The Steadfast Love of the Lord
1 hShout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
iPraise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the jlyre;
make melody to him with jthe harp of kten strings!
3 Sing to him la new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in mfaithfulness.
5 He nloves righteousness and justice;
othe earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By pthe word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by qthe breath of his mouth all rtheir host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as sa heap;
he tputs the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For uhe spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord vbrings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 wThe counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 xBlessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has ychosen as his heritage!
13 The Lord zlooks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from awhere he sits enthroned he blooks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 cThe king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 dThe war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18 Behold, ethe eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
fon those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may gdeliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in hfamine.
20 Our soul iwaits for the Lord;
he is our jhelp and kour shield.
21 For our heart is lglad in him,
because we mtrust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Send Out Your Light and Your Truth
1 rVindicate me, O God, and sdefend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from tthe deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are uthe God in whom I take refuge;
why have you vrejected me?
Why do I wgo about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 xSend out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your yholy hill
and to your zdwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 aWhy are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
bHope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
How Awesome Are Your Deeds
To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.
1 bShout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
cgive to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, d“How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies ecome cringing to you.
4 fAll the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 gCome and see what God has done:
dhe is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6 He hturned the sea into dry land;
they ipassed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose jeyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and khas not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have ltested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into mthe net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men nride over our heads;
we went through fire and through owater;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will pperform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised qwhen I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 rCome and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on1 my tongue.2
18 If I had scherished iniquity in my heart,
tthe Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly uGod has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
Greeting
1 Paul and Timothy, servants1 of Christ Jesus,
To all the asaints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the boverseers2 and cdeacons:3
2 dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 eI thank my God fin all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 gbecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began ha good work in you iwill bring it to completion at jthe day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you kin my heart, for you are all lpartakers with me of grace,4 both min my imprisonment and in nthe defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For oGod is my witness, phow I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that qyour love may abound more and more, rwith knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, sand so be pure and blameless tfor the day of Christ, 11 filled uwith the fruit of righteousness that comes vthrough Jesus Christ, wto the glory and praise of God.
The Advance of the Gospel
12 I want you to know, brothers,5 that what has happened to me has really xserved to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard6 and yto all the rest that zmy imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ato speak the word7 without fear.
15 bSome indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, cknowing that I am put here for dthe defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ eout of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
To Live Is Christ
Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that fthrough your prayers and gthe help of hthe Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope ithat I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full jcourage now as always Christ kwill be honored in my body, lwhether by life or by death. 21 For to me mto live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 nI am hard pressed between the two. My desire is oto depart and pbe with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 qConvinced of this, rI know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your sprogress and tjoy in the faith, 26 so that in me uyou may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
27 Only vlet your manner of life be wworthy8 of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you xthat you are standing firm in one spirit, with yone mind zstriving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is aa clear sign to them of their destruction, but bof your salvation, and that from God. 29 For cit has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also bsuffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same dconflict that eyou saw I had and now hear that I still have.
