Monday, May 21, 2012

RADICAL COMMITMENT: Day 244

Today’s Reading: Psalm 30; 108; 109
·         Joy comes with the morning
·         With God we shall do valiantly
·         Help me O Lord my God



PSALM 30:

Joy Comes with the Morning
A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.
30 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
    and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
    and you have healed me.
O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
    you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.[a]
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
    and give thanks to his holy name.[b]
For his anger is but for a moment,
    and his favor is for a lifetime.[c]
Weeping may tarry for the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.
As for me, I said in my prosperity,
    “I shall never be moved.”
By your favor, O Lord,
    you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
    I was dismayed.
To you, O Lord, I cry,
    and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
“What profit is there in my death,[d]
    if I go down to the pit?[e]
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10  Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
PSALM 108

With God We Shall Do Valiantly

108  My heart is steadfast, O God!
    I will sing and make melody with all my being![a]
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
Lord, among the peoples;I will give thanks to you, O
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!
That your beloved ones may be delivered,
    give salvation by your right hand and answer me!
God has promised in his holiness:[b]
    “With exultation I will divide up Shechem
    and portion out the Valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin;
    upon Edom I cast my shoe;
     over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
    You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 Oh grant us help against the foe,
    for vain is the salvation of man!
13 With God we shall do valiantly;
    it is he who will tread down our foes.
PSLAM 109

Help Me, O Lord My God

109  Be not silent, O God of my praise!
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
    speaking against me with lying tongues.
They encircle me with words of hate,
    and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me,
    but I give myself to prayer.[a]
So they reward me evil for good,
    and hatred for my love.
Appoint a wicked man against him;
    let an accuser stand at his right hand.
When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
    let his prayer be counted as sin!
May his days be few;
    may another take his office!
May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg,
     seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
    nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
    may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 Lord,May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the
    and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15 Lord continually, Let them be before the
    that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
    but pursued the poor and needy
    and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17  He loved to curse; let curses come[b] upon him!
    He did not delight in blessing; may it be far[c] from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
    may it soak[d] into his body like water,
    like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
    like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 Lord,May this be the reward of my accusers from the
    of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O God my Lord,
    deal on my behalf for your name's sake;
    because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting;
    my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they wag their heads.
26  Help me, O Lord my God!
    Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand;
    you, O Lord, have done it!
28  Let them curse, but you will bless!
    They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
    may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
    to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Where have you seen God’s grace in your life today?