2 Samuel 22

DAVID’S SONG OF THANKSGIVING
David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul.
2 He said:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
3 my God, my rock where I seek refuge.
My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge,
and my Savior, you save me from violence.
4 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was saved from my enemies.
5 For the waves of death engulfed me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
6 The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
7 I called to the Lord in my distress;
I called to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry for help reached his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled;
they shook because he burned with anger.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and consuming fire came from his mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.
10 He bent the heavens and came down,
total darkness beneath his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness a canopy around him,
a gathering of water and thick clouds.
13 From the radiance of his presence,
blazing coals were ignited.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard.
15 He shot arrows and scattered them;
he hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
16 The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
he pulled me out of deep water.
18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
20 He brought me out to a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
21 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;
he repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.
23 Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me
and have not disregarded his statutes.
24 I was blameless before him
and kept myself from my iniquity.
25 So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.
26 With the faithful
you prove yourself faithful,
with the blameless
you prove yourself blameless,
27 with the pure
you prove yourself pure,
but with the crooked
you prove yourself shrewd.
28 You rescue an oppressed people,
but your eyes are set against the proud —
you humble them.
29 Lord, you are my lamp;
the Lord illuminates my darkness.
30 With you I can attack a barricade, 22:30 Or ‘a ridge’, or ‘raiders’
and with my God I can leap over a wall.
31 God ​— ​his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is a rock? Only our God.
33 God is my strong refuge;
he makes my way perfect.
34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your help exalts me.
37 You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.
38 I pursue my enemies and destroy them;
I do not turn back until they are wiped out.
39 I wipe them out and crush them,
and they do not rise;
they fall beneath my feet.
40 You have clothed me with strength for battle;
you subdue my adversaries beneath me.
41 You have made my enemies retreat before me;
I annihilate those who hate me.
42 They look, but there is no one to save them —
they look to the Lord, but he does not answer them.
43 I pulverize them like dust of the earth;
I crush them and trample them like mud in the streets.
44 You have freed me from the feuds among my people;
you have preserved me as head of nations;
a people I had not known serve me.
45 Foreigners submit to me cringing;
as soon as they hear, they obey me.
46 Foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their fortifications.
47 The Lord lives ​— ​blessed be my rock!
God, the rock of my salvation, is exalted.
48 God ​— ​he grants me vengeance
and casts down peoples under me.
49 He frees me from my enemies.
You exalt me above my adversaries;
you rescue me from violent men.
50 Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;
I will sing praises about your name.
51 He is a tower of salvation for his king;
he shows loyalty to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.

Galatians 2

PAUL DEFENDS HIS GOSPEL AT JERUSALEM
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
2 I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. 3 But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. 5 But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.

6 Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism ) ​— ​they added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, 8 since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. 9 When James, Cephas, and John ​— ​those recognized as pillars ​— ​acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.

FREEDOM FROM THE LAW
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews? ”

15 We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” 16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Ezekiel 29

A PROPHECY OF EGYPT’S RUIN
In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
2 “Son of man, face Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all of Egypt. 3 Speak to him and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great monster lying in the middle of his Nile,
who says, “My Nile is my own;
I made it for myself.”
4 I will put hooks in your jaws
and make the fish of your streams
cling to your scales.
I will haul you up
from the middle of your Nile,
and all the fish of your streams
will cling to your scales.
5 I will leave you in the desert,
you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall on the open ground
and will not be taken away
or gathered for burial.
I have given you
to the wild creatures of the earth
and the birds of the sky as food.
6 “ ‘Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
will know that I am the Lord,
for they have been a staff made of reed
to the house of Israel.
7 When Israel grasped you by the hand,
you splintered, tearing all their shoulders;
when they leaned on you,
you shattered and made all their hips unsteady.
8 “ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am going to bring a sword against you and cut off both people and animals from you. 9 The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Because you said, “The Nile is my own; I made it,” 10 therefore, I am against you and your Nile. I will turn the land of Egypt into ruins, a desolate waste from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal foot will pass through it. It will be uninhabited for forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and its cities will be a desolation among ruined cities for forty years. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.

13 “ ‘For this is what the Lord God says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were dispersed. 14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. 15 Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small they cannot rule over the nations. 16 It will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, drawing attention to their iniquity of turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

BABYLON RECEIVES EGYPT AS COMPENSATION
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder chafed, but he and his army received no compensation from Tyre for the labor he expended against it. 19 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am going to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth, seizing its spoil and taking its plunder. This will be his army’s compensation. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as the pay he labored for, since they worked for me.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. 21 “In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will enable you to speak out among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Psalm 15

A DESCRIPTION OF THE GODLY
A psalm of David.

Lord, who can dwell in your tent?
Who can live on your holy mountain?
2 The one who lives blamelessly, practices righteousness,
and acknowledges the truth in his heart —
3 who does not slander with his tongue,
who does not harm his friend
or discredit his neighbor,
4 who despises the one rejected by the Lord
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his word whatever the cost,
5 who does not lend his silver at interest
or take a bribe against the innocent —
the one who does these things will never be shaken.

Psalm 16

CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD
A Miktam of David.

Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you.
2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good besides you.”
3 As for the holy people who are in the land,
they are the noble ones.
All my delight is in them.
4 The sorrows of those who take another god
for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
and I will not speak their names with my lips.
5 Lord, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I will bless the Lord who counsels me —
even at night when my thoughts trouble me.
8 I always let the Lord guide me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad
and my whole being rejoices;
my body also rests securely.
10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol;
you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.
11 You reveal the path of life to me;
in your presence is abundant joy;
at your right hand are eternal pleasures.

— 2 Samuel 22, Galatians 2, Ezekiel 29, Psalm 15-16 (CSB)