Psalms 107; Psalms 108; Psalms 109; 1 Corinthians 4

Psalms 107

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe

3 and has gathered them from the lands- from the east and the west, from the north and the south.

4 Some wandered in the desolate wilderness, finding no way to a city where they could live.

5 They were hungry and thirsty; their spirits failed within them.

6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He rescued them from their distress.

7 He led them by the right path to go to a city where they could live.

8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for the human race.

9 For He has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things.

10 Others sat in darkness and gloom- prisoners in cruel chains-

11 because they rebelled against God's commands and despised the counsel of the Most High.

12 He broke their spirits with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distress.

14 He brought them out of darkness and gloom and broke their chains apart.

15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for the human race.

16 For He has broken down the bronze gates and cut through the iron bars.

17 Fools suffered affliction because of their rebellious ways and their sins.

18 They loathed all food and came near the gates of death.

19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distress.

20 He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit.

21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for the human race.

22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and announce His works with shouts of joy.

23 Others went to sea in ships, conducting trade on the vast waters.

24 They saw the Lord's works, His wonderful works in the deep.

25 He spoke and raised a tempest that stirred up the waves of the sea.

26 Rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths, their courage melting away in anguish,

27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men, and all their skill was useless.

28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.

29 He stilled the storm to a murmur, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

30 They rejoiced when the waves grew quiet. Then He guided them to the harbor they longed for.

31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for the human race.

32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders.

33 He turns rivers into desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,

34 and fruitful land into salty wasteland, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.

35 He turns a desert into a pool of water, dry land into springs of water.

36 He causes the hungry to settle there, and they establish a city where they can live.

37 They sow fields and plant vineyards that yield a fruitful harvest.

38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their livestock decrease.

39 When they are diminished and are humbled by cruel oppression and sorrow,

40 He pours contempt on nobles and makes them wander in trackless wastelands.

41 But He lifts the needy out of their suffering and makes their families [multiply] like flocks.

42 The upright see it and rejoice, and all injustice shuts its mouth.

43 Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things and consider the Lord's acts of faithful love.

Psalms 108

1 My heart is confident, God; I will sing; I will sing praises with the whole of my being.

2 Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn.

3 I will praise You, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.

4 For Your faithful love is higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

5 God, be exalted above the heavens; let Your glory be over the whole earth.

6 Save with Your right hand and answer me so that those You love may be rescued.

7 God has spoken in His sanctuary: "I will triumph! I will divide up Shechem. I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.

8 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine, and Ephraim is My helmet; Judah is My scepter.

9 Moab is My washbasin; on Edom I throw My sandal. Over Philistia I shout in triumph."

10 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

11 Have You not rejected us, God? God, You do not march out with our armies.

12 Give us aid against the foe, for human help is worthless.

13 With God we will perform valiantly; He will trample our foes.

Psalms 109

1 God of my praise, do not be silent.

2 For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.

3 They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.

4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I continue to pray.

5 They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

6 Set a wicked person over him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer be counted as sin.

8 Let his days be few; let another take over his position.

9 Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.

10 Let his children wander as beggars, searching [for food] far from their demolished homes.

11 Let a creditor seize all he has; let strangers plunder what he has worked for.

12 Let no one show him kindness, and let no one be gracious to his fatherless children.

13 Let the line of his descendants be cut off; let their name be blotted out in the next generation.

14 Let his forefathers' guilt be remembered before the Lord, and do not let his mother's sin be blotted out.

15 Let their sins always remain before the Lord, and let Him cut off [all] memory of them from the earth.

16 For he did not think to show kindness, but pursued the wretched poor and the brokenhearted in order to put them to death.

17 He loved cursing-let it fall on him; he took no delight in blessing-let it be far from him.

18 He wore cursing like his coat- let it enter his body like water and go into his bones like oil.

19 Let it be like a robe he wraps around himself, like a belt he always wears.

20 Let this be the Lord's payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.

21 But You, God my Lord, deal [kindly] with me because of Your name; deliver me because of the goodness of Your faithful love.

22 For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.

23 I fade away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees are weak from fasting, and my body is emaciated.

25 I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads [in scorn].

26 Help me, Lord my God; save me according to Your faithful love

27 so they may know that this is Your hand and that You, Lord, have done it.

28 Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.

29 My accusers will be clothed with disgrace; they will wear their shame like a cloak.

30 I will fervently thank the Lord with my mouth; I will praise Him in the presence of many.

31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who would condemn him.

1 Corinthians 4

1 A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of God's mysteries.

2 In this regard, it is expected of managers that each one be found faithful.

3 It is of little importance that I should be evaluated by you or by a human court. In fact, I don't even evaluate myself.

4 For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. The One who evaluates me is the Lord.

5 Therefore don't judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.

6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the saying: "Nothing beyond what is written." The purpose is that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over another.

7 For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it?

8 Already you are full! Already you are rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us-and I wish you did reign, so that we also could reign with you!

9 For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men.

10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

11 Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless;

12 we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

13 when we are slandered, we entreat. We are, even now, like the world's garbage, like the filth of all things.

14 I'm not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children.

15 For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can't have many fathers. Now I have fathered you in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

16 Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me.

17 This is why I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Now some are inflated with pride, as though I were not coming to you.

19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the talk but the power of those who are inflated with pride.

20 For the kingdom of God is not in talk but in power.

21 What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?