Daily Wisdom Plan

¹Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

²Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD? Who can ever praise him enough?

³There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.

⁴Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people; come near and rescue me.

⁵Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.

⁶Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!

⁷Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the LORD’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.

⁸Even so, he saved them — to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power.

⁹He commanded the Red Sea to dry up. He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert.

¹⁰So he rescued them from their enemies and redeemed them from their foes.

¹¹Then the water returned and covered their enemies; not one of them survived.

¹²Then his people believed his promises. Then they sang his praise.

¹³Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!

¹⁴In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.

¹⁵So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.

¹⁶The people in the camp were jealous of Moses and envious of Aaron, the LORD’s holy priest.

¹⁷Because of this, the earth opened up; it swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and the other rebels.

¹⁸Fire fell upon their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.

¹⁹The people made a calf at Mount Sinai ; they bowed before an image made of gold.

²⁰They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull.

²¹They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt —

²²such wonderful things in the land of Ham, such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.

²³So he declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.

²⁴The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.

²⁵Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the LORD.

²⁶Therefore, he solemnly swore that he would kill them in the wilderness,

²⁷that he would scatter their descendants among the nations, exiling them to distant lands.

²⁸Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!

²⁹They angered the LORD with all these things, so a plague broke out among them.

³⁰But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped.

³¹So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time.

³²At Meribah, too, they angered the LORD, causing Moses serious trouble.

³³They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

³⁴Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the LORD had commanded them.

³⁵Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.

³⁶They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall.

³⁷They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.

³⁸They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder.

³⁹They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the LORD’s sight.

⁴⁰That is why the LORD’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.

⁴¹He handed them over to pagan nations, and they were ruled by those who hated them.

⁴²Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power.

⁴³Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin.

⁴⁴Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries.

⁴⁵He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.

⁴⁶He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.

⁴⁷Save us, O LORD our God! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.

⁴⁸Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD!

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

²Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.

³For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.

⁴Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless.

⁵Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died.

⁶“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.

⁷He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.

⁸Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

⁹For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery.

¹¹They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High.

¹²That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them.

¹³“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

¹⁴He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains.

¹⁵Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

¹⁶For he broke down their prison gates of bronze; he cut apart their bars of iron.

¹⁷Some were fools; they rebelled and suffered for their sins.

¹⁸They couldn’t stand the thought of food, and they were knocking on death’s door.

¹⁹“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

²⁰He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.

²¹Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

²²Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.

²³Some went off to sea in ships, plying the trade routes of the world.

²⁴They, too, observed the LORD’s power in action, his impressive works on the deepest seas.

²⁵He spoke, and the winds rose, stirring up the waves.

²⁶Their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths; the sailors cringed in terror.

²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end.

²⁸“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

²⁹He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves.

³⁰What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor!

³¹Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

³²Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.

³³He changes rivers into deserts, and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.

³⁴He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there.

³⁵But he also turns deserts into pools of water, the dry land into springs of water.

³⁶He brings the hungry to settle there and to build their cities.

³⁷They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest their bumper crops.

³⁸How he blesses them! They raise large families there, and their herds of livestock increase.

³⁹When they decrease in number and become impoverished through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,

⁴⁰the LORD pours contempt on their princes, causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.

⁴¹But he rescues the poor from trouble and increases their families like flocks of sheep.

⁴²The godly will see these things and be glad, while the wicked are struck silent.

⁴³Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the LORD.

¹My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!

²Wake up, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song.

³I will thank you, LORD, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations.

⁴For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

⁵Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.

⁶Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power.

⁷God has promised this by his holiness : “I will divide up Shechem with joy. I will measure out the valley of Succoth.

⁸Gilead is mine, and Manasseh, too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.

⁹But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant, and I will wipe my feet on Edom and shout in triumph over Philistia.”

¹⁰Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom?

¹¹Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march with our armies?

¹²Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless.

¹³With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.