Sunday, October 23, 2011

Psalm 16

1. Protect me, Lord, for I have taken residence,
as refugee in you.

2. I said, “You are my Lord and Master,
and my God;
what gifts of life I have all came from you.”

3. I take delight in all who trust in you,
who have settled in your land,
and made your good their every gain,
their livelihood.

4. But those who sport with other gods,
the ones they own,
will only multiply their troubles here.

5. I will not offer self or sacrifice to these,
nor take their empty names upon my lips.

6. Lord you are for me all that I truly need,
and all that’s good.
I raise the cup of life you give and drink,
and live in full what you have cast for me as lot.

7. Inside the boundaries of my life
there is a land so broad, so good,
I never earned it all, nor was it ever “mine,”
but sent as gift, inherited from you.

8. And there you teach me all I need to know.
So I thank you for these instructions of the heart.

9. I keep your face before me as I walk;
with your strong presence at my side I never fall.

10. My inner life is filled with you, my heart is glad,
my soul is ever satisfied,
my body rests along the way in peace.

11. And when it comes, you will not abandon me in death,
nor allow your beloved ones to vanish
and be no more.

12. You lead and guide along a path called Life,
and there your presence is the source of joy,
For from your hands there flows
a never-ending stream of bliss.

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