Psalms 4; Psalms 5; Psalms 6; Acts 17:16-34

Psalms 4

1 Answer me when I call, God, who vindicates me. You freed me from affliction; be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

2 How long, exalted men, will my honor be insulted? [How long] will you love what is worthless and pursue a lie? Selah

3 Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him.

4 Be angry and do not sin; on your bed, reflect in your heart and be still. Selah

5 Offer sacrifices in righteousness and trust in the Lord.

6 Many are saying, "Who can show us anything good?" Look on us with favor, Lord.

7 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and new wine abound.

8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Lord, make me live in safety.

Psalms 5

1 Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing.

2 Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to You.

3 At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly.

4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot lodge with You.

5 The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all evildoers.

6 You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and treachery.

7 But I enter Your house by the abundance of Your faithful love; I bow down toward Your holy temple in reverential awe of You.

8 Lord, lead me in Your righteousness, because of my adversaries; make Your way straight before me.

9 For there is nothing reliable in what they say; destruction is within them; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongues.

10 Punish them, God; let them fall by their own schemes. Drive them out because of their many crimes, for they rebel against You.

11 But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them shout for joy forever. May You shelter them, and may those who love Your name boast about You.

12 For You, Lord, bless the righteous one; You surround him with favor like a shield.

Psalms 6

1 Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger; do not discipline me in Your wrath.

2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking;

3 my whole being is shaken with terror. And You, Lord-how long?

4 Turn, Lord! Rescue me; save me because of Your faithful love.

5 For there is no remembrance of You in death; who can thank You in Sheol?

6 I am weary from my groaning; with my tears I dampen my pillow and drench my bed every night.

7 My eyes are swollen from grief; they grow old because of all my enemies.

8 Depart from me, all evildoers, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

9 The Lord has heard my plea for help; the Lord accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies will be ashamed and shake with terror; they will turn back and suddenly be disgraced.

Acts 17:16-34

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was troubled within him when he saw that the city was full of idols.

17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

18 Then also, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, "What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say?" Others replied, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities"-because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

19 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, "May we learn about this new teaching you're speaking of?

20 For what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these ideas mean."

21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.

22 Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.

23 For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

24 The God who made the world and everything in it-He is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in shrines made by hands.

25 Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

26 From one man He has made every nation of men to live all over the earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live,

27 so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

28 For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Gk poet.

29 Being God's offspring, then, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

30 "Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,

31 because He has set a day on which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead."

32 When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him. But others said, "We will hear you about this again."

33 So Paul went out from their presence.

34 However, some men joined him and believed, among whom were Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.