Sunday, April 29, 2012

RADICAL COMMITMENT: Day 258


Today’s Reading: Psalm 89, 96, 100-101, 107
·         I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord
·         Worship in the splendor of His holiness
·         His steadfast love endures forever
·         I will walk with integrity
·         Let the redeemed of the Lord say so
PSALM 89
I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord
89  I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
     Who among the heavenly beings[b] is like the Lord,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?
O Lord God of hosts,
     who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11  The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
     the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12  The north and the south, you have created them;
     Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
     steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
16 who exult in your name all the day
    and in your righteousness are exalted.
17 For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19  Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,[c] and said:
    “I have granted help to one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20  I have found David, my servant;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him,
21 so that my hand shall be established with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him;
     the wicked shall not humble him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27 And I will make him the firstborn,
     the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my covenant will stand firm[d] for him.
29 I will establish his offspring forever
    and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30  If his children forsake my law
    and do not walk according to my rules,[e]
31 if they violate my statutes
    and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod
    and their iniquity with stripes,
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
    or be false to my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
    I will not lie to David.
36 His offspring shall endure forever,
     his throne as long as the sun before me.
37 Like the moon it shall be established forever,
     a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
38 But now you have cast off and rejected;
    you are full of wrath against your anointed.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
    you have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have breached all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41  All who pass by plunder him;
    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not made him stand in battle.
44 You have made his splendor to cease
    and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with shame. Selah
46  How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47  Remember how short my time is!
    For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48  What man can live and never see death?
    Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50  Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
    and how I bear in my heart the insults[f] of all the many nations,
51 with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
    with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
52  Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
PSALM 96

Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

96  Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Lord, bless his name;Sing to the
     tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
Lord, and greatly to be praised;For great is the
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
     strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
     ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
Lord the glory due his name;Ascribe to the
    bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Lord in the splendor of holiness;[a]Worship the
     tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.”
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12     let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13     before the Lord, for he comes,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.
PSALM 100-101

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

100  Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
     Serve the Lord with gladness!
     Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

I Will Walk with Integrity

101 I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
    to you, O Lord, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless.
    Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
    within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
    it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.
Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
    I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
    I will not endure.
I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
    shall minister to me.
No one who practices deceit
    shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
    shall continue before my eyes.
Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers
    from the city of the Lord.
PSALM 107

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

107  Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
Lord say so,Let the redeemed of the
    whom he has redeemed from trouble[a]
and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.
Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
Lord in their trouble,Then they cried to the
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
    till they reached a city to dwell in.
Lord for his steadfast love, Let them thank the
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
     and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
10  Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
    they fell down, with none to help.
13 Lord in their trouble, Then they cried to the
    and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
    and burst their bonds apart.
15 Lord for his steadfast love, Let them thank the
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
    and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18  they loathed any kind of food,
    and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Lord in their trouble, Then they cried to the
    and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
    and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Lord for his steadfast love, Let them thank the
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the great waters;
24 Lord,they saw the deeds of the
    his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
    and were at their wits' end.[b]
28 Lord in their trouble, Then they cried to the
    and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters[c] were quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Lord for his steadfast love, Let them thank the
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
34  a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
     a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
    and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
    and get a fruitful yield.
38  By his blessing they multiply greatly,
    and he does not let their livestock diminish.
39 When they are diminished and brought low
    through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40  he pours contempt on princes
    and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
    and makes their families like flocks.
42  The upright see it and are glad,
    and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
43  Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
    let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?