Psalms 70; Psalms 71; Romans 8:22-39

1 Come quickly to rescue me, O God! Come quickly to help me, O LORD!

2 Let those who seek my life be confused and put to shame. Let those who want my downfall be turned back and disgraced.

3 Let those who say, "Aha! Aha!" be turned back because of their own shame.

4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad because of you. Let those who love your salvation continually say, "God is great!"

5 But I am oppressed and needy. O God, come to me quickly. You are my help and my savior. O LORD, do not delay!

1 I have taken refuge in you, O LORD. Never let me be put to shame.

2 Rescue me and free me because of your righteousness. Turn your ear toward me, and save me.

3 Be a rock on which I may live, a place where I may always go. You gave the order to save me! Indeed, you are my rock and my fortress.

4 My God, free me from the hands of a wicked person, from the grasp of one who is cruel and unjust.

5 You are my hope, O Almighty LORD. You have been my confidence ever since I was young.

6 I depended on you before I was born. You took me from my mother's womb. My songs of praise constantly speak about you.

7 I have become an example to many people, but you are my strong refuge.

8 My mouth is filled with your praise, with your glory all day long.

9 Do not reject me when I am old or abandon me when I lose my strength.

10 My enemies talk about me. They watch me as they plot to take my life.

11 They say, "God has abandoned him. Pursue him and grab him because there is no one to rescue him."

12 O God, do not be so distant from me. O my God, come quickly to help me.

13 Let those who accuse me come to a shameful end. Let those who want my downfall be covered with disgrace and humiliation.

14 But I will always have hope. I will praise you more and more.

15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness, about your salvation all day long. Even then, it is more than I can understand.

16 I will come with the mighty deeds of the Almighty LORD. I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

17 O God, you have taught me ever since I was young, and I still talk about the miracles you have done.

18 Even when I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me live to tell the people of this age what your strength has accomplished, to tell about your power to all who will come.

19 Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O God. You have done great things. O God, who is like you?

20 You have made me endure many terrible troubles. You restore me to life again. You bring me back from the depths of the earth.

21 You comfort me and make me greater than ever.

22 Because of your faithfulness, O my God, even I will give thanks to you as I play on a lyre. I will make music with a harp to praise you, O Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips will sing with joy when I make music to praise you. My soul, which you have rescued, also will sing joyfully.

24 My tongue will tell about your righteousness all day long, because those who wanted my downfall have been disgraced and put to shame.

22 We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.

23 However, not only creation groans. We, who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts, also groan inwardly. We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies [from sin].

24 We were saved with this hope in mind. If we hope for something we already see, it's not really hope. Who hopes for what can be seen?

25 But if we hope for what we don't see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

26 At the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don't know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words.

27 The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God's people the way God wants him to.

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God--those whom he has called according to his plan.

29 This is true because he already knew his people and had already appointed them to have the same form as the image of his Son. Therefore, his Son is the firstborn among many children.

30 He also called those whom he had already appointed. He approved of those whom he had called, and he gave glory to those whom he had approved of.

31 What can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 God didn't spare his own Son but handed him over [to death] for all of us. So he will also give us everything along with him.

33 Who will accuse those whom God has chosen? God has approved of them.

34 Who will condemn them? Christ has died, and more importantly, he was brought back to life. Christ has the highest position in heaven. Christ also intercedes for us.

35 What will separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or violent death separate us from his love?

36 As Scripture says: "We are being killed all day long because of you. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered."

37 The one who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties.

38 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces

39 or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.