Pastor Jason BauerMarch 17th 2021
1Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. 4No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. 7Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. 8The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace. 9So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. 10Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. 12For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
19Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. 20This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 21I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 23the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. 26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. 27The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 28You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, 'This man was with him.' 57But he denied it. 'Woman, I don't know him,' he said. 58A little later someone else saw him and said, 'You also are one of them.' 'Man, I am not!' Peter replied. 59About an hour later another asserted, 'Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.' 60Peter replied, 'Man, I don't know what you're talking about!' Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: 'Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.' 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.