Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalms 107:1-3  (New Living Translation) 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. 3 For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and […]

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Psalms 105:37  (New Living Translation) The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled. When Jehovah brought His people our of Egypt, there were several million persons in the group. What was the rate of attrition? Zero. Perhaps I am reading […]

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Psalms 97:1-2 (New Living Translation) 1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice! Let the farthest coastlands be glad. 2 Dark clouds surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Note the last phrase of the second verse. Righteousness and Justice are noted to be the foundation of the throne of […]

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Psalms 19:14 (New Living Translation) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. This is a classic of prayer and poetry. What more can a person add to their prayer? Oh that I would take this to heart every day […]

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Psalms 90:17 (New Living Translation) And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful! This is part of a prayer of Moses. He asks the Lord God for success in his efforts. It is okay to ask God for success. Perhaps it is okay […]

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Psalm 39:12 (New Living Translation) Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears. For I am your guest— a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me. This is the life of a Christian. I am a traveler passing through this place. It is not my home. […]

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Psalm 59:11 (New Living Translation) Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield. David is praying to God to punish the enemies of Israel. Note that David doesn’t want God to kill them enemies, but instead stagger them […]

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Psalm 51:8 (New English Translation) Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! I love the words used in this translation. We don’t tend to associate forgiveness and joy these days. We more often associate forgiveness with guilt. David truly had a heart for the LORD.

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Psalm 96:5 (New Living Translation) The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens! This is pretty simple. Jehovah (YHWH) is the creator. Other gods are things that we—the created—made up on our own. I like to pay homage to my own creations. That makes me feel big and strong […]

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Psalm 1:4-5 (New Living Translation) 4 But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. 5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. The wicked will be condemned. Their time is coming. Their punishment is coming. And I know just the […]

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