Psalms 63

A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.
 ¹  "O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water."  ²  I have seen you in your sanctuary
  and gazed upon your power and glory.
 ³  Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!  ⁴  I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.  ⁵  You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.  ⁶  I lie awake thinking of you,
  meditating on you through the night.
 ⁷  Because you are my helper,
  I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
 ⁸  I cling to you;
  your strong right hand holds me securely.

 ⁹  But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
  They will go down into the depths of the earth.
 ¹⁰  They will die by the sword
  and become the food of jackals.
 ¹¹  But the king will rejoice in God.
  All who trust in him will praise him,
  while liars will be silenced.

Psalms 64

For the choir director: A psalm of David.
 ¹  O God, listen to my complaint.
  Protect my life from my enemies' threats.
 ²  Hide me from the plots of this evil mob,
  from this gang of wrongdoers.
 ³  They sharpen their tongues like swords
  and aim their bitter words like arrows.
 ⁴  They shoot from ambush at the innocent,
  attacking suddenly and fearlessly.
 ⁵  They encourage each other to do evil
  and plan how to set their traps in secret.
  "Who will ever notice?" they ask.
 ⁶  As they plot their crimes, they say,
  "We have devised the perfect plan!"
  Yes, the human heart and mind are cunning.

 ⁷  But God himself will shoot them with his arrows,
  suddenly striking them down.
 ⁸  Their own tongues will ruin them,
  and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
 ⁹  Then everyone will be afraid;
  they will proclaim the mighty acts of God
  and realize all the amazing things he does.
 ¹⁰  The godly will rejoice in the LORD
  and find shelter in him.
And those who do what is right
  will praise him.

Psalms 65

For the choir director: A song. A psalm of David.
 ¹  What mighty praise, O God,
  belongs to you in Zion.
We will fulfill our vows to you,
 ²    for you answer our prayers.
  All of us must come to you.
 ³  Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,
  you forgive them all.
 ⁴  What joy for those you choose to bring near,
  those who live in your holy courts.
What festivities await us
  inside your holy Temple.

 ⁵  You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds,
  O God our savior.
You are the hope of everyone on earth,
  even those who sail on distant seas.
 ⁶  You formed the mountains by your power
  and armed yourself with mighty strength.
 ⁷  You quieted the raging oceans
  with their pounding waves
  and silenced the shouting of the nations.
 ⁸  Those who live at the ends of the earth
  stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets,
  you inspire shouts of joy.

 ⁹  You take care of the earth and water it,
  making it rich and fertile.
The river of God has plenty of water;
  it provides a bountiful harvest of grain,
  for you have ordered it so.
 ¹⁰  You drench the plowed ground with rain,
  melting the clods and leveling the ridges.
You soften the earth with showers
  and bless its abundant crops.
 ¹¹  You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;
  even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
 ¹²  The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture,
  and the hillsides blossom with joy.
 ¹³  The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep,
  and the valleys are carpeted with grain.
  They all shout and sing for joy!

Romans 6

Sin's Power Is Broken
 ¹  Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?  ²  Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?  ³  Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?  ⁴  For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
   ⁵  Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.  ⁶  We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.  ⁷  For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.  ⁸  And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.  ⁹  We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.  ¹⁰  When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.  ¹¹  So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
   ¹²  Do not let sin control the way you live; [12]  do not give in to sinful desires.  ¹³  Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.  ¹⁴  Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace.
   ¹⁵  Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!  ¹⁶  Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.  ¹⁷  Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you.  ¹⁸  "Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living."    ¹⁹  Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
   ²⁰  When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right.  ²¹  And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.  ²²  But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.  ²³  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

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