Joy Comes with the Morning
A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of rthe temple.
1 I will sextol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes trejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I ucried to you for help,
and you have vhealed me.
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from wSheol;
you restored me to life from among those who xgo down to the pit.5
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you yhis saints,
and zgive thanks to his holy name.6
5 aFor his anger is but for a moment,
and bhis favor is for a lifetime.7
cWeeping may tarry for the night,
but djoy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my eprosperity,
“I shall never be fmoved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you made my gmountain stand strong;
you hhid your face;
I was idismayed.
8 To you, O Lord, I cry,
and jto the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death,8
if I go down to the pit?9
Will kthe dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 lHear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
11 You have turned for me my mourning into mdancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my nglory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 oIn you, O Lord, do I ptake refuge;
qlet me never be put to shame;
in your rrighteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your uname’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you vtake me out of wthe net they have hidden for me,
for you are my xrefuge.
5 yInto your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, zfaithful God.
6 I ahate10 those who pay bregard to worthless cidols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have dknown the distress of my soul,
8 and you have not edelivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in fa broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am gin distress;
hmy eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and imy bones waste away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become ja reproach,
especially to my kneighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street lflee from me.
12 I have been mforgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like na broken vessel.
13 For I ohear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
pas they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14 But I qtrust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My rtimes are in your hand;
srescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 tMake your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, ulet me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go vsilently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
which wspeak xinsolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
yin the sight of the children of mankind!
20 In zthe cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you astore them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously bshown his steadfast love to me
when I was in ca besieged city.
“I am ecut off from fyour sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his gsaints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly hrepays the one who acts in pride.
24 iBe strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
Paul Surrenders His Rights
1 jAm I not free? kAm I not an apostle? lHave I not seen Jesus our Lord? mAre not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are nthe seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 oDo we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 pDo we not have the right to take along a believing wife,1 as do the other apostles and qthe brothers of the Lord and rCephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 sWho serves as a soldier at his own expense? tWho plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, u“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written vfor our sake, because wthe plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 xIf we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, ywe have not made use of this right, but we endure anything zrather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that athose who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that bthose who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
15 But cI have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ddeprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For enecessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with fa stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching gI may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For hthough I am free from all, iI have made myself a servant to all, that I might jwin more of them. 20 kTo the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To lthose outside the law I became mas one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but nunder the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 oTo the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. pI have become all things to all people, that qby all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, rthat I may share with them in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives sthe prize? So trun that you may obtain it. 25 Every uathlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we van imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I wdo not box as one xbeating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and ykeep it under control,2 lest after preaching to others zI myself should be adisqualified.
