Sunday, April 15, 2012

RADICAL COMMITMENT: Day 269

Today’s Reading: Psalms 123-125, Psalms 128-130
·         Our eyes look to the Lord our God
·         Our help is in the name of the Lord
·         The Lord surrounds His people
·         Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord
·         They have afflicted Me from My youth
·         My soul waits for the Lord

PSALMS 123-125

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

123 To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

124  If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
     let Israel now say—
Lord who was on our sideif it had not been the
    when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away,
    the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.
Blessed be the Lord,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth!
We have escaped like a bird
    from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped!
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

The Lord Surrounds His People

125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people,
    from this time forth and forevermore.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
    on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
    their hands to do wrong.
Lord, to those who are good, Do good, O
    and to those who are upright in their hearts!
But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
    the Lord will lead away with evildoers!
     Peace be upon Israel!
PSALMS 128-130

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

128  Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
    who walks in his ways!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
    you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
    around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
    who fears the Lord.
The Lord bless you from Zion!
    May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life!
May you see your children's children!
     Peace be upon Israel!

They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth

129 “Greatly[a] have they afflicted me from my youth”—
     let Israel now say—
“Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
     yet they have not prevailed against me.
The plowers plowed upon my back;
    they made long their furrows.”
Lord is righteous;The
    he has cut the cords of the wicked.
May all who hate Zion
    be put to shame and turned backward!
Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
    which withers before it grows up,
with which the reaper does not fill his hand
    nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
nor do those who pass by say,
     “The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
    We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

My Soul Waits for the Lord

130 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
    O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
     that you may be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?