Psalm 30 - Passage Lookup - New International Version, ©2011 - BibleGateway.com

Psalm 30 - Passage Lookup - New International Version, ©2011 - BibleGateway.com
Psalm 30[a]
A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple.[b] Of David.

1 I will exalt you, LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 LORD my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.

4 Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
7 LORD, when you favored me,
you made my royal mountain[c] stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 “What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me;
LORD, be my help.”

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

Psalm 107

Psalm 107 - Passage Lookup - New International Version, ©2011 - BibleGateway.com
BOOK V
Psalms 107–150
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.[a]

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.

17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of his works with songs of joy.

23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the LORD,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea[b] were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.

33 He turned rivers into a desert,
flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
and he did not let their herds diminish.

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles
made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43 Let the one who is wise heed these things
and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD.

RICHARD SMALLWOOD: "CENTER OF MY JOY"

Psalms 91. The Holy Bible: King James Version.

Psalms 91. The Holy Bible: King James Version.
Abiding in the Shadow of the Almighty
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD,

He is my refuge and my fortress:
my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,

and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers,

and under his wings shalt thou trust:
his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;

nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;

nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side,

and ten thousand at thy right hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold

and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge,

even the Most High, thy habitation;
10 there shall no evil befall thee,

neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, Mt. 4.6 · Lk. 4.10

to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands,

lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Mt. 4.6 · Lk. 4.11
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:

the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Lk. 10.19
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:

I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:

I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him,

and show him my salvation.

Psalms 90. The Holy Bible: King James Version.

Psalms 90. The Holy Bible: King James Version.
The Psalms
90

God's Eternity and Man's Transitoriness
A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

1 LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man to destruction;

and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
4 For a thousand years in thy sight

are but as yesterday when it is past, 2 Pet. 3.8
and as a watch in the night.
5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:

in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;

in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
7 For we are consumed by thine anger,

and by thy wrath are we troubled.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,

our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:

we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten;

and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength labor and sorrow;
for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger?

Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,

that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD, how long?

And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy;

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,

and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants,

and thy glory unto their children.
17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us:

and establish thou the work of our hands upon us;
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
:1-11 Sincere Christians rejoice in Christ Jesus. The prophet calls the false prophets dumb dogs, Isa 56:10; to which the apostle seems to refer. Dogs, for their malice against faithful professors of the gospel of Christ, barking at them and biting them. They urged human works in opposition to the faith of Christ; but Paul calls them evil-workers. He calls them the concision; as they rent the church of Christ, and cut it to pieces. The work of religion is to no purpose, unless the heart is in it, and we must worship God in the strength and grace of the Divine Spirit. They rejoice in Christ Jesus, not in mere outward enjoyments and performances. Nor can we too earnestly guard against those who oppose or abuse the doctrine of free salvation. If the apostle would have gloried and trusted in the flesh, he had as much cause as any man. But the things which he counted gain while a Pharisee, and had reckoned up, those he counted loss for Christ. The apostle did not persuade them to do any thing but what he himself did; or to venture on any thing but that on which he himself ventured his never-dying soul. He deemed all these things to be but loss, compared with the knowledge of Christ, by faith in his person and salvation. He speaks of all worldly enjoyments and outward privileges which sought a place with Christ in his heart, or could pretend to any merit and desert, and counted them but loss; but it might be said, It is easy to say so; but what would he do when he came to the trial? He had suffered the loss of all for the privileges of a Christian. Nay, he not only counted them loss, but the vilest refuse, offals thrown to dogs; not only less valuable than Christ, but in the highest degree contemptible, when set up as against him. True knowledge of Christ alters and changes men, their judgments and manners, and makes them as if made again anew. The believer prefers Christ, knowing that it is better for us to be without all worldly riches, than without Christ and his word. Let us see what the apostle resolved to cleave to, and that was Christ and heaven. We are undone, without righteousness wherein to appear before God, for we are guilty. There is a righteousness provided for us in Jesus Christ, and it is a complete and perfect righteousness. None can have benefit by it, who trust in themselves. Faith is the appointed means of applying the saving benefit. It is by faith in Christ's blood. We are made conformable to Christ's death, when we die to sin, as he died for sin; and the world is crucified to us, and we to the world, by the cross of Christ. The apostle was willing to do or to suffer any thing, to attain the glorious resurrection of saints. This hope and prospect carried him through all difficulties in his work. He did not hope to attain it through his own merit and righteousness, but through the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 4 - Passage Lookup - New International Version, ©2011 - BibleGateway.com

Revelation 4 - Passage Lookup - New International Version, ©2011 - BibleGateway.com
Revelation 4
The Throne in Heaven
1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God. 6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’[b]

who was, and is, and is to come.”

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”