565 THE GOD WHO IS MERCIFUL
Psalm 103:1-18
Min: Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
Min: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Min: Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
Min: He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
Min: He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Min: For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Min: As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
Min: As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.
Min: But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,
To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
566 THE GOODNESS OF GOD
Matthew 7:1-12
Min: Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
Min: And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, `Let me remove the speck out of your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
Min: Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.
Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
Min: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Min: Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
Min: If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
567 YEARNING FOR GOD
Psalm 143:1, 2, 4-11
Min: Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, And in Your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous.
Min: Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is distressed.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.
Min: I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.
Answer me speedily, O Lord; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.
Min: Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.
Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter.
Min: Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Revive me, O Lord, for Your name's sake! For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
568 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
Matthew 5:38-48
Min: You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Min: If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
Min: Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
Min: But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;
Min: For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Min: And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
569 JESUS OUR ADVOCATE
1 John 2:1-11; 3:1-3
Min: These things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Min: Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Min: But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Min: Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning.
The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
Min: Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.
Min: He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Min: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Min: Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
570 WHAT GOD REQUIRES
Isaiah 1:2, 10-18; Micah 6:6, 8
Min: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. Hear the word of the Lord; and give ear to the law of our God.
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says the Lord. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.
Min: When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts?
Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
Min: Your New Moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
Min: Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Min: With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings?
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
571 THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT
Romans 8:1-14, 38, 39
Min: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Min: For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Min: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Min: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Min: But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Min: But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
Min: For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Min: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
572 THE HOUSE OF GOD
Psalm 84
Min: How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Min: Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You.
Min: Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of weeping, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.
Min: They go from strength to strength; Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob!
Min: O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Min: For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
573 THE TRUE FELLOWSHIP
1 John 1:1-9
Min: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life
The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us
Min: that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us;
And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Min: And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
Min: If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Min: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
574 THE STRENGTH OF LIFE
Psalm 27
Min: The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
Min: Though an army should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.
Min: For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
Min: Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek."
Min: Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.
Min: Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
Min: I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!
575 CHRISTIAN UNITY
Romans 12:4, 5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-9, 11-14, 18-21, 26, 27
Min: As we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Min: Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
Min: But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
Min: To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Min: For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.
Min: God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
Min: And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
576 THE JUDGMENT
Matthew 25:31-40
Min: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
Min: And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Min: For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.
Min: Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, `Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
Min: Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?
And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."
577 LOVE NEVER FAILS
1 Corinthians 13
Min: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
Min: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
Min: Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
Min: Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Min: For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
Min: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;
But when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Min: For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
578 HOPE IN GOD
Psalm 42
Min: As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Min: My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, "Where is your God?"
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
Min: Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.
Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
Min: The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me A prayer to the God of my life.
I will say to God my Rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"
Min: As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
579 CHRIST ABOVE ALL
Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21
Min: After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Min: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
Min: Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Min: And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Min: From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
Min: That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height
To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Min: Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
580 REJOICE IN THE LORD
2 Peter 1:2-8, 10; Philippians 4:4, 6-8
Min: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
Min: by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
Min: to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love.
Min: For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.
Min: Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Min: The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.
581 THE LORD OUR ROCK
Psalm 18:1-6, 16-19, 30-32
Min: I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Min: I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
The pangs of death encompassed me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
Min: The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God;
Min: He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
Min: He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support.
Min: He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.
As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Min: For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.
582 THINGS UNSEEN
2 Corinthians 4:5, 6, 13-18; Jude 1:24, 25
Min: We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Min: But since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak,
Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.
Min: For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
Min: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Min: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
583 TRUSTING IN GOD
Psalm 37:3-7, 62:1, 2, 5-8, 11, 12: 125:1, 2, 4
Min: Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.
Min: My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
Min: In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
Min: God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.
Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.
Min: Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Min: Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
Min: Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
Those who trust in the Lord Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
Min: As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, And to those who are upright in their hearts.