The Living Bible (190 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Forever and ever I will sing about the tender kindness of the Lord! Young and old shall hear about your blessings.
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Your love and kindness are forever; your truth is as enduring as the heavens.
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The Lord God says,
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“I have made a solemn agreement with my chosen servant David. I have taken an oath to establish his descendants as kings forever on his throne, from now until eternity!”
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All heaven shall praise your miracles, O Lord; myriads of angels
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will praise you for your faithfulness.
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For who in all of heaven can be compared with God? What mightiest angel
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is anything like him?
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The highest of angelic powers
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stand in dread and awe of him. Who is as revered as he by those surrounding him?
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O Jehovah, Commander of the heavenly armies, where is there any other Mighty One like you? Faithfulness is your very character.
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You rule the oceans when their waves arise in fearful storms; you speak, and they lie still.
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You have cut haughty Egypt
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to pieces. Your enemies are scattered by your awesome power.
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The heavens are yours, the world, everything—for you created them all.
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You created north and south! Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon rejoice to be signed by your name as their maker!
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Strong is your arm! Strong is your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.
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Your throne is founded on two strong pillars—the one is Justice and the other Righteousness. Mercy and Truth walk before you as your attendants. Blessed are those who hear the joyful blast of the trumpet, for they shall walk in the light of your presence.
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They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation and in your perfect righteousness.
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You are their strength. What glory! Our power is based on your favor!
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Yes, our protection is from the Lord himself and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.
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In a vision you spoke to your prophet
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and said, “I have chosen a splendid young man from the common people to be the king—
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he is my servant David! I have anointed him with my holy oil.
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I will steady him and make him strong.
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His enemies shall not outwit him, nor shall the wicked overpower him.
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I will beat down his adversaries before him and destroy those who hate him.
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I will protect and bless him constantly and surround him with my love; he will be great because of me.
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He will hold sway from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.
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And he will cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and my Rock of Salvation.’
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“I will treat him as my firstborn son and make him the mightiest king in all the earth.
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I will love him forever and be kind to him always; my covenant with him will never end.
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He will always have an heir; his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.
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If his children forsake my laws and don’t obey them, then I will punish them,
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but I will never completely take away my loving-kindness from them, nor let my promise fail.
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No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back one word of what I said.
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For I have sworn to David (and a holy God can never lie) that his dynasty will go on forever, and his throne will continue to the end of time.
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It shall be eternal as the moon, my faithful witness in the sky!”
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Then why cast me off, rejected? Why be so angry with the one you chose as king?
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Have you renounced your covenant with him? For you have thrown his crown in the dust.
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You have broken down the walls protecting him and laid in ruins every fort defending him.
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Everyone who comes along has robbed him while his neighbors mock.
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You have strengthened his enemies against him and made them rejoice.
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You have struck down his sword and refused to help him in battle.
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You have ended his splendor and overturned his throne.
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You have made him old before his time and publicly disgraced him.
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O Jehovah, how long will this go on? Will you hide yourself from me forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?
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Oh, remember how short you have made man’s lifespan. Is it an empty, futile life you give the sons of men?
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No man can live forever. All will die. Who can rescue his life from the power of the grave?
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Lord, where is the love you used to have for me? Where is your kindness that you promised to David with a faithful pledge?
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Lord, see how all the people are despising me.
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Your enemies joke about me, the one you anointed as their king.
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And yet—blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and amen!
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
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Before the mountains were created, before the earth was formed, you are God without beginning or end.
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You speak, and man turns back to dust.
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A thousand years are but as yesterday to you! They are like a single hour!
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5-6
We glide along the tides of time as swiftly as a racing river and vanish as quickly as a dream. We are like grass that is green in the morning but mowed down and withered before the evening shadows fall.
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We die beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your wrath.
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You spread out our sins before you—our secret sins—and see them all.
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No wonder the years are long and heavy here beneath your wrath. All our days are filled with sighing.
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Seventy years are given us! And some may even live to eighty. But even the best of these years are often empty and filled with pain; soon they disappear, and we are gone.
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Who can realize the terrors of your anger? Which of us can fear you as he should?
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Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.
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O Jehovah, come and bless us! How long will you delay? Turn away your anger from us.
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Satisfy us in our earliest
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youth with your loving-kindness, giving us constant joy to the end of our lives.
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Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.
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Let us see your miracles again; let our children see glorious things, the kind you used to do,
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and let the Lord our God favor us and give us success. May he give permanence to all we do.
We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.
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This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him.
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For he rescues you from every trap and protects you from the fatal plague.
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He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor.
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Now you don’t need to be afraid of the dark anymore, nor fear the dangers of the day;
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nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning.
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Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are dying around me, the evil will not touch me.
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I will see how the wicked are punished, but I will not share it.
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For Jehovah is my refuge! I choose the God above all gods to shelter me.
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How then can evil overtake me or any plague come near?
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For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go.
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They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail.
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You can safely meet a lion or step on poisonous snakes, yes, even trample them beneath your feet!
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For the Lord says, “Because he loves me, I will rescue him; I will make him great because he trusts in my name.
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When he calls on me, I will answer; I will be with him in trouble and rescue him and honor him.
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I will satisfy him with a full life
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and give him my salvation.”