Daily Scripture Reflection
My soul longs for your salvation; I put my hope in your word. The arrogant have dug pits for me; defying your teaching. Your word, Lord, stands forever; it is firm as the heavens. I will never forget your precepts; through them you give me life. May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; may the Lord be glad in these works! See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure. How I love your teaching, Lord! I study it all day long. I keep my steps from every evil path, that I may obey your word. Deliver me, Lord, from the wicked; preserve me from the violent, I say to the Lord: “You are my God; listen, Lord, to the words of my prayer.” Slanderers will not survive on earth; evil will quickly entrap the violent. Look upon me, have pity on me, for I am alone and afflicted. Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet that is hope for salvation. For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do. Christ’s power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.
My eyes long to see your promise. When will you comfort me?
I am like a wineskin shriveled by smoke, but I have not forgotten your laws.
How long can your servant survive? When will your edict doom my foes?
All your commands are steadfast. Help me! I am pursued without cause.
They have almost ended my life on earth, but I do not forsake your precepts.
In your kindness give me life, to keep the decrees you have spoken.
Through all generations your truth endures; fixed to stand firm like the earth.
By your edicts they stand firm to this day, for all things are your servants.
Had your teaching not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
I am yours, save me, for I cherish your precepts.
The wicked hope to destroy me, but I pay heed to your decrees.
I have seen the limits of all perfection, but your command is without bounds.
If God glares at the earth, it trembles; if God touches the mountains, they smoke!
I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.
May my theme be pleasing to God; I will rejoice in the Lord.
May sinners vanish from the earth, and the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Halleluia!
Your command makes me wiser than my foes, for it is always with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, because I ponder your decrees.
I have more insight than my elders, because I observe your precepts.
From your edicts I do not turn, for you have taught them to me.
How sweet to my tongue is your promise, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I gain insight; therefore I hate all false ways.
from those who plan evil in their hearts, who stir up conflicts every day,
who sharpen their tongues like serpents, venom of asps upon their lips.
Keep me, Lord, from the clutches of the wicked; preserve me from the violent,
who plot to trip me up.
The arrogant have set a trap for me; villains have spread a net, laid snares for me by the wayside.
My revered Lord, my strong helper, my helmet on the day of battle,
Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked; do not let their plots succeed.
Around me they raise their proud heads; my the mischief they threaten overwhelm them,
cast them into the grave never more to rise.
For I know the Lord will secure justice for the needy, their rights for the poor.
Then the just will give thanks to your name; the upright will dwell in your presence.
Relieve the troubles of my heart; bring me out of my distress.
Put an end to my affliction and suffering; take away all my sins.
See how many are my enemies, see how fiercely they hate me.
Preserve my life and rescue me;
do not let me be disgraced, for I trust in you.
Let honesty and virtue preserve me; I wait for you, O Lord.