Tag Archives: grace vs law

⁴ For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come into his courts.
⁹ Worship the Lord in the splendor of his^[a] holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth.
¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.

¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
¹² Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
¹³ Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

¹ Lord, through all the generations
    you have been our home!
² Before the mountains were born,
    before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
    from beginning to end, you are God.

³ You turn people back to dust, saying,
    “Return to dust, you mortals!”
⁴ For you, a thousand years are as a passing day,
    as brief as a few night hours.
⁵ You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.
    They are like grass that springs up in the morning.
⁶ In the morning it blooms and flourishes,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.
⁷ We wither beneath your anger;
    we are overwhelmed by your fury.
⁸ You spread out our sins before you—
    our secret sins—and you see them all.
⁹ We live our lives beneath your wrath,
    ending our years with a groan.

¹⁰ Seventy years are given to us!
    Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;
    soon they disappear, and we fly away.
¹¹ Who can comprehend the power of your anger?
    Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
¹² Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
    so that we may grow in wisdom.

¹³ O Lord, come back to us!
    How long will you delay?
    Take pity on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
    so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
¹⁵ Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
    Replace the evil years with good.
¹⁶ Let us, your servants, see you work again;
    let our children see your glory.
¹⁷ And may the Lord our God show us his approval
    and make our efforts successful.
    Yes, make our efforts successful!

¹ I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!
    Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.
² Your unfailing love will last forever.
    Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

³ The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant.
    I have sworn this oath to him:
⁴ ‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever;
    they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’” Interlude
⁵ All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord;
    myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.
⁶ For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?
    What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?
⁷ The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.
    He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.
⁸ O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!
    Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?
    You are entirely faithful.

⁹ You rule the oceans.
    You subdue their storm-tossed waves.
¹⁰ You crushed the great sea monster.^[b]
    You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
¹¹ The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
    everything in the world is yours—you created it all.
¹² You created north and south.
    Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.
¹³ Powerful is your arm!
    Strong is your hand!
    Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
    Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.
¹⁵ Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,
    for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
¹⁶ They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.
    They exult in your righteousness.
¹⁷ You are their glorious strength.
    It pleases you to make us strong.
¹⁸ Yes, our protection comes from the Lord,
    and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.

¹⁹ Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful people.
You said, “I have raised up a warrior.
    I have selected him from the common people to be king.
²⁰ I have found my servant David.
    I have anointed him with my holy oil.
²¹ I will steady him with my hand;
    with my powerful arm I will make him strong.
²² His enemies will not defeat him,
    nor will the wicked overpower him.
²³ I will beat down his adversaries before him
    and destroy those who hate him.
²⁴ My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him,
    and by my authority he will grow in power.
²⁵ I will extend his rule over the sea,
    his dominion over the rivers.
²⁶ And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
²⁷ I will make him my firstborn son,
    the mightiest king on earth.
²⁸ I will love him and be kind to him forever;
    my covenant with him will never end.
²⁹ I will preserve an heir for him;
    his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.
³⁰ But if his descendants forsake my instructions
    and fail to obey my regulations,
³¹ if they do not obey my decrees
    and fail to keep my commands,
³² then I will punish their sin with the rod,
    and their disobedience with beating.
³³ But I will never stop loving him
    nor fail to keep my promise to him.
³⁴ No, I will not break my covenant;
    I will not take back a single word I said.
³⁵ I have sworn an oath to David,
    and in my holiness I cannot lie:
³⁶ His dynasty will go on forever;
    his kingdom will endure as the sun.
³⁷ It will be as eternal as the moon,
    my faithful witness in the sky!” Interlude

³⁸ But now you have rejected him and cast him off.
    You are angry with your anointed king.
³⁹ You have renounced your covenant with him;
    you have thrown his crown in the dust.
⁴⁰ You have broken down the walls protecting him
    and ruined every fort defending him.
⁴¹ Everyone who comes along has robbed him,
    and he has become a joke to his neighbors.
⁴² You have strengthened his enemies
    and made them all rejoice.
⁴³ You have made his sword useless
    and refused to help him in battle.
⁴⁴ You have ended his splendor
    and overturned his throne.
⁴⁵ You have made him old before his time
    and publicly disgraced him. Interlude

⁴⁶ O Lord, how long will this go on?
    Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your anger burn like fire?
⁴⁷ Remember how short my life is,
    how empty and futile this human existence!
⁴⁸ No one can live forever; all will die.
    No one can escape the power of the grave.^[c] Interlude

⁴⁹ Lord, where is your unfailing love?
    You promised it to David with a faithful pledge.
⁵⁰ Consider, Lord, how your servants are disgraced!
    I carry in my heart the insults of so many people.
⁵¹ Your enemies have mocked me, O Lord;
    they mock your anointed king wherever he goes.

⁵² Praise the Lord forever!
    Amen and amen!

¹ Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;
    answer me, for I need your help.
² Protect me, for I am devoted to you.
    Save me, for I serve you and trust you.
    You are my God.
³ Be merciful to me, O Lord,
    for I am calling on you constantly.
⁴ Give me happiness, O Lord,
    for I give myself to you.
⁵ O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,
    so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
⁶ Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord;
    hear my urgent cry.
⁷ I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble,
    and you will answer me.

⁸ No pagan god is like you, O Lord.
    None can do what you do!
⁹ All the nations you made
    will come and bow before you, Lord;
    they will praise your holy name.
¹⁰ For you are great and perform wonderful deeds.
    You alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me your ways, O Lord,
    that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
    so that I may honor you.
¹² With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
    I will give glory to your name forever,
¹³ for your love for me is very great.
    You have rescued me from the depths of death.^[a]

¹⁴ O God, insolent people rise up against me;
    a violent gang is trying to kill me.
    You mean nothing to them.
¹⁵ But you, O Lord,
    are a God of compassion and mercy,
slow to get angry
    and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
¹⁶ Look down and have mercy on me.
    Give your strength to your servant;
    save me, the son of your servant.
¹⁷ Send me a sign of your favor.
    Then those who hate me will be put to shame,
    for you, O Lord, help and comfort me.

¹ O God, do not be silent!
    Do not be deaf.
    Do not be quiet, O God.
² Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies?
    Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up?
³ They devise crafty schemes against your people;
    they conspire against your precious ones.
⁴ “Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation.
    We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”
⁵ Yes, this was their unanimous decision.
    They signed a treaty as allies against you—
⁶ these Edomites and Ishmaelites;
    Moabites and Hagrites;
⁷ Gebalites, Ammonites, and Amalekites;
    and people from Philistia and Tyre.
⁸ Assyria has joined them, too,
    and is allied with the descendants of Lot. Interlude

⁹ Do to them as you did to the Midianites
    and as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
¹⁰ They were destroyed at Endor,
    and their decaying corpses fertilized the soil.
¹¹ Let their mighty nobles die as Oreb and Zeeb did.
    Let all their princes die like Zebah and Zalmunna,
¹² for they said, “Let us seize for our own use
    these pasturelands of God!”
¹³ O my God, scatter them like tumbleweed,
    like chaff before the wind!
¹⁴ As a fire burns a forest
    and as a flame sets mountains ablaze,
¹⁵ chase them with your fierce storm;
    terrify them with your tempest.
¹⁶ Utterly disgrace them
    until they submit to your name, O Lord.
¹⁷ Let them be ashamed and terrified forever.
    Let them die in disgrace.
¹⁸ Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord,
    that you alone are the Most High,
    supreme over all the earth.

¹ God presides over heaven’s court;
    he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:
² “How long will you hand down unjust decisions
    by favoring the wicked? Interlude

³ “Give justice to the poor and the orphan;
    uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
⁴ Rescue the poor and helpless;
    deliver them from the grasp of evil people.
⁵ But these oppressors know nothing;
    they are so ignorant!
Th2ey wander about in darkness,
    while the whole world is shaken to the core.
⁶ I say, ‘You are gods;
    you are all children of the Most High.
⁷ But you will die like mere mortals
    and fall like every other ruler.’”

⁸ Rise up, O God, and judge the earth,
    for all the nations belong to you.

¹ Sing praises to God, our strength.
    Sing to the God of Jacob.
² Sing! Beat the tambourine.
    Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
³ Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,
    and again at full moon to call a festival!
⁴ For this is required by the decrees of Israel;
    it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.
⁵ He made it a law for Israel^[b]
    when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say,
⁶ “Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
    I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
⁷ You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
    I answered out of the thundercloud
    and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

⁸ “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
    O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
⁹ You must never have a foreign god;
    you must not bow down before a false god.
¹⁰ For it was I, the Lord your God,
    who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

¹¹ “But no, my people wouldn’t listen.
    Israel did not want me around.
¹² So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,
    living according to their own ideas.
¹³ Oh, that my people would listen to me!
    Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
¹⁴ How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
    How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;
    they would be doomed forever.
¹⁶ But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
    I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”