Showing posts with label arizona chaplain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arizona chaplain. Show all posts

Monday, April 17, 2017

Psalms as Prayers: How to pray when you can't find Words Psalm 12

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 Psalm 12



Help, O LORD, for the godly are fast disappearing!
The faithful have vanished from the earth!


Neighbors lie to each other,
speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.


LORD cut off their flattering lips
and silence their boastful tongues.


They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”


The LORD replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,
and I have heard the groans of the poor.
Now I will rise up to rescue them,
as they have longed for me to do.”


LORD your promises are pure,
like silver refined in a furnace,
purified seven times over.


Therefore, LORD, we know you will protect the oppressed,
preserving them forever from this lying generation,


even though the wicked strut about,
and evil is praised throughout the land.



Thursday, April 13, 2017

Psalms as Prayers: How to Pray When you Can't Find Words Psalm 9

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Psalm 9
I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.

I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

My enemies retreated;
they staggered and died when you appeared.

For you have judged in my favor;
from your throne you have judged with fairness.

You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have erased their names forever.

The enemy is finished, in endless ruins;
the cities you uprooted are now forgotten.

But LORD you reign forever,
executing judgment from your throne.

God you  judge the world with justice
and rule the nations with fairness.

LORD you are a shelter for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.

Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.

I will sing praises to you LORD
I will Tell the world about your unforgettable deeds.

For you avenge murder and you God care for the helpless.
You do not ignore the cries of those who suffer.

LORD, have mercy on me.
See how my enemies torment me.
God Snatch me back from the jaws of death.

Save me so I can praise you publicly,
so I can rejoice that you have rescued me.

The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.

LORD you are known for your justice.
The wicked are trapped by their own deeds.


The wicked will go down to the grave.
This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.

But the needy will not be ignored forever;
the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.

Arise, O LORD!
Do not let mere mortals defy you!
Judge the nations!

Make them tremble in fear, O LORD.
Let the nations know they are merely human.



Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Psalms as Prayers: How to Pray When You Can't Find Words Psalm 8

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Psalm 8

O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.


You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you.


When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—


what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?


Yet you made humanity only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.


You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—


the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,


the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.


O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!