Old/New Testament
Psalm 63[a]
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.[b]
63 O God, you are my God. I long for you.[c]
My soul thirsts[d] for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched[e] land where there is no water.
2 Yes,[f] in the sanctuary I have seen you,[g]
and witnessed[h] your power and splendor.
3 Because[i] experiencing[j] your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 For this reason[k] I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.[l]
5 As with choice meat[m] you satisfy my soul.[n]
My mouth joyfully praises you,[o]
6 whenever[p] I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
7 For you are my deliverer;[q]
under your wings[r] I rejoice.
8 My soul[s] pursues you;[t]
your right hand upholds me.
9 Enemies seek to destroy my life,[u]
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.[v]
10 Each one will be handed over to the sword;[w]
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.[x]
11 But the king[y] will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name[z] will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.[aa]
Psalm 64[ab]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
64 Listen to me,[ac] O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect[ad] my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks.[ae]
2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers.[af]
3 They[ag] sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim their arrows, a slanderous charge,[ah]
4 in order to shoot down the innocent[ai] in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.[aj]
5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.[ak]
They plan how to hide[al] snares,
and boast,[am] “Who will see them?”[an]
6 They devise[ao] unjust schemes;
they disguise[ap] a well-conceived plot.[aq]
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.[ar]
7 But God will shoot[as] at them;
suddenly they will be[at] wounded by an arrow.[au]
8 Their slander will bring about their demise.[av]
All who see them will shudder,[aw]
9 and all people will fear.[ax]
They will proclaim what God has done,[ay]
and reflect on his deeds.
10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright[az] will boast.[ba]
Psalm 65[bb]
For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.
65 Praise awaits you,[bc] O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
2 You hear prayers;[bd]
all people approach you.[be]
3 Our record of sins overwhelms me,[bf]
but you forgive[bg] our acts of rebellion.
4 How blessed[bh] is the one whom you choose,
and allow to live in your palace courts.[bi]
May we be satisfied with the good things of your house—
your holy palace.[bj]
5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior.[bk]
All the ends of the earth trust in you,[bl]
as well as those living across the wide seas.[bm]
6 You created the mountains by your power,[bn]
and demonstrated your strength.[bo]
7 You calmed the raging seas[bp]
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations.[bq]
8 Even those living in the remotest areas are awestruck by your acts;[br]
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you.[bs]
9 You visit the earth and give it rain;[bt]
you make it rich and fertile.[bu]
God’s streams are full of water;[bv]
you provide grain for the people of the earth,[bw]
for you have prepared the earth in this way.[bx]
10 You saturate[by] its furrows,
and soak[bz] its plowed ground.[ca]
With rain showers you soften its soil,[cb]
and make its crops grow.[cc]
11 You crown the year with your good blessings,[cd]
and you leave abundance in your wake.[ce]
12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture,[cf]
and the hills are clothed with joy.[cg]
13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
The Believer’s Freedom from Sin’s Domination
6 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.[a]
5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.[b] 6 We know that[c] our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us,[d] so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.)[e]
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know[f] that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die[g] again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you too consider yourselves[h] dead to sin, but[i] alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 13 and do not present your members to sin as instruments[j] to be used for unrighteousness,[k] but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments[l] to be used for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
The Believer’s Enslavement to God’s Righteousness
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves[m] as obedient slaves,[n] you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness?[o] 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed[p] from the heart that pattern[q] of teaching you were entrusted to, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.)[r] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.
21 So what benefit[s] did you then reap[t] from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now, freed[u] from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit[v] leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 23 For the payoff[w] of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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