Praise for Exalting the Humble

113¹ Praise the Lord ! Yes, give praise, O servants of the Lord . Praise the name of the Lord ! ² Blessed be the name of the Lord now and forever. ³ Everywhere-from east to west- praise the name of the Lord . ⁴ For the Lord is high above the nations; his glory is higher than the heavens. ⁵ Who can be compared with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high? ⁶ He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth. ⁷ He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. ⁸ He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people! ⁹ He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the Lord !

The Wonders of the Exodus

114¹ When the Israelites escaped from Egypt- when the family of Jacob left that foreign land- ² the land of Judah became God's sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom. ³ The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan River turned away. ⁴ The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs! ⁵ What's wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away? ⁶ Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, hills, like lambs? ⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. ⁸ He turned the rock into a pool of water; yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.

God and the Idols

115¹ Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness. ² Why let the nations say, "Where is their God?" ³ Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. ⁴ Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. ⁵ They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. ⁶ They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. ⁷ They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. ⁸ And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.

⁹ O Israel, trust the Lord ! He is your helper and your shield. ¹⁰ O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord ! He is your helper and your shield. ¹¹ All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord ! He is your helper and your shield. ¹² The Lord remembers us and will bless us. He will bless the people of Israel and bless the priests, the descendants of Aaron. ¹³ He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly. ¹⁴ May the Lord richly bless both you and your children. ¹⁵ May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all humanity. ¹⁷ The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave. ¹⁸ But we can praise the Lord both now and forever! Praise the Lord !

Going to Law before Unbelievers

6¹ When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers ! ² Don't you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can't you decide even these little things among yourselves? ³ Don't you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. ⁴ If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? ⁵ I am saying this to shame you. Isn't there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? ⁶ But instead, one believer sues another-right in front of unbelievers! ⁷ Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? ⁸ Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers.

⁹ Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people-none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. ¹¹ Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Glorify God in Your Body

¹² You say, "I am allowed to do anything"-but not everything is good for you. And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything. ¹³ You say, "Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food." (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can't say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. ¹⁴ And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead. ¹⁵ Don't you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ And don't you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, "The two are united into one." ¹⁷ But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. ¹⁸ Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. ¹⁹ Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.