HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 902
P S A LM 1 0 1
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page 532
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I will not tolerate people who slander their
neighbors.
I will not endure conceit and pride.
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I will search for faithful people
to be my companions.
Only those who are above reproach
will be allowed to serve me.
I will not allow deceivers to serve in
my house,
and liars will not stay in my presence.
My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
and free the city of the Lord from
their grip.
A psalm of David.
I will sing of your love and justice,
Lord.
I will praise you with songs.
I will be careful to live a blameless life—
when will you come to help me?
I will lead a life of integrity
in my own home.
I will refuse to look at
anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all who deal crookedly;
I will have nothing to do with them.
I will reject perverse ideas
and stay away from every evil.
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102
A prayer of one overwhelmed with
trouble, pouring out problems before
the Lord.
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• Poverty
PSALM 1 0 2 :1 7
A sure sign of spiritual life is compassion
for the less fortunate. Throughout the
Bible, God is consistently portrayed as
having a very special place in his heart
for the poor and the outcast. Although
we increasingly hear those with calloused
attitudes voicing their judgment that the
poor have created their own fate, God
asks us to open our hearts to the needy,
whatever the cause of their suffering. For
the truth is, we need to care compassionately for the poor at least as much as they
need our care.
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• Family
PSALM 1 0 2 :2 8
In the usual way of things, children are
born into a family, and they in turn have
children and grandchildren. In this way
families continue from generation to
generation. We do not know what will
happen to succeeding generations. We
can set up monetary trusts, but grandchildren may misuse the money. We can
set aside land, but great-grandchildren
may not want to live on it. We can provide
education, but succeeding generations
may turn their learning against family
ideals. The most sure way to protect
future generations is to help children
and grandchildren love God, honor him,
and desire to pass that attitude on to
their children and grandchildren. This
one supreme legacy can then guide
the way of other family legacies and
give to them more profound meaning.
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Lord, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!
Don’t turn away from me
in my time of distress.
Bend down to listen,
and answer me quickly when I call to you.
For my days disappear like smoke,
and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
My heart is sick, withered like grass,
and I have lost my appetite.
Because of my groaning,
I am reduced to skin and bones.
I am like an owl in the desert,
like a little owl in a far-off wilderness.
I lie awake,
lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
My enemies taunt me day after day.
They mock and curse me.
I eat ashes for food.
My tears run down into my drink
because of your anger and wrath.
For you have picked me up and thrown
me out.
My life passes as swiftly as the evening
shadows.
I am withering away like grass.
But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne
forever.
Your fame will endure to every
generation.
You will arise and have mercy on
Jerusalem*—
and now is the time to pity her,
now is the time you promised to help.
For your people love every stone in
her walls
and cherish even the dust in her streets.
Then the nations will tremble before
the Lord.
The kings of the earth will tremble before
his glory.
102:13 Hebrew Zion; also in 102:16.