1O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God. 2See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads. 3With cunning they scheme against Your people and conspire against those You cherish, 4saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.” 5For with one mind they plot together, they form an alliance against You— 6the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, 7of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia with the people of Tyre. 8Even Assyria has joined them, lending strength to the sons of Lot. Selah 9Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon, 10who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground. 11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 12who said, “Let us possess for ourselves the pastures of God.”
New Testament·John 5:14–34
14Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” 15And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him. 17But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.” 18Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 19So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. 22Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, 23so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. 25Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. 27And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. 28Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice 29and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 30I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 31If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid. 32There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid. 33You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved.
Old Testament·1 Samuel 17
1Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the men of Israel assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, arraying themselves for battle against the Philistines. 3The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them. 4Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height, 5and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels, 6and he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him. 8And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. 9If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and labor for us.” 10Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!” 11On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons in the days of Saul. And Jesse was old and well along in years. 13The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. 14And David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem. 16For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand. 17One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them. 19They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.” 20So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry. 21And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other. 22Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing. 23And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard. 24When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him in great fear. 25Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.” 26David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27The people told him about the offer, saying, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.” 28Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!” 29“What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?” 30Then he turned from him toward another and asked about the offer, and those people answered him just as the first ones had answered. 31Now David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, who called for him. 32And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him!” 33But Saul replied, “You cannot go out against this Philistine to fight him. You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.” 38Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor. 39David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them. “I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off. 40And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine. 41Now the Philistine came closer and closer to David, with his shield-bearer before him. 42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome. 43“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” 45But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” 48As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53When the Israelites returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent. 55As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.” 56“Find out whose son this young man is!” said the king. 57So when David returned from killing the Philistine, still holding his head in his hand, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. 58“Whose son are you, young man?” asked Saul. “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.
Reflect
What does this teach about worship — in song, and in everyday life?