Psalms 57–59; Romans 4

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Psalms 57–59

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to iDo Not Destroy. A jMiktam1 of David, when he fled from Saul, in kthe cave.

lBe merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul mtakes refuge;

in nthe shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

otill the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who pfulfills his purpose for me.

qHe will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame rhim who tramples on me. Selah

sGod will send out this steadfast love and his faithfulness!

My soul is in the midst of ulions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts

the children of man, whose vteeth are spears and arrows,

whose wtongues are sharp swords.

xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

They set ya net for my steps;

my soul was zbowed down.

They adug a pit in my way,

but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

bMy heart is csteadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

dAwake, emy glory!2

Awake, fO harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10  For your gsteadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11  xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to hDo Not Destroy. A iMiktam3 of David.

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?4

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands jdeal out violence on earth.

The wicked are kestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

so that it mdoes not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

O God, nbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

Let them ovanish like water that runs away;

when he paims his arrows, let them be blunted.

Let them be like the snail othat dissolves into slime,

like qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.

Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of rthorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he ssweep them away!5

10  tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11  Mankind will say, Surely there is va reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who wjudges on earth.

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to xDo Not Destroy. A yMiktam6 of David, zwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

aDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

bprotect me from those who crise up against me;

deliver me from dthose who work evil,

and save me from ebloodthirsty men.

For behold, they flie in wait for my life;

fierce men gstir up strife against me.

hFor no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

iAwake, come to meet me, and see!

You, jLord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

Each evening they kcome back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

There they are, lbellowing with their mouths

with mswords in their lips

for nWho, they think,7 will hear us?

But you, O Lord, olaugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are pmy fortress.

10  qMy God in his steadfast love8 rwill meet me;

God will let me slook in triumph on my enemies.

11  Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter9 by your power and tbring them down,

O Lord, our ushield!

12  For vthe sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

13  wconsume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

that they may xknow that God rules over Jacob

to ythe ends of the earth. Selah

14  zEach evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

15  They awander about for food

and growl if they do not get their fill.

16  But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me ba fortress

and ca refuge in dthe day of my distress.

17  O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, bare my fortress,

ethe God who shows me steadfast love.


Romans 4

Abraham Justified by Faith

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, tour forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but unot before God. For what does the Scripture say? vAbraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now wto the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but xbelieves in1 him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

yBlessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not zcount his sin.

Is this blessing then only for athe circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? bFor we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 cHe received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was dto make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For ethe promise to Abraham and his offspring fthat he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 gFor if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For hthe law brings wrath, but iwhere there is no law jthere is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, kin order that the promise may rest on grace and lbe guaranteed to all his offspringnot only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, mwho is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, nI have made you the father of many nationsin the presence of the God in whom he believed, owho gives life to the dead and calls into existence pthe things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, qSo shall your offspring be. 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ras good as dead (ssince he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered tthe barrenness2 of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that uGod was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. 23 But vthe words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us wwho believe in xhim who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 ywho was delivered up for our trespasses and raised zfor our justification.