What Is the Measure of My Days?
To the choirmaster: to vJeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will wguard my ways,
that I xmay not sin with my tongue;
I will yguard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was zmute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My aheart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, bmake me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and cmy lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely dall mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man egoes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing1 they are in turmoil;
man fheaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
gMy hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
hDo not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 iI am mute; I do not open my mouth,
jfor it is you who have done it.
10 kRemove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with lrebukes for sin,
you mconsume like a nmoth what is dear to him;
osurely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 p“Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am qa sojourner with you,
qa guest, like all my fathers.
13 rLook away from me, that I may smile again,
My Help and My Deliverer
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 I uwaited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and vheard my cry.
2 He drew me up from wthe pit of destruction,
out of xthe miry bog,
and yset my feet upon a rock,
zmaking my steps secure.
3 He put aa new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will bsee and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man who cmakes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who dgo astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your ewondrous deeds and your fthoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are gmore than can be told.
6 hIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open iear.2
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written jof me:
8 kI delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is lwithin my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance3
in mthe great congregation;
behold, I have not nrestrained my lips,
oas you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your psteadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have qencompassed me
beyond number;
my riniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot ssee;
they are tmore than the hairs of my head;
my heart ufails me.
13 vBe pleased, O Lord, to wdeliver me!
O Lord, xmake haste to help me!
14 yLet those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be zturned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who asay to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
bsay continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am cpoor and needy,
but dthe Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!4
fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.5
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, hbe gracious to me;
iheal me,6 for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.7
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out8 on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,
who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that myou delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
13 rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Spiritual Gifts
1 Now mconcerning1 spiritual gifts,2 brothers,3 I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that nwhen you were pagans oyou were led astray to pmute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that qno one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is raccursed!” and sno one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now tthere are varieties of gifts, but uthe same Spirit; 5 and vthere are varieties of service, but uthe same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is uthe same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 wTo each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of xwisdom, and to another the utterance of yknowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another zfaith by the same Spirit, to another agifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another bthe working of miracles, to another cprophecy, to another dthe ability to distinguish between spirits, to another evarious kinds of tongues, to another fthe interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, gwho apportions to each one individually has he wills.
One Body with Many Members
12 For just as ithe body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, jso it is with Christ. 13 For kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—lJews or Greeks, slaves4 or free—and mall were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, nGod arranged the members in the body, each one of them, oas he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,5 yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, pall rejoice together.
27 Now qyou are the body of Christ and individually rmembers of it. 28 And sGod has appointed in the church first tapostles, second uprophets, third teachers, then vmiracles, then wgifts of healing, xhelping, yadministrating, and vvarious kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But zearnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
