1431 Hear my prayer , O Lord , Give ear to my supplications ! Answer me in Your faithfulness , in Your righteousness ! 2 And do not enter into judgment with Your servant , For in Your sight no man living is righteous . 3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul ; He has crushed my life to the ground ; He has made me dwell in dark places , like those who have long been dead . 4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me. 5 I remember the days of old ; I meditate on all Your doings ; I muse on the work of Your hands . 6 I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land . Selah .
7 Answer me quickly , O Lord , my spirit fails ; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit . 8 Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning ; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk ; For to You I lift up my soul . 9 Deliver me, O Lord , from my enemies ; I take refuge in You. 10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God ; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground . 11 For the sake of Your name , O Lord , revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble . 12 And in Your lovingkindness , cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul , For I am Your servant .
1441 Blessed be the Lord , my rock , Who trains my hands for war , And my fingers for battle ; 2 My lovingkindness and my fortress , My stronghold and my deliverer , My shield and He in whom I take refuge , Who subdues my people under me. 3 O Lord , what is man , that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man , that You think of him? 4 Man is like a mere breath ; His days are like a passing shadow . 5 Bow Your heavens , O Lord , and come down ; Touch the mountains , that they may smoke . 6 Flash forth lightning and scatter them; Send out Your arrows and confuse them. 7 Stretch forth Your hand from on high ; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters , Out of the hand of aliens e 8 Whose mouths speak deceit , And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood .
9 I will sing a new song to You, O God ; Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You, 10 Who gives salvation to kings , Who rescues David His servant from the evil sword . 11 Rescue me and deliver me out of the hand of aliens e , Whose mouth speaks deceit And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood . 12 Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants , And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace ; 13 Let our garners be full , furnishing every kind of produce, And our flocks bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields ; 14 Let our cattle bear Without mishap and without loss , Let there be no outcry in our streets ! 15 How blessed are the people who are so situated; How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord !
1451 I will extol You, my God , O King , And I will bless Your name forever and ever . 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever . 3 Great is the Lord , and highly to be praised , And His greatness is unsearchable e . 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another , And shall declare Your mighty acts . 5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works , I will meditate . 6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts , And I will tell of Your greatness . 7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness . 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful ; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness . 9 The Lord is good to all , And His mercies are over all His works .
10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord , And Your godly ones shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power ; 12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom . 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom , And Your dominion endures throughout all generations . 14 The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down . 15 The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time . 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing . 17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds . 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth . 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 20 The Lord keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy . 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord , And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever .
21 In the Law it is written , " BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE , AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME," says the Lord . 22 So then tongues are for a sign , not to those who believe but to unbelievers ; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe . 23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together e e and all speak in tongues , and ungifted men or unbelievers enter , will they not say that you are mad ? 24 But if all prophesy , and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters , he is convicted by all , he is called to account by all ; 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed ; and so he will fall on his face and worship God , declaring that God is certainly among you.
26 What is the outcome then , brethren ? When you assemble , each one has a psalm , has a teaching , has a revelation , has a tongue , has an interpretation . Let all things be done for edification . 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue , it should be by two or at the most three , and each in turn , and one must interpret ; 28 but if there is no interpreter , he must keep silent in the church ; and let him speak to himself and to God . 29 Let two or three prophets speak , and let the others pass judgment . 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated , the first one must keep silent . 31 For you can all prophesy one e by one e , so that all may learn and all may be exhorted ; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets ; 33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace , as in all the churches of the saints .
34 The women are to keep silent in the churches ; for they are not permitted to speak , but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says . 35 If they desire to learn anything , let them ask their own husbands at home ; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church .
36 Was it from you that the word of God first went forth ? Or has it come to you only ? 37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual , let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment . 38 But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized . 39 Therefore , my brethren , desire earnestly to prophesy , and do not forbid to speak in tongues . 40 But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner .
(Read 1 Corinthians 14:15-25)
There can be no assent to prayers that are not understood. A truly Christian minister will seek much more to do spiritual good to men's souls, than to get the greatest applause to himself. This is proving himself the servant of Christ. Children are apt to be struck with novelty; but do not act like them. Christians should be like children, void of guile and malice; yet they should not be unskilful as to the word of righteousness, but only as to the arts of mischief. It is a proof that a people are forsaken of God, when he gives them up to the rule of those who teach them to worship in another language. They can never be benefitted by such teaching. Yet thus the preachers did who delivered their instructions in an unknown tongue. Would it not make Christianity ridiculous to a heathen, to hear the ministers pray or preach in a language which neither he nor the assembly understood? But if those who minister, plainly interpret Scripture, or preach the great truths and rules of the gospel, a heathen or unlearned person might become a convert to Christianity. His conscience might be touched, the secrets of his heart might be revealed to him, and so he might be brought to confess his guilt, and to own that God was present in the assembly. Scripture truth, plainly and duly taught, has a wonderful power to awaken the conscience and touch the heart.
(Read 1 Corinthians 14:26-33)
Religious exercises in public assemblies should have this view; Let all be done to edifying. As to the speaking in an unknown tongue, if another were present who could interpret, two miraculous gifts might be exercised at once, and thereby the church be edified, and the faith of the hearers confirmed at the same time. As to prophesying, two or three only should speak at one meeting, and this one after the other, not all at once. The man who is inspired by the Spirit of God will observe order and decency in delivering his revelations. God never teaches men to neglect their duties, or to act in any way unbecoming their age or station.
(Read 1 Corinthians 14:34-40)
When the apostle exhorts Christian women to seek information on religious subjects from their husbands at home, it shows that believing families ought to assemble for promoting spiritual knowledge. The Spirit of Christ can never contradict itself; and if their revelations are against those of the apostle, they do not come from the same Spirit. The way to keep peace, truth, and order in the church, is to seek that which is good for it, to bear with that which is not hurtful to its welfare, and to keep up good behaviour, order, and decency.
