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Psalm 59

1  Rescue me from my enemies, O my God; ♦︎
   set me high above those that rise up against me.
2  Save me from the evildoers ♦︎
   and from murderous foes deliver me.
3  For see how they lie in wait for my soul ♦︎
   and the mighty stir up trouble against me.
4  Not for any fault or sin of mine, O Lord; ♦︎
   for no offence, they run and prepare themselves for war.
5  Rouse yourself, come to my aid and see; ♦︎
   for you are the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.
6  Awake, and judge all the nations; ♦︎
   show no mercy to the evil traitors.
7  They return at nightfall and snarl like dogs ♦︎
   and prowl about the city.
8  They pour out evil words with their mouths;
      swords are on their lips; ♦︎
   ‘For who’, they say, ‘can hear us?’
9  But you laugh at them, O Lord; ♦︎
   you hold all the nations in derision.
10  For you, O my strength, will I watch; ♦︎
   you, O God, are my strong tower.
11  My God in his steadfast love will come to me; ♦︎
   he will let me behold the downfall of my enemies.
12  Slay them not, lest my people forget; ♦︎
   send them reeling by your might
      and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
13  For the sins of their mouth, for the words of their lips, ♦︎
   let them be taken in their pride.
14  For the cursing and falsehood they have uttered, ♦︎
   consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more.
15  And they shall know that God rules in Jacob, ♦︎
   and to the ends of the earth.
16  And still they return at nightfall and snarl like dogs ♦︎
   and prowl about the city.
17  Though they forage for something to devour, ♦︎
   and howl if they are not filled,
18  Yet will I sing of your strength ♦︎
   and every morning praise your steadfast love;
19  For you have been my stronghold, ♦︎
   my refuge in the day of my trouble.
20  To you, O my strength, will I sing; ♦︎
   for you, O God, are my refuge,
      my God of steadfast love.

Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple

4When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of families and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of King Esar-haddon of Assyria who brought us here.’ ³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, ‘You shall have no part with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia has commanded us.’

4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, ⁵and they bribed officials to frustrate their plan throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.

10Brothers and sisters,^* my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ²I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. ³For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. ⁴For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Salvation Is for All

5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ ⁶But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say?
‘The word is near you,
   on your lips and in your heart’
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because^* if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.