Psalms 63; Psalms 64; Psalms 65; Romans 6

Psalms 63

1 God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.

2 So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory.

3 My lips will glorify You because Your faithful love is better than life.

4 So I will praise You as long as I live; at Your name, I will lift up my hands.

5 You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.

6 When, on my bed, I think of You, I meditate on You during the night watches

7 because You are my help; I will rejoice in the shadow of Your wings.

8 I follow close to You; Your right hand holds on to me.

9 But those who seek to destroy my life will go into the depths of the earth.

10 They will be given over to the power of the sword; they will become the jackals' prey.

11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by Him will boast, for the mouths of liars will be shut.

Psalms 64

1 God, hear my voice when I complain. Protect my life from the terror of the enemy.

2 Hide me from the scheming of the wicked, from the mob of evildoers,

3 who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim bitter words like arrows,

4 shooting from concealed places at the innocent. They shoot at him suddenly and are not afraid.

5 They encourage each other in an evil plan; they talk about hiding traps and say, "Who will see them?"

6 They devise crimes [and say,] "We have perfected a secret plan." The inner man and the heart are mysterious.

7 But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly, they will be wounded.

8 They will be made to stumble; their own tongues work against them. All who see them will shake their heads.

9 Then everyone will fear and will tell about God's work, for they will understand what He has done.

10 The righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him; all the upright in heart offer praise.

Psalms 65

1 Praise is rightfully Yours, God, in Zion; vows to You will be fulfilled.

2 All humanity will come to You, the One who hears prayer.

3 Iniquities overwhelm me; only You can atone for our rebellions.

4 How happy is the one You choose and bring near to live in Your courts! We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.

5 You answer us in righteousness, with awe-inspiring works, God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the distant seas;

6 You establish the mountains by Your power, robed with strength;

7 You silence the roar of the seas, the roar of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.

8 Those who live far away are awed by Your signs; You make east and west shout for joy.

9 You visit the earth and water it abundantly, enriching it greatly. God's stream is filled with water, for You prepare the earth in this way, providing [people] with grain.

10 You soften it with showers and bless its growth, soaking its furrows and leveling its ridges.

11 You crown the year with Your goodness; Your ways overflow with plenty.

12 The wilderness pastures overflow, and the hills are robed with joy.

13 The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys covered with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

Romans 6

1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may multiply?

2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

4 Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life.

5 For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,

7 since a person who has died is freed from sin's claims.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him,

9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies. Death no longer rules over Him.

10 For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives to God.

11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.

13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.

14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!

16 Do you not know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey-either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?

17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to,

18 and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

19 I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness.

21 And what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

22 But now, since you have been liberated from sin and become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification-and the end is eternal life!

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.