Psalm 70

A CALL FOR DELIVERANCE
For the choir director. Of David. To bring remembrance.

God, hurry to rescue me.
Lord, hurry to help me!
2 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and confounded;
let those who wish me harm
be turned back and humiliated.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha! ”
retreat because of their shame.
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
let those who love your salvation
continually say, “God is great! ”
5 I am oppressed and needy;
hurry to me, God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.

Psalm 71

GOD’S HELP IN OLD AGE
Lord, I seek refuge in you;
let me never be disgraced.
2 In your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.
3 Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and fortress.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.
5 For you are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.
6 I have leaned on you from birth;
you took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is always about you.
7 I am like a miraculous sign to many,
and you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is full of praise
and honor to you all day long.
9 Don’t discard me in my old age.
As my strength fails, do not abandon me.
10 For my enemies talk about me,
and those who spy on me plot together,
11 saying, “God has abandoned him;
chase him and catch him,
for there is no one to rescue him.”
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.
13 May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed;
may those who intend to harm me
be covered with disgrace and humiliation.
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness
and your salvation all day long,
though I cannot sum them up.
16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
17 God, you have taught me from my youth,
and I still proclaim your wondrous works.
18 Even while I am old and gray,
God, do not abandon me,
while I proclaim your power
to another generation,
your strength to all who are to come.
19 Your righteousness reaches the heights, God,
you who have done great things;
God, who is like you?
20 You caused me to experience
many troubles and misfortunes,
but you will revive me again.
You will bring me up again,
even from the depths of the earth.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.
22 Therefore, I will praise you with a harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing to you with a lyre,
Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you
because you have redeemed me.
24 Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
your righteousness all day long,
for those who intend to harm me
will be disgraced and confounded.

Psalm 72

A PRAYER FOR THE KING
Of Solomon.

God, give your justice to the king
and your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring well-being to the people
and the hills, righteousness.
4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people,
help the poor,
and crush the oppressor.
5 May they fear you while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
6 May the king be like rain that falls on the cut grass,
like spring showers that water the earth.
7 May the righteous flourish in his days
and well-being abound
until the moon is no more.
8 May he rule from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates
to the ends of the earth.
9 May desert tribes kneel before him
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish
and the coasts and islands bring tribute,
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 Let all kings bow in homage to him,
all nations serve him.
12 For he will rescue the poor who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.
13 He will have pity on the poor and helpless
and save the lives of the poor.
14 He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are precious in his sight.
15 May he live long!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be offered for him continually,
and may he be blessed all day long.
16 May there be plenty of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains.
May its crops be like Lebanon.
May people flourish in the cities
like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
as long as the sun shines,
may his fame increase.
May all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
the whole earth is filled with his glory.
Amen and amen.
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are concluded.

Roman 4

ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BY FAITH
What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about ​— ​but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.

DAVID CELEBRATING THE SAME TRUTH
6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven

and whose sins are covered.

8 Blessed is the person

the Lord will never charge with sin.

ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BEFORE CIRCUMCISION
9 Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. 10 In what way, then, was it credited ​— ​while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. 12 And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.

THE PROMISE GRANTED THROUGH FAITH
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified, 15 because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.

16 This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants ​— ​not only to the one who is of the law but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations— in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives ​— ​the God who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. 18 He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

— Romans 4:1-25 (CSB)