Psalms 68; Psalms 69; Romans 3

Psalms 68

1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.

2 May you blow them away like smoke— as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds ; rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.

5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the lonely in families,he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

7 When you, God, went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,

8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

9 You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.

10 Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

11 The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:

12 “Kings and armies flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder.

13 Even while you sleep among the sheep pens,the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold.”

14 When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

15 Mount Bashan, majestic mountain, Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,

16 why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the LORD himself will dwell forever?

17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

18 When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious— that you,LORD God, might dwell there.

19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

20 Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.

21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

22 The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan; I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

23 that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes, while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”

24 Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels.

26 Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.

27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them, there the great throng of Judah’s princes, and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

28 Summon your power, God ; show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.

29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts.

30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.

31 Envoys will come from Egypt; Cush will submit herself to God.

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord,

33 to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.

34 Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens.

35 You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Psalms 69

1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.

3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

5 You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you.

6 Lord, the LORD Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me.

7 For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face.

8 I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children;

9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

10 When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;

11 when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me.

12 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.

13 But I pray to you, LORD, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.

14 Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.

15 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.

17 Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

18 Come near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes.

19 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you.

20 Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.

21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

22 May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap.

23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.

24 Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them.

25 May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.

26 For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

27 Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation.

28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.

29 But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me.

30 I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

31 This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.

32 The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!

33 The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them,

35 for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it;

36 the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.

Romans 3

1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?

2 Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?

4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”

5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)

6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?

7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?”

8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and misery mark their ways,

17 and the way of peace they do not know.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.

28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.