58.4 Complete Confidence In God

(Psalm 108)

I have completed confidence, O God!
I will sing and praise you!
Wake up, my soul! Wake up my harp and lyre!
I will wake up the sun
I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations.
I will praise you among the peoples.
Your constant love reaches above the heavens;
your faithfulness touches the skies.
Show your greatness in the sky, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
Save us by your might; answer my prayer,so that the people you love may be rescued.

From his sanctuary God has said,
"In triumph I will divide Shechem and distribute Sukkoth Valley to my people.
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh too;
Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my royal scepter.
But I will use Moab as my washbowl,
and I will throw my sandals on Edom,
as a sign that I own it.
I will shout in triumph over the Philistines."

Who, O God, will take me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
Have you really rejected us?
Aren't you going to march out with our armies?
Help us against the enemy,
human help is worthless.
With God on our side we will win;
he will defeat our enemies.

58.3 Rejoicing In Trials

(2 Corinthians 6:4-10)

Instead, in everything we do we show that we are God's servants by patiently enduring troubles, hardships,and difficulties. We have been beaten , jailed, and mobbed; we have been overworked and have gone without sleep or food. By our purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness we have shown ourselves to be God's servants--by the Holy Spirit, by our true love, by our message of truth, and by the power of God . We have righteousness as our weapon, both to attack and defend ourselves.  We are honored and disgraced; we are insulted and praised.  We are treated as liars, yet we speak the truth; as unknown, yet we are known by all; as though we were dead, but as you see, we live on.  Although punished, we are not killed; although saddened, we are always glad; we seem poor, but we make many people rich; we seem to have nothing, yet we really possess everything.

58.2 Paul's Sufferings

(2 Corinthians 11:21b-29)

But if anyone dares to boast about something--I am talking like a fool--I will be just as daring. Are they Hebrews? So am I.  Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham descendants? So am I.  Are they Christ's servants?  I sound like a mad man-- but I am a better servant than they are!  I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often. Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks , and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water.  In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from fellow Jews and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing.  And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches.  When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when some is led into sin, I am filled with distress.

58.1 Lose One's Life For Christ's Sake

(Luke 9:22-26)

He also told them, "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law.  He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life."

And he said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Will a person gain anything if he wins the whole world but is himself lost or defeated? Of course not! If a person is ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.