Psalms 54; 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 13; Psalms 55; Psalms 56

Psalms 54

1 Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might.

2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

3 Arrogant foes are attacking me; ruthless people are trying to kill me— people without regard for God.

4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them.

6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good.

7 You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

1 Corinthians 12

1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.

2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.

5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,

10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?

20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,

24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it,

25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.

29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret?

31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Psalms 55

1 Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;

2 hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

3 because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.

4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.

5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.

6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.

7 I would flee far away and stay in the desert;

8 I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”

9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words, for I see violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.

11 Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.

12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide.

13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,

14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.

15 Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.

16 As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me.

17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.

18 He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.

19 God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.

20 My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.

21 His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.

22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.

Psalms 56

1 Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack.

2 My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me.

3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

4 In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

5 All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin.

6 They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, hoping to take my life.

7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape; in your anger, God, bring the nations down.

8 Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?

9 Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.

10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise—

11 in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?

12 I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you.

13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.