Psalms 94; Psalms 95; Psalms 96; Romans 15:14-33

Psalms 94

1 LORD, avenging God— avenging God, show yourself!

2 Rise up, judge of the earth! Pay back the arrogant exactly what they deserve!

3 How long will the wicked—oh, LORD!— how long will the wicked win?

4 They spew arrogant words; all the evildoers are bragging.

5 They crush your own people, LORD! They abuse your very own possession.

6 They kill widows and immigrants; they murder orphans,

7 saying all the while, "The LORD can't see it; Jacob's God doesn't know what's going on!"

8 You ignorant people better learn quickly. You fools—when will you get some sense?

9 The one who made the ear, can't he hear? The one who formed the eye, can't he see?

10 The one who disciplines nations, can't he punish? The one who teaches humans, doesn't he know?

11 The LORD does indeed know human thoughts, knows that they are nothing but a puff of air.

12 The people you discipline, LORD, are truly happy— the ones you teach from your Instruction—

13 giving them relief from troubling times until a pit is dug for the wicked.

14 The LORD will not reject his people; he will not abandon his very own possession.

15 No, but justice will once again meet up with righteousness, and all whose heart is right will follow after.

16 Who will stand up for me against the wicked? Who will help me against evildoers?

17 If the LORD hadn't helped me, I would live instantly in total silence.

18 Whenever I feel my foot slipping, your faithful love steadies me, LORD.

19 When my anxieties multiply, your comforting calms me down.

20 Can a wicked ruler be your ally; one who wreaks havoc by means of the law?

21 The wicked gang up against the lives of the righteous. They condemn innocent blood.

22 But the LORD is my fortress; my God is my rock of refuge.

23 He will repay them for their wickedness, completely destroy them because of their evil. Yes, the LORD our God will completely destroy them.

Psalms 95

1 Come, let's sing out loud to the LORD! Let's raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let's come before him with thanks! Let's shout songs of joy to him!

3 The LORD is a great God, the great king over all other gods.

4 The earth's depths are in his hands; the mountain heights belong to him;

5 the sea, which he made, is his along with the dry ground, which his own hands formed.

6 Come, let's worship and bow down! Let's kneel before the LORD, our maker!

7 He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep in his hands. If only you would listen to his voice right now!

8 "Don't harden your hearts like you did at Meribah, like you did when you were at Massah, in the wilderness,

9 when your ancestors tested me and scrutinized me, even though they had already seen my acts.

10 For forty years I despised that generation; I said, ‘These people have twisted hearts. They don't know my ways.'

11 So in anger I swore: ‘They will never enter my place of rest!'"

Psalms 96

1 Sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Sing to the LORD! Bless his name! Share the news of his saving work every single day!

3 Declare God's glory among the nations; declare his wondrous works among all people

4 because the LORD is great and so worthy of praise. He is awesome beyond all other gods

5 because all the gods of the nations are just idols, but it is the LORD who created heaven!

6 Greatness and grandeur are in front of him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Give to the LORD, all families of the nations— give to the LORD glory and power!

8 Give to the LORD the glory due his name! Bring gifts! Enter his courtyards!

9 Bow down to the LORD in his holy splendor! Tremble before him, all the earth!

10 Tell the nations, "The LORD rules! Yes, he set the world firmly in place; it won't be shaken. He will judge all people fairly."

11 Let heaven celebrate! Let the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it roar!

12 Let the countryside and everything in it celebrate! Then all the trees of the forest too will shout out joyfully

13 before the LORD because he is coming! He is coming to establish justice on the earth! He will establish justice in the world rightly. He will establish justice among all people fairly.

Romans 15:14-33

14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and are able to teach each other.

15 But I've written to you in a sort of daring way, partly to remind you of what you already know. I'm writing to you in this way because of the grace that was given to me by God.

16 It helps me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I'm working as a priest of God's gospel so that the offering of the Gentiles can be acceptable and made holy by the Holy Spirit.

17 So in Christ Jesus I brag about things that have to do with God.

18 I don't dare speak about anything except what Christ has done through me to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles. He did it by what I've said and what I've done,

19 by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit. So I've completed the circuit of preaching Christ's gospel from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.

20 In this way, I have a goal to preach the gospel where they haven't heard of Christ yet, so that I won't be building on someone else's foundation.

21 Instead, as it's written, Those who hadn't been told about him will see, and those who hadn't heard will understand.

22 That's why I've been stopped so many times from coming to see you.

23 But now, since I don't have any place to work in these regions anymore, and since I've wanted to come to see you for many years,

24 I'll visit you when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while I'm passing through. And I hope you will send me on my way there, after I have first been reenergized by some time in your company.

25 But now I'm going to Jerusalem, to serve God's people.

26 Macedonia and Achaia have been happy to make a contribution for the poor among God's people in Jerusalem.

27 They were happy to do this, and they are actually in debt to God's people in Jerusalem. If the Gentiles got a share of the Jewish people's spiritual resources, they ought to minister to them with material resources.

28 So then after I have finished this job and have safely delivered the final amount of the Gentiles' offering to them, I will leave for Spain, visiting you on the way.

29 And I know that when I come to you I will come with the fullest blessing of Christ.

30 Brothers and sisters, I urge you, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggles in your prayers to God for me.

31 Pray that I will be rescued from the people in Judea who don't believe. Also, pray that my service for Jerusalem will be acceptable to God's people there

32 so that I can come to you with joy by God's will and be reenergized with your company.

33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.