Psalms 72; Psalms 73; Romans 9:1-15

1 God, give the king your good judgment and the king's son your goodness.

2 Help him judge your people fairly and decide what is right for the poor.

3 Let there be peace on the mountains and goodness on the hills for the people.

4 Help him be fair to the poor and save the needy and punish those who hurt them.

5 May they respect you as long as the sun shines and as long as the moon glows.

6 Let him be like rain on the grass, like showers that water the earth.

7 Let goodness be plentiful while he lives. Let peace continue as long as there is a moon.

8 Let his kingdom go from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

9 Let the people of the desert bow down to him, and make his enemies lick the dust.

10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the faraway lands bring him gifts. bring their presents to him.

11 Let all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.

12 He will help the poor when they cry out and will save the needy when no one else will help.

13 He will be kind to the weak and poor, and he will save their lives.

14 He will save them from cruel people who try to hurt them, because their lives are precious to him.

15 Long live the king! Let him receive gold from Sheba. Let people always pray for him and bless him all day long.

16 Let the fields grow plenty of grain and the hills be covered with crops. Let the land be as fertile as Lebanon, and let the cities grow like the grass in a field.

17 Let the king be famous forever; let him be remembered as long as the sun shines. Let the nations be blessed because of him, and may they all bless him.

18 Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does such miracles.

19 Praise his glorious name forever. Let his glory fill the whole world. Amen and amen.

20 This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.

1 God is truly good to Israel, to those who have pure hearts.

2 But I had almost stopped believing; I had almost lost my faith

3 because I was jealous of proud people. I saw wicked people doing well.

4 They are not suffering; they are healthy and strong.

5 They don't have troubles like the rest of us; they don't have problems like other people.

6 They wear pride like a necklace and put on violence as their clothing.

7 They are looking for profits and do not control their selfish desires.

8 They make fun of others and speak evil; proudly they speak of hurting others.

9 They brag to the sky. They say that they own the earth.

10 So their people turn to them and give them whatever they want.

11 They say, "How can God know?

12 These people are wicked, always at ease, and getting richer.

13 So why have I kept my heart pure? Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?

14 I have suffered all day long; I have been punished every morning.

15 God, if I had decided to talk like this, I would have let your people down.

16 I tried to understand all this, but it was too hard for me to see

17 until I went to the Temple of God. Then I understood what will happen to them.

18 You have put them in danger; you cause them to be destroyed.

19 They are destroyed in a moment; they are swept away by terrors.

20 It will be like waking from a dream. Lord, when you rise up, they will disappear.

21 When my heart was sad and I was angry,

22 I was senseless and stupid. I acted like an animal toward you.

23 But I am always with you; you have held my hand.

24 You guide me with your advice, and later you will receive me in honor.

25 I have no one in heaven but you; I want nothing on earth besides you.

26 My body and my mind may become weak, but God is my strength. He is mine forever.

27 Those who are far from God will die; you destroy those who are unfaithful.

28 But I am close to God, and that is good. The Lord God is my protection. I will tell all that you have done. A maskil of Asaph.

1 I am in Christ, and I am telling you the truth; I do not lie. My conscience is ruled by the Holy Spirit, and it tells me I am not lying.

2 I have great sorrow and always feel much sadness.

3 I wish I could help my Jewish brothers and sisters, my people. I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ if that would help them.

4 They are the people of Israel, God's chosen children. They have seen the glory of God, and they have the agreements that God made between himself and his people. God gave them the law of Moses and the right way of worship and his promises.

5 They are the descendants of our great ancestors, and they are the earthly family into which Christ was born, who is God over all. Praise him forever! Amen.

6 It is not that God failed to keep his promise to them. But only some of the people of Israel are truly God's people,

7 and only some of Abraham'sn descendants are true children of Abraham. But God said to Abraham: "The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac."

8 This means that not all of Abraham's descendants are God's true children. Abraham's true children are those who become God's children because of the promise God made to Abraham.

9 God's promise to Abraham was this: "At the right time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

10 And that is not all. Rebekah's sons had the same father, our father Isaac.

11

12 But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, "The older will serve the younger." This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that the one chosen would be chosen because of God's own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything he did.

13 As the Scripture says, "I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau."

14 So what should we say about this? Is God unfair? In no way.

15 God said to Moses, "I will show kindness to anyone to whom I want to show kindness, and I will show mercy to anyone to whom I want to show mercy."