DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SATURDAY JUNE 18:
DAILY BIBLE READING
Psalm 71-75Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
71 Lord, I depend on you for protection.
Don't let me be disappointed.
2
You always do what is right, so come and save me.
Listen to me and save me.
3
Be my Rock, my place of safety.
Be my fortress, and protect me!
You are my Rock and my protection.
4
My God, save me from wicked people.
Save me from cruel, evil people.
5
Lord God, you are my hope.
I have trusted you since I was a young boy.
6
I depended on you even before I was born.
I relied on you even in my mother's womb.
I have always prayed to you.[a]
7
You are my source of strength,
so I have been an example to others.
8
I am always singing about the wonderful things you do.
9
Don't throw me away just because I am old.
Don't leave me as I lose my strength.
10
My enemies make plans against me.
They have met together and are making plans to kill me.
11
They say, "Go get him!
God has left him, so there is no one to help him."
12
God, don't leave me!
My God, hurry and help me!
13
Defeat my enemies.
Destroy them completely!
They are trying to hurt me.
Let them suffer shame and disgrace.
14
Then I will always trust in you
and praise you more and more.
15
I will tell people how good you are.
I will tell about all the times you saved me-
too many times to count.
16
I will tell about your greatness, my Lord God.
I will talk only about you and your goodness.
17
God, you have taught me since I was a young boy.
And to this day I have told people about the wonderful things you do.
18
Now that I am old and my hair is gray, don't leave me, God.
I must tell the next generation about your power and greatness.
19
God, your goodness reaches far above the skies.
You have done wonderful things.
God, there is no one like you.
20
You have let me see troubles and hard times,
but you will give me new life;
you will lift me up from this pit of death!
21
You will help me do even greater things.
You will comfort me again!
22
I will play the harp and praise you.
My God, I will sing about your faithfulness.
I will play songs on my lyre
for the Holy One of Israel.
23
I will shout for joy,
singing songs of praise to you for saving me.
24
My tongue will sing about your goodness all the time,
because those who wanted to kill me
have been defeated and disgraced.
To Solomon.[b]
72 God, help the king be like you and make fair decisions.
Help the king's son know what justice is.
2
Help the king judge your people fairly.
Help him make wise decisions for your poor people.
3
Let there be peace and justice throughout the land,
known on every mountain and hill.
4
May the king be fair to the poor.
May he help the helpless and punish those who hurt them.
5
May people always fear and respect you, God,
as long as the sun shines and the moon is in the sky.
6
Help the king be like rain falling on the fields,
like showers falling on the land.
7
Let goodness grow everywhere while he is king.
Let peace continue as long as there is a moon.
8
Let his kingdom grow from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates River to the faraway places on earth.[c]
9
May all the people living in the desert bow down to him.
May all his enemies bow before him with their faces in the dirt.
10
May the kings of Tarshish and all the faraway lands by the sea bring gifts
to him.
May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring their tribute to him.
11
May all kings bow down to our king.
May all nations serve him.
12
Our king helps the poor who cry out to him-
those in need who have no one to help them.
13
He feels sorry for all who are weak and poor.
He protects their lives.
14
He saves them from the cruel people who try to hurt them.
Their lives are important to him.
15
Long live the king!
Let him receive gold from Sheba.
Always pray for the king.
Ask God to bless him every day.
16
May the fields grow plenty of grain
and the hills be covered with crops.
May the fields be as fertile as Lebanon,
and may people fill the cities as grass covers a field.
17
May the king be famous forever.
May people remember his name as long as the sun shines.
May all nations be blessed through him,
and may they all bless him.
18
Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel!
Only he can do such amazing things.
19
Praise his glorious name forever!
Let his glory fill the whole world.
Amen and Amen!
20 (This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.)
Book 3
(Psalms 73-89)
Asaph's song of praise.
73 God is so good to Israel,
to those whose hearts are pure.
2
But I almost slipped and lost my balance.
I almost fell into sin.
3
I saw that wicked people were successful,
and I became jealous of those proud people.
4
They are healthy.
They don't have to struggle to survive.[d]
5
They don't suffer like the rest of us.
They don't have troubles like other people.
6
So they are proud and hateful.
This is as easy to see as the jewels and fancy clothes they wear.
7
If they see something they like, they go and take it.
They do whatever they want.
8
They make fun of others and say cruel things about them.
In their pride they make plans to hurt people.
9
They think they are gods!
They think they are the rulers of the earth.
10
[e] Even God's people turn to them
and do what they say.
11
Those evil people say, "God does not know what we are doing!
God Most High does not know!"
12
Those proud people are wicked,
but they are rich and getting richer.
13
Clearly, then, I gain nothing by keeping my thoughts pure!
What good is it to keep myself from sin?
14
God, I suffer all day long,
and you punish me every morning.
15
I wanted to tell others these things,
but that would have made me a traitor to your people.
16
I tried hard to understand all this,
but it was too hard for me.
17
But then, God, I went to your Temple,
and I understood what will happen to the wicked.
18
Clearly, you have put them in danger.
You make it easy for them to fall and be destroyed.
19
Trouble can come suddenly,
and they will be ruined.
Terrible things can happen to them,
and they will be finished.
20
Then they will be like a dream
that we forget when we wake up.
You will make them disappear
like the monsters in our dreams.
21-22
I was so stupid.
I thought about such people and became upset.
God, I was upset and angry with you!
I acted like a senseless animal.
23
But I am always with you.
You hold my hand.
24
You lead me and give me good advice,
and later you will lead me to glory.[f]
25
In heaven, God, I have only you.
And if I am with you, what on earth could I want?
26
Maybe my mind[g] and body will become weak,
but God is my source of strength.[h]
He is mine forever!
27
God, people who leave you will be lost.
You will destroy all who are not faithful to you.
28
As for me, all I need is to be close to God.
I have made the Lord God my place of safety.
And, God, I will tell about all that you have done.
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you turned away from us for so long?
Why are you still angry with us, your own flock?
2
Remember the people you bought so long ago.
You saved us, and we belong to you.
And remember Mount Zion, the place where you lived.
3
God, come walk through these ancient ruins.
Come back to the Holy Place that the enemy destroyed.
4
The enemy shouted their war cries in the Temple.
They put up their flags there to show they had won the war.
5
Their soldiers attacked the doors,
like workmen chopping down trees.
6
Using axes and hatchets,
they smashed the carved panels inside.
7
They burned down your Holy Place.
It was built to honor your name,
but they pulled it down to the ground.
8
The enemy decided to crush us completely.
They burned every holy place[i] in the country.
9
We do not see any of our signs.[j]
There are no more prophets.
And no one knows how long this will last.
10
God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of us?
Will you let them insult your name forever?
11
Why won't you help us?
Use your power to defeat our enemies!
12
God, you have been our King for a long time.
You have saved us many times on this earth.
13
With your great power you split open the sea
and broke the heads of the sea monster.
14
Yes, you smashed the heads of Leviathan[k]
and left his body for animals to eat.
15
You make the springs and rivers flow,
and you make the rivers dry up.
16
You control the day and the night.
You made the sun and the moon.
17
You set the limits for everything on earth.
And you created summer and winter.
18
Lord, remember, the enemy insulted you!
Those foolish people hate your name!
19
Don't give us like a helpless dove to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor, suffering people.
20
Remember the agreement you gave us,
because violence fills every dark place in this land.
21
Your people were treated badly.
Don't let them be hurt anymore.
Let your poor, helpless people praise you.
22
God, get up and defend yourself!
Remember, those fools challenged you.
23
Don't forget the shouts of your enemies.
They insulted you again and again.
To the director: To the tune "Don't Destroy." One of Asaph's songs of
praise.
75 We praise you, God!
We praise you because you[l] are near to us.
We tell about the amazing things you have done.
2
God says, "I have chosen a time for judgment,
and I will judge fairly.
3
The earth and all its people may shake,
but I am the one who keeps it steady. Selah
4
"To those who are proud I say, 'Stop your boasting.'
I warn the wicked, 'Don't brag about how strong you are.
5
Don't be so sure that you will win.
Don't boast that victory is yours!'"
6
There is no power on earth
that can make a person important.[m]
7
God is the judge.
He decides who will be important.
He lifts one person up and brings another down.
8
The Lord has a cup in his hand.
It is filled with the poisoned wine of his anger.
He will pour out this wine,
and the wicked will drink it to the last drop.
9
I will always tell people how great God is.
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10
God says, "I will take away any power the wicked have
and give it to those who are good."
Footnotes:
a.Psalm 71:6 prayed to you Or "praised you."
b.Psalm 72:1 Psalm 72 To Solomon This might mean that this song was written
by Solomon or dedicated to him, or that it is from some special collection
of songs.
c.Psalm 72:8 faraway places on earth This usually means the countries around
the Mediterranean Sea.
d.Psalm 73:4 Literally, "They have no bonds to their death."
e.Psalm 73:10 The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
f.Psalm 73:24 lead me to glory Or "receive me in honor."
g.Psalm 73:26 mind Literally, "heart."
h.Psalm 73:26 my . strength Literally, "the Rock of my heart."
i.Psalm 74:8 holy place Or "El meeting place." This means every place where
people went to meet with God.
j.Psalm 74:9 signs These were probably signal fires that people burned as a
way of passing messages from one town to the next. In war, this was a way
people showed other towns that the enemy had not yet destroyed their own
town.
k.Psalm 74:14 sea monster . Leviathan These were creatures from ancient
stories. People believed that they kept the world from being a safe, orderly
place. So this verse means that God controls every part of the world and
everything in it.
l.Psalm 75:1 you Literally, "your name."
m.Psalm 75:6 Literally, "Not from the east or the west and not from the
desert mountains."
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
