Psalms 89; Psalms 90; Romans 14

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Psalms 89

1 I will sing forever about the evidence of your mercy, O LORD. I will tell about your faithfulness to every generation.

2 I said, "Your mercy will last forever. Your faithfulness stands firm in the heavens."

3 [You said,] "I have made a promise to my chosen one. I swore this oath to my servant David:

4 'I will make your dynasty continue forever. I built your throne to last throughout every generation.'" Selah

5 O LORD, the heavens praise your miracles and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

6 Who in the skies can compare with the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?

7 God is terrifying in the council of the holy ones. He is greater and more awe-inspiring than those who surround him.

8 O LORD God of Armies, who is like you? Mighty LORD, even your faithfulness surrounds you.

9 You rule the raging sea. When its waves rise, you quiet them.

10 You crushed Rahab; it was like a corpse. With your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

11 The heavens are yours. The earth is also yours. You made the world and everything in it.

12 You created north and south. Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing your name joyfully.

13 Your arm is mighty. Your hand is strong. Your right hand is lifted high.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne. Mercy and truth stand in front of you.

15 Blessed are the people who know how to praise you. They walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.

16 They find joy in your name all day long. They are joyful in your righteousness

17 because you are the glory of their strength. By your favor you give us victory.

18 Our shield belongs to the LORD. Our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Once in a vision you said to your faithful ones: "I set a boy above warriors. I have raised up one chosen from the people.

20 I found my servant David. I anointed him with my holy oil.

21 My hand is ready to help him. My arm will also give him strength.

22 No enemy will take him by surprise. No wicked person will mistreat him.

23 I will crush his enemies in front of him and defeat those who hate him.

24 My faithfulness and mercy will be with him, and in my name he will be victorious.

25 I will put his [left] hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.

26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.'

27 Yes, I will make him the firstborn. He will be the Most High to the kings of the earth.

28 My mercy will stay with him forever. My promise to him is unbreakable.

29 I will make his dynasty endure forever and his throne like the days of heaven.

30 "If his descendants abandon my teachings and do not live by my rules,

31 if they violate my laws and do not obey my commandments,

32 then with a rod I will punish their rebellion and their crimes with beatings.

33 But I will not take my mercy away from him or allow my truth to become a lie.

34 I will not dishonor my promise or alter my own agreement.

35 On my holiness I have taken an oath once and for all: I will not lie to David.

36 His dynasty will last forever. His throne will be in my presence like the sun.

37 Like the moon his throne will stand firm forever. It will be like a faithful witness in heaven."

38 But you have despised, rejected, and become angry with your anointed one.

39 You have refused to recognize the promise to your servant and have thrown his crown into the dirt.

40 You have broken through all his walls and have laid his fortified cities in ruins.

41 (Everyone who passed by robbed him. He has become the object of his neighbors' scorn.)

42 You held the right hand of his enemies high and made all of his adversaries rejoice.

43 You even took his sword out of his hand and failed to support him in battle.

44 You put an end to his splendor and hurled his throne to the ground.

45 You cut short the days of his youth and covered him with shame. Selah

46 How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger continue to burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my life is! Have you created Adam's descendants for no reason?

48 Can a mortal go on living and never see death? Who can set himself free from the power of the grave? Selah

49 Where is the evidence of your mercy, Lord? You swore an oath to David on [the basis of] your faithfulness.

50 Remember, O LORD, how your servant has been insulted. Remember how I have carried in my heart [the insults] from so many people.

51 Your enemies insulted [me]. They insulted your Messiah every step he took.

52 Thank the LORD forever. Amen and amen!

Psalms 90

1 O Lord, you have been our refuge throughout every generation.

2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, you were God. You are God from everlasting to everlasting.

3 You turn mortals back into dust and say, "Return, descendants of Adam."

4 Indeed, in your sight a thousand years are like a single day, like yesterday--already past-- like an hour in the night.

5 You sweep mortals away. They are a dream. They sprout again in the morning like cut grass.

6 In the morning they blossom and sprout. In the evening they wither and dry up.

7 Indeed, your anger consumes us. Your rage terrifies us.

8 You have set our sins in front of you. You have put our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 Indeed, all our days slip away because of your fury. We live out our years like one [long] sigh.

10 Each of us lives for 70 years-- or even 80 if we are in good health. But the best of them [bring] trouble and misery. Indeed, they are soon gone, and we fly away.

11 Who fully understands the power of your anger? A person fears you more when he better understands your fury.

12 Teach us to number each of our days so that we may grow in wisdom.

13 Return, LORD! How long...? Change your plans about [us,] your servants.

14 Satisfy us every morning with your mercy so that we may sing joyfully and rejoice all our days.

15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have made us suffer, for as many years as we have experienced evil.

16 Let [us,] your servants, see what you can do. Let our children see your glorious power.

17 Let the kindness of the Lord our God be with us. Make us successful in everything we do. Yes, make us successful in everything we do.

Romans 14

1 Welcome people who are weak in faith, but don't get into an argument over differences of opinion.

2 Some people believe that they can eat all kinds of food. Other people with weak faith believe that they can eat only vegetables.

3 People who eat all foods should not despise people who eat only vegetables. In the same way, the vegetarians should not criticize people who eat all foods, because God has accepted those people.

4 Who are you to criticize someone else's servant? The Lord will determine whether his servant has been successful. The servant will be successful because the Lord makes him successful.

5 One person decides that one day is holier than another. Another person decides that all days are the same. Every person must make his own decision.

6 When people observe a special day, they observe it to honor the Lord. When people eat all kinds of foods, they honor the Lord as they eat, since they give thanks to God. Vegetarians also honor the Lord when they eat, and they, too, give thanks to God.

7 It's clear that we don't live to honor ourselves, and we don't die to honor ourselves.

8 If we live, we honor the Lord, and if we die, we honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

9 For this reason Christ died and came back to life so that he would be the Lord of both the living and the dead.

10 Why do you criticize or despise other Christians? Everyone will stand in front of God to be judged.

11 Scripture says, "As certainly as I live, says the Lord, everyone will worship me, and everyone will praise God."

12 All of us will have to give an account of ourselves to God.

13 So let's stop criticizing each other. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make other Christians have doubts or lose their faith.

14 The Lord Jesus has given me the knowledge and conviction that no food is unacceptable in and of itself. But it is unacceptable to a person who thinks it is.

15 So if what you eat hurts another Christian, you are no longer living by love. Don't destroy anyone by what you eat. Christ died for that person.

16 Don't allow anyone to say that what you consider good is evil.

17 God's kingdom does not consist of what a person eats or drinks. Rather, God's kingdom consists of God's approval and peace, as well as the joy that the Holy Spirit gives.

18 The person who serves Christ with this in mind is pleasing to God and respected by people.

19 So let's pursue those things which bring peace and which are good for each other.

20 Don't ruin God's work because of what you eat. All food is acceptable, but it's wrong for a person to eat something if it causes someone else to have doubts.

21 The right thing to do is to avoid eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that causes another Christian to have doubts.

22 So whatever you believe about these things, keep it between yourself and God. The person who does what he knows is right shouldn't feel guilty. He is blessed.

23 But if a person has doubts and still eats, he is condemned because he didn't act in faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin.