To The Word – Day 54

₁How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!

How plainly it shows what he has done!

₂Each day announces it to the following day;

each night repeats it to the next.

₃No speech or words are used,

no sound is heard;

₄yet their message goes out to all the world

and is heard to the ends of the earth.

God made a home in the sky for the sun;

₅it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom,

like an athlete eager to run a race.

₆It starts at one end of the sky

and goes across to the other.

Nothing can hide from its heat.

₇The law of the LORD is perfect;

it gives new strength.

The commands of the LORD are trustworthy,

giving wisdom to those who lack it.

₈The laws of the LORD are right,

and those who obey them are happy.

The commands of the LORD are just

and give understanding to the mind.

₉Reverence for the LORD is good;

it will continue for ever.

The judgements of the LORD are just;

they are always fair.

₁₀They are more desirable than the finest gold;

they are sweeter than the purest honey.

₁₁They give knowledge to me, your servant;

I am rewarded for obeying them.

₁₂No one can see his own errors;

deliver me, LORD, from hidden faults!

₁₃Keep me safe, also, from wilful sins;

don't let them rule over me.

Then I shall be perfect

and free from the evil of sin.

₁₄May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you,

O LORD, my refuge and my redeemer!

₁Praise the LORD!

Give thanks to the LORD, because he is good;

his love is eternal.

₂Who can tell all the great things he has done?

Who can praise him enough?

₃Happy are those who obey his commands,

who always do what is right.

₄Remember me, LORD, when you help your people;

include me when you save them.

₅Let me see the prosperity of your people

and share in the happiness of your nation,

in the glad pride of those who belong to you.

₆We have sinned as our ancestors did;

we have been wicked and evil.

₇Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God's wonderful acts;

they forgot the many times he showed them his love,

and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea.

₈But he saved them, as he had promised,

in order to show his great power.

₉He gave a command to the Red Sea,

and it dried up;

he led his people across on dry land.

₁₀He saved them from those who hated them;

he rescued them from their enemies.

₁₁But the water drowned their enemies;

not one of them was left.

₁₂Then his people believed his promises

and sang praises to him.

₁₃But they quickly forgot what he had done

and acted without waiting for his advice.

₁₄They were filled with craving in the desert

and put God to the test;

₁₅so he gave them what they asked for,

but also sent a terrible disease among them.

₁₆There in the desert they were jealous of Moses

and of Aaron, the LORD's holy servant.

₁₇Then the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan

and buried Abiram and his family;

₁₈fire came down on their followers

and burnt up those wicked people.

₁₉They made a gold bull calf at Sinai

and worshipped that idol;

₂₀they exchanged the glory of God

for the image of an animal that eats grass.

₂₁They forgot the God who had saved them

by his mighty acts in Egypt.

₂₂What wonderful things he did there!

What amazing things at the Red Sea!

₂₃When God said that he would destroy his people,

his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God

and prevented his anger from destroying them.

₂₄Then they rejected the pleasant land,

because they did not believe God's promise.

₂₅They stayed in their tents and grumbled

and would not listen to the LORD.

₂₆So he gave them a solemn warning

that he would make them die in the desert

₂₇and scatter their descendants among the heathen,

letting them die in foreign countries.

₂₈Then at Peor, God's people joined in the worship of Baal,

and ate sacrifices offered to dead gods.

₂₉They stirred up the LORD's anger by their actions,

and a terrible disease broke out among them.

₃₀But Phinehas stood up and punished the guilty,

and the plague was stopped.

₃₁This has been remembered in his favour ever since

and will be for all time to come.

₃₂At the springs of Meribah the people made the LORD angry,

and Moses was in trouble on their account.

₃₃They made him so bitter

that he spoke without stopping to think.

₃₄They did not kill the heathen,

as the LORD had commanded them to do,

₃₅but they intermarried with them

and adopted their pagan ways.

₃₆God's people worshipped idols,

and this caused their destruction.

₃₇They offered their own sons and daughters

as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.

₃₈They killed those innocent children,

and the land was defiled by those murders.

₃₉They made themselves impure by their actions

and were unfaithful to God.

₄₀So the LORD was angry with his people;

he was disgusted with them.

₄₁He abandoned them to the power of the heathen,

and their enemies ruled over them.

₄₂They were oppressed by their enemies

and were in complete subjection to them.

₄₃Many times the LORD rescued his people,

but they chose to rebel against him

and sank deeper into sin.

₄₄Yet the LORD heard them when they cried out,

and he took notice of their distress.

₄₅For their sake he remembered his covenant,

and because of his great love he relented.

₄₆He made all their oppressors

feel sorry for them.

₄₇Save us, O LORD our God,

and bring us back from among the nations,

so that we may be thankful

and praise your holy name.

₄₈Praise the LORD, the God of Israel;

praise him now and for ever!

Let everyone say, “Amen!”

Praise the LORD!