Today’s Worship Sunday–August 12th, 2012

Season’s Greetings!

Psalm 94

¹O Lord, the God of vengeance,
O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!
²Arise, O judge of the earth.
Give the proud what they deserve.
³How long, O Lord?
How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
⁴How long will they speak with arrogance?
How long will these evil people boast?
⁵They crush your people, Lord,
hurting those you claim as your own.
⁶They kill widows and foreigners
and murder orphans.
⁷“The Lord isn’t looking,” they say,
“and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.”

⁸Think again, you fools!
When will you finally catch on?
⁹Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?
Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?
¹⁰He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you?
He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
¹¹The Lord knows people’s thoughts;
he knows they are worthless!

¹²Joyful are those you discipline, Lord,
those you teach with your instructions.
¹³You give them relief from troubled times
until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.
¹⁴The Lord will not reject his people;
he will not abandon his special possession.
¹⁵Judgment will again be founded on justice,
and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.

¹⁶Who will protect me from the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷Unless the Lord had helped me,
I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.
¹⁸I cried out, “I am slipping!”
but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
¹⁹When doubts filled my mind,
your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

²⁰Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—
leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
²¹They gang up against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
²²But the Lord is my fortress;
my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
²³God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
He will destroy them for their sins.
The Lord our God will destroy them.