Psalm 123 (AMP)
1 Unto You do I lift up my eyes, O You Who are enthroned in heaven.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy and loving-kindness for us.3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on and loving-kindness for us, for we are exceedingly satiated with contempt.4 Our life is exceedingly filled with the scorning and scoffing of those who are at ease and with the contempt of the proud (irresponsible tyrants who disregard God’s law).
Psalm 124
1 If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side—now may Israel say—2 If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side when men rose up against us,3 Then they would have quickly swallowed us up alive when their wrath was kindled against us;4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us and swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us;5 Then the proud waters would have gone over us.6 Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth!7 We are like a bird escaped from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 123 (The Message)
1-4 I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help.
Like servants, alert to their master's commands,
like a maiden attending her lady,
We're watching and waiting, holding our breath,
awaiting your word of mercy.
Mercy, God, mercy!
We've been kicked around long enough,
Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men,
kicked when we're down by arrogant brutes.
Psalm 124
1-5 If God hadn't been for us —all together now, Israel, sing out!—
If God hadn't been for us
when everyone went against us,
We would have been swallowed alive
by their violent anger,
Swept away by the flood of rage,
drowned in the torrent;
We would have lost our lives
in the wild, raging water.
6 Oh, blessed be God!
He didn't go off and leave us.
He didn't abandon us defenseless,
helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.
7 We've flown free from their fangs,
free of their traps, free as a bird.
Their grip is broken;
we're free as a bird in flight.
8 God's strong name is our help,
the same God who made heaven and earth.
I have given you 2 versions of my Scripture reading today: The Amplified version and The Message. I have found that reading in different versions give me a different slant and adds depth and width to my understanding.
When I look back at the events in my life, I can truly say with the psalmist, "if God had not been for us, we would have been swallowed...". His strong Name is our help, the Maker of heaven and earth.
In the past couple of days I have come across some amazing pictures of our world. They manifest His majesty and grandeur. Indeed, there is no-One like our God.
The details in the beauty speak of an Artist intensely and passionately creating a masterpiece. It speaks of love. I challenge any atheist to take the time to drink of His beauty and tell me if it just happened by chance.
Sing with me "God of Wonders" by Third Day. I found this video with amazing photos that the creator put a lot of "love, time and effort" into. Didn't God do just that?
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