571 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in thee my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. 2 I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfils his purpose for me. 3 He will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample upon me. [Selah] God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness! 4 I lie in the midst of lions that greedily devour the sons of men; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let thy glory be over all the earth! 6 They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. [Selah]
7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! 8 Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 9 I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to thee among the nations. 10 For thy steadfast love is great to the heavens, thy faithfulness to the clouds. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let thy glory be over all the earth!
581 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David. Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the sons of men uprightly? 2 Nay, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth. 3 The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking lies. 4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, 5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! 7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither. 8 Let them be like the snail which dissolves into slime, like the untimely birth that never sees the sun. 9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away! 10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11 Men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth."
591 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God, protect me from those who rise up against me, 2 deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. 3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men band themselves against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, 4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Rouse thyself, come to my help, and see! 5 Thou, Lord God of hosts, art God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. [Selah] 6 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. 7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths, and snarling with their lips--for "Who," they think, "will hear us?"
8 But thou, O Lord, dost laugh at them; thou dost hold all the nations in derision. 9 O my Strength, I will sing praises to thee; for thou, O God, art my fortress. 10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. 11 Slay them not, lest my people forget; make them totter by thy power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield! 12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies which they utter, 13 consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more, that men may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. [Selah] 14 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. 15 They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill. 16 But I will sing of thy might; I will sing aloud of thy steadfast love in the morning. For thou hast been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. 17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to thee, for thou, O God, art my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
41 What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." 4 Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. 5 And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. 6 So also David pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin."
9 Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, 12 and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants--not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all,
17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" --in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be." 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was "reckoned to him as righteousness."
23 But the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
