Our Lady of Angels Association

by Michael January 9, 2013

Lord, you have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and stand;
You understand my thoughts from afar.
My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue, Lord, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.

Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers? If the Lord were not my help, I would long have been silent in the grave. When I say, “My foot is slipping,” your love, Lord holds me up. When cares increase within me, your comfort gives me joy.

Psalm 94 continued – verses 16-19

I love you, Lord, my strength, Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold! Praised be the Lord, I exclaim! I have been delivered from my enemies. The breakers of death surged round about me; the menacing floods terrified me. The cords of Sheol tightened; the snares of death lay in wait for me. In my distress I called out: Lord! I cried out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalm 18:3-7

Distant peoples stand in awe of your marvels; east and west you make resound with joy. You visit the earth and water it, make it abundantly fertile. God’s stream is filled with water; with it you supply the world with grain. Thus do you prepare the earth: you drench plowed furrows, and level their ridges. With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts. You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain. The untilled meadows also drip; the hills are robed with joy. The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys blanketed with grain; they cheer and sing for joy.

Psalm 65 continued – verses 9-14

Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who among you loves life, takes delight in prosperous days? Keep your tongue from evil, your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The Lord has eyes for the just and ears for their cry. The Lord’s face is against evildoers to wipe out their memory from the earth.

Psalm 34 continued – verses 12-17

Happy the sinner whose fault is removed, whose sin is forgiven. Happy those to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit. As long as I kept silent, my bones wasted away; I groaned all the day. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength withered as in dry summer heat. Then I declared my sin to you; my guilt I did not hide. I said, “I confess my faults to the Lord,” and you took away the guilt of my sin.

Psalm 32:1-5

For you yourselves know that our reception among you was not without effect. Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated, as you know, in Philippi, we drew courage through our God to speak to you the gospel of God with much struggle. Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives, nor did it work through deception. But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the gospel, that is how we speak, not as trying to please human beings, but rather God who judges our hearts. We did not appear with flattering speech, as you know, or with a pretext for greed – God is witness – nor did we seek praise from human beings, either from you or from others, although we were able to impose our weight as apostles of Christ.

I Thessalonians 2:1-7

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer! From the brink of Sheol I call; my heart grows faint. Raise me up, set me on a rock, for you are my refuge, a tower of strength against the foe. Then I will ever dwell in your tent, take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Then I will sing your name forever, fulfill my vows day after day.

Psalm 61:2-5; 9

But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.

I Corinthians 15:12-19

You have treated your servant well, according to your word, O Lord. Teach me wisdom and knowledge, for in your commands I trust. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I hold to your promise. You are good and do what is good; teach me your laws. The arrogant smear me with lies, but I observe your precepts with all my heart. Their hearts are gross and fat; as for me, your teaching is my delight. It was good for me to be afflicted, in order to learn your laws. Teaching from your lips is more precious to me than heaps of silver and gold.

Psalm 119 continued – verses 65-72

Be kind to your servant that I may live, that I may keep your word. Open my eyes to see clearly the wonders of your teachings. I am a sojourner in the land; do not hide your commands from me. At all times my soul is stirred with longing for your edicts. With a curse you rebuke the proud who stray from your commands. Free me from disgrace and contempt, for I observe your decrees. Though princes meet and talk against me, your servant studies your laws. Your decrees are my delight; they are my counselors.

Psalm 119 continued – verses 17-24