1431 Jehovah, hear my prayer; give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, in thy righteousness. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight no man living shall be justified. 3 For the enemy persecuteth my soul: he hath crushed my life down to the earth; he hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead. 4 And my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. 5 I remember the days of old: I meditate on all thy doing; I muse on the work of thy hands. 6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul, as a parched land, [thirsteth] after thee. Selah.
7 Answer me speedily, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, or I shall be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8 Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, for in thee do I confide; make me to know the way wherein I should walk, for unto thee do I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies: unto thee do I flee for refuge. 10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: let thy good Spirit lead me in a plain country. 11 Revive me, O Jehovah, for thy name's sake; in thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble; 12 And in thy loving-kindness cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that oppress my soul: for I am thy servant.
1441 Blessed be Jehovah my rock, who teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight; 2 My mercy and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I trust, who subdueth my people under me! 3 Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him, the son of man, that thou takest thought of him? 4 Man is like to vanity; his days are as a shadow that passeth away. 5 Jehovah, bow thy heavens, and come down; touch the mountains, that they smoke; 6 Cast forth lightnings, and scatter them; send forth thine arrows, and discomfit them: 7 Stretch out thy hands from above; rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of aliens, 8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 O God, I will sing a new song unto thee; with the ten-stringed lute will I sing psalms unto thee: 10 Who givest salvation unto kings; who rescuest David thy servant from the hurtful sword. 11 Rescue me, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; our daughters as corner-columns, sculptured after the fashion of a palace: 13 Our granaries full, affording all manner of store; our sheep bringing forth thousands, ten thousands in our pastures; 14 Our kine laden [with young]; no breaking in and no going forth, and no outcry in our streets. 15 Blessed the people that is in such a case! Blessed the people whose God is Jehovah!
1451 I will extol thee, my God, O King, and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. 3 Great is Jehovah, and exceedingly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall laud thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. 5 I will speak of the glorious splendour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. 6 And they shall tell of the might of thy terrible acts; and thy great deeds will I declare. 7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 8 Jehovah is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great loving-kindness. 9 Jehovah is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10 All thy works shall praise thee, Jehovah, and thy saints shall bless thee. 11 They shall tell of the glory of thy kingdom, and speak of thy power; 12 To make known to the children of men his mighty acts, and the glorious splendour of his kingdom. 13 Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages, and thy dominion is throughout all generations. 14 Jehovah upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all that are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their food in its season. 16 Thou openest thy hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. 17 Jehovah is righteous in all his ways, and kind in all his works. 18 Jehovah is nigh unto all that call upon him, unto all that call upon him in truth. 19 He fulfilleth the desire of them that fear him; he heareth their cry, and saveth them. 20 Jehovah keepeth all that love him, and all the wicked will he destroy. 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of Jehovah; and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
21 It is written in the law, By people of other tongues, and by strange lips, will I speak to this people; and neither thus will they hear me, saith the Lord. 22 So that tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers; but prophecy, not to unbelievers, but to those who believe. 23 If therefore the whole assembly come together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and simple [persons] enter in, or unbelievers, will not they say ye are mad? 24 But if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or simple [person] come in, he is convicted of all, he is judged of all; 25 the secrets of his heart are manifested; and thus, falling upon [his] face, he will do homage to God, reporting that God is indeed amongst you.
26 What is it then, brethren? whenever ye come together, each [of you] has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to edification. 27 If any one speak with a tongue, [let it be] two, or at the most three, and separately, and let one interpret; 28 but if there be no interpreter, let him be silent in [the] assembly, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 And let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30 But if there be a revelation to another sitting [there], let the first be silent. 31 For ye can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all be encouraged. 32 And spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not [a God] of disorder but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints.
34 Let [your] women be silent in the assemblies, for it is not permitted to them to speak; but to be in subjection, as the law also says. 35 But if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in assembly.
36 Did the word of God go out from you, or did it come to you only? 37 If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is [the] Lord's commandment. 38 But if any be ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39 So that, brethren, desire to prophesy, and do not forbid the speaking with tongues. 40 But let all things be done comelily and with 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.
