Psalm 23 New International Version - UK (NIVUK) , Thought for Today

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    for ever.

Yours by His Grace for the sake of His Gospel,  Church and Kingdom

Blair Humphreys

Southport, Merseyside, England.

 

Psalm 96, Sing to the Lord a New Song, Thought for the Day

Psalm 96 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

1

Sing to the Lord a new song;

    sing to the Lord, all the earth.

2

Sing to the Lord, praise his name;

    proclaim his salvation day after day.

3

Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvellous deeds among all peoples.

4

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

    he is to be feared above all gods.

5

For all the gods of the nations are idols,

    but the Lord made the heavens.

6

Splendour and majesty are before him;

    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

7

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,

    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

8

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;

    bring an offering and come into his courts.

9

Worship the Lord in the splendour of his[a] holiness;

    tremble before him, all the earth.

10

Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’

    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;

    he will judge the peoples with equity.

11

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.

12

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;

    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

13

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,

    he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Yours by His Grace

Blair Humphreys

Southport, Merseyside, England

If, Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

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Source: A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943)