Meditate

7. Israel's Misery and Rising

The Total Corruption of the People

 7

Woe is me! For I have become like one who,

after the summer fruit has been gathered,

after the vintage has been gleaned,

finds no cluster to eat;

there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.

2

The faithful have disappeared from the land,

and there is no one left who is upright;

they all lie in wait for blood,

and they hunt each other with nets.

3

Their hands are skilled to do evil;

the official and the judge ask for a bribe,

and the powerful dictate what they desire;

thus they pervert justice.

4

The best of them is like a brier,

the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

The day of their sentinels, of their punishment, has come;

now their confusion is at hand.

5

Put no trust in a friend,

have no confidence in a loved one;

guard the doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your embrace;

6

for the son treats the father with contempt,

the daughter rises up against her mother,

the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

your enemies are members of your own household.

7

But as for me, I will look to the Lord,

I will wait for the God of my salvation;

my God will hear me.

Penitence and Trust in God

8

Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy;

when I fall, I shall rise;

when I sit in darkness,

the Lord will be a light to me.

9

I must bear the indignation of the Lord,

because I have sinned against him,

until he takes my side

and executes judgment for me.

He will bring me out to the light;

I shall see his vindication.

10

Then my enemy will see,

and shame will cover her who said to me,

“Where is the Lord your God?”

My eyes will see her downfall;

now she will be trodden down

like the mire of the streets.

A Prophecy of Restoration

11

A day for the building of your walls!

In that day the boundary shall be far extended.

12

In that day they will come to you

from Assyria to Egypt,

and from Egypt to the River,

from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.

13

But the earth will be desolate

because of its inhabitants,

for the fruit of their doings.

14

Shepherd your people with your staff,

the flock that belongs to you,

which lives alone in a forest

in the midst of a garden land;

let them feed in Bashan and Gilead

as in the days of old.

15

As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

show us marvelous things.

16

The nations shall see and be ashamed

of all their might;

they shall lay their hands on their mouths;

their ears shall be deaf;

17

they shall lick dust like a snake,

like the crawling things of the earth;

they shall come trembling out of their fortresses;

they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,

and they shall stand in fear of you.

God’s Compassion and Steadfast Love

18

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity

and passing over the transgression

of the remnant of your possession?

He does not retain his anger forever,

because he delights in showing clemency.

19

He will again have compassion upon us;

he will tread our iniquities under foot.

You will cast all our sins

into the depths of the sea.

20

You will show faithfulness to Jacob

and unswerving loyalty to Abraham,

as you have sworn to our ancestors

from the days of old.

24. Trial Before Felix

Paul Held in Custody

²⁴ Some days later when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak concerning faith in Christ Jesus.²⁵And as he discussed justice, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present; when I have an opportunity, I will send for you.”²⁶At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul, and for that reason he used to send for him very often and converse with him.

²⁷ After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and since he wanted to grant the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

139. Psalm 139

Psalm 139

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

1

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

2

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.

3

You search out my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4

Even before a word is on my tongue,

O Lord, you know it completely.

5

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

6

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7

Where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

8

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

9

If I take the wings of the morning

and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

10

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me fast.

11

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light around me become night,”

12

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

13

For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well.

15

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16

Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

In your book were written

all the days that were formed for me,

when none of them as yet existed.

17

How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18

I try to count them—they are more than the sand;

I come to the end—I am still with you.

19

O that you would kill the wicked, O God,

and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—

20

those who speak of you maliciously,

and lift themselves up against you for evil!

21

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

22

I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my thoughts.

24

See if there is any wicked way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.