Psalms 54; Psalms 55; Psalms 56; Romans 3

1 God, save me because of who you are. By your strength show that I am innocent.

2 Hear my prayer, God; listen to what I say.

3 Strangers turn against me, and cruel men want to kill me. They do not care about God.Selah

4 See, God will help me; the Lord will support me.

5 Let my enemies be punished with their own evil. Destroy them because you are loyal to me.

6 I will offer a sacrifice as a special gift to you. I will thank you, Lord, because you are good.

7 You have saved me from all my troubles, and I have seen my enemies defeated.

1 God, listen to my prayer and do not ignore my cry for help.

2 Pay attention to me and answer me. I am troubled and upset

3 by what the enemy says and how the wicked look at me. They bring troubles down on me, and in anger they attack me.

4 I am frightened inside; the terror of death has attacked me.

5 I am scared and shaking, and terror grips me.

6 I said, "I wish I had wings like a dove. Then I would fly away and rest.

7 I would wander far away and stay in the desert.Selah

8 I would hurry to my place of escape, far away from the wind and storm."

9 Lord, destroy and confuse their words, because I see violence and fighting in the city.

10 Day and night they are all around its walls, and evil and trouble are everywhere inside.

11 Destruction is everywhere in the city; trouble and lying never leave its streets.

12 It was not an enemy insulting me. I could stand that. It was not someone who hated me. I could hide from him.

13 But it is you, a person like me, my companion and good friend.

14 We had a good friendship and walked together to God's Temple.

15 Let death take away my enemies. Let them die while they are still young because evil lives with them.

16 But I will call to God for help, and the Lord will save me.

17 Morning, noon, and night I am troubled and upset, but he will listen to me.

18 Many are against me, but he keeps me safe in battle.

19 God who lives forever will hear me and punish them.Selah But they will not change; they do not fear God.

20 The one who was my friend attacks his friends and breaks his promises.

21 His words are slippery like butter, but war is in his heart. His words are smoother than oil, but they cut like knives.

22 Give your worries to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will never let good people down.

23 But, God, you will bring down the wicked to the grave. Murderers and liars will live only half a lifetime. But I will trust in you.

1 God, be merciful to me because people are chasing me; the battle has pressed me all day long.

2 My enemies have chased me all day; there are many proud people fighting me.

3 When I am afraid, I will trust you.

4 I praise God for his word. I trust God, so I am not afraid. What can human beings do to me?

5 All day long they twist my words; all their evil plans are against me.

6 They wait. They hide. They watch my steps, hoping to kill me.

7 God, do not let them escape; punish the foreign nations in your anger.

8 You have recorded my troubles. You have kept a list of my tears. Aren't they in your records?

9 On the day I call for help, my enemies will be defeated. I know that God is on my side.

10 I praise God for his word to me; I praise the Lord for his word.

11 I trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?

12 God, I must keep my promises to you. I will give you my offerings to thank you,

13 because you have saved me from death. You have kept me from being defeated. in light among the living.

1 So, do Jews have anything that other people do not have? Is there any- thing special about being circumcised?

2 Yes, of course, there is in every way. The most important thing is this: God trusted the Jews with his teachings.

3 If some Jews were not faithful to him, will that stop God from doing what he promised?

4 No! God will continue to be true even when every person is false. As the Scriptures say: "So you will be shown to be right when you speak, and you will win your case."

5 When we do wrong, that shows more clearly that God is right. So can we say that God is wrong to punish us? (I am talking as people might talk.)

6 No! If God could not punish us, he could not judge the world.

7 A person might say, "When I lie, it really gives him glory, because my lie shows God's truth. So why am I judged a sinner?"

8 It would be the same to say, "We should do evil so that good will come." Some people find fault with us and say we teach this, but they are wrong and deserve the punishment they will receive.

9 So are we Jews better than others? No! We have already said that Jews and those who are not Jews are all guilty of sin.

10 As the Scriptures say: "There is no one who always does what is right, not even one.

11 There is no one who understands. There is no one who looks to God for help.

12 All have turned away. Together, everyone has become useless. There is no one who does anything good; there is not even one."

13 "Their throats are like open graves; they use their tongues for telling lies." "Their words are like snake poison."

14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and hate."

15 "They are always ready to kill people.

16 Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery.

17 They don't know how to live in peace."

18 "They have no fear of God."

19 We know that the law's commands are for those who have the law. This stops all excuses and brings the whole world under God's judgment,

20 because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin.

21 But God has a way to make people right with him without the law, and he has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about.

22 God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same:

23 All have sinned and are not good enough for God's glory,

24 and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ.

25 God gave him as a way to forgive sin through faith in the blood of Jesus' death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair, as in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins.

26 And God gave Jesus to show today that he does what is right. God did this so he could judge rightly and so he could make right any person who has faith in Jesus.

27 So do we have a reason to brag about ourselves? No! And why not? It is the way of faith that stops all bragging, not the way of trying to obey the law.

28 A person is made right with God through faith, not through obeying the law.

29 Is God only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of those who are not Jews?

30 Of course he is, because there is only one God. He will make Jews right with him by their faith, and he will also make those who are not Jews right with him through their faith.

31 So do we destroy the law by following the way of faith? No! Faith causes us to be what the law truly wants.