1431 O Jehovah, hear my prayer, Give ear unto my supplications, In Thy faithfulness answer me—in Thy righteousness. 2 And enter not into judgment with Thy servant, For no one living is justified before Thee. 3 For an enemy hath pursued my soul, He hath bruised to the earth my life, He hath caused me to dwell in dark places, As the dead of old. 4 And my spirit in me is become feeble, Within me is my heart become desolate. 5 I have remembered days of old, I have meditated on all Thine acts, On the work of Thy hand I muse. 6 I have spread forth my hands unto Thee, My soul 'is' as a weary land for Thee. Selah.
7 Haste, answer me, O Jehovah, My spirit hath been consumed, Hide not Thou Thy face from me, Or I have been compared with those going down 'to' the pit. 8 Cause me to hear in the morning Thy kindness, For in Thee I have trusted, Cause me to know the way that I go, For unto Thee I have lifted up my soul. 9 Deliver me from mine enemies, O Jehovah, Near Thee I am covered. 10 Teach me to do Thy good pleasure, For Thou 'art' my God—Thy Spirit 'is' good, Lead me into a land of uprightness. 11 For Thy name's sake O Jehovah, Thou dost quicken me, In Thy righteousness, Thou bringest out from distress my soul, 12 And in Thy kindness cuttest off mine enemies, And hast destroyed all the adversaries of my soul, For I 'am' Thy servant!
1441 By David. Blessed 'is' Jehovah my rock, who is teaching My hands for war, my fingers for battle. 2 My kind one, and my bulwark, My tower, and my deliverer, My shield, and in whom I have trusted, Who is subduing my people under me! 3 Jehovah, what 'is' man that Thou knowest him? Son of man, that Thou esteemest him? 4 Man to vanity hath been like, His days 'are' as a shadow passing by. 5 Jehovah, incline Thy heavens and come down, Strike against mountains, and they smoke. 6 Send forth lightning, and scatter them, Send forth Thine arrows, and trouble them, 7 Send forth Thy hand from on high, Free me, and deliver me from many waters, From the hand of sons of a stranger, 8 Because their mouth hath spoken vanity, And their right hand 'is' a right hand of falsehood.
9 O God, a new song I sing to Thee, On a psaltery of ten strings I sing praise to Thee. 10 Who is giving deliverance to kings, Who is freeing David His servant from the sword of evil. 11 Free me, and deliver me From the hand of sons of a stranger, Because their mouth hath spoken vanity, And their right hand 'is' a right hand of falsehood, 12 Because our sons 'are' as plants, Becoming great in their youth, Our daughters as hewn stones, Polished—the likeness of a palace, 13 Our garners 'are' full, bringing out from kind to kind, Our flocks are bringing forth thousands, Ten thousands in our out-places, 14 Our oxen are carrying, there is no breach, And there is no outgoing, And there is no crying in our broad places. 15 O the happiness of the people that is thus, O the happiness of the people whose God 'is' Jehovah!
1451 Praise by David. I exalt Thee, my God, O king, And bless Thy name to the age and for ever. 2 Every day do I bless Thee, And praise Thy name to the age and for ever. 3 Great 'is' Jehovah, and praised greatly, And of His greatness there is no searching. 4 Generation to generation praiseth Thy works, And Thy mighty acts they declare. 5 The honour—the glory of Thy majesty, And the matters of Thy wonders I declare. 6 And the strength of Thy fearful acts they tell, And Thy greatness I recount. 7 The memorial of the abundance of Thy goodness they send forth. And Thy righteousness they sing. 8 Gracious and merciful 'is' Jehovah, Slow to anger, and great in kindness. 9 Good 'is' Jehovah to all, And His mercies 'are' over all His works.
10 Confess Thee O Jehovah, do all Thy works, And Thy saints do bless Thee. 11 The honour of Thy kingdom they tell, And 'of' Thy might they speak, 12 To make known to sons of men His mighty acts, The honour of the majesty of His kingdom. 13 Thy kingdom 'is' a kingdom of all ages, And Thy dominion 'is' in all generations. 14 Jehovah is supporting all who are falling, And raising up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all unto Thee do look, And Thou art giving to them their food in its season, 16 Opening Thy hand, and satisfying The desire of every living thing. 17 Righteous 'is' Jehovah in all His ways, And kind in all His works. 18 Near 'is' Jehovah to all those calling Him, To all who call Him in truth. 19 The desire of those fearing Him He doth, And their cry He heareth, and saveth them. 20 Jehovah preserveth all those loving Him, And all the wicked He destroyeth. 21 The praise of Jehovah my mouth speaketh, And all flesh doth bless His holy name, To the age and for ever!
21 in the law it hath been written, that, 'With other tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, and not even so will they hear Me, saith the Lord;' 22 so that the tongues are for a sign, not to the believing, but to the unbelieving; and the prophesy 'is' not for the unbelieving, but for the believing, 23 If, therefore, the whole assembly may come together, to the same place, and all may speak with tongues, and there may come in unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? 24 and if all may prophecy, and any one may come in, an unbeliever or unlearned, he is convicted by all, he is discerned by all, 25 and so the secrets of his heart become manifest, and so having fallen upon 'his' face, he will bow before God, declaring that God really is among you.
26 What then is it, brethren? whenever ye may come together, each of you hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation? let all things be for building up; 27 if an 'unknown' tongue any one do speak, by two, or at the most, by three, and in turn, and let one interpret; 28 and if there may be no interpreter, let him be silent in an assembly, and to himself let him speak, and to God. 29 And prophets—let two or three speak, and let the others discern, 30 and if to another sitting 'anything' may be revealed, let the first be silent; 31 for ye are able, one by one, all to prophesy, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted, 32 and the spiritual gift of prophets to prophets are subject, 33 for God is not 'a God' of tumult, but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints.
34 Your women in the assemblies let them be silent, for it hath not been permitted to them to speak, but to be subject, as also the law saith; 35 and if they wish to learn anything, at home their own husbands let them question, for it is a shame to women to speak in an assembly.
36 From you did the word of God come forth? or to you alone did it come? 37 if any one doth think to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write to you—that of the Lord they are commands; 38 and if any one is ignorant—let him be ignorant; 39 so that, brethren, earnestly desire to prophesy, and to speak with tongues do not forbid; 40 let all things be done decently and in order.
(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.
