Rooted In Hope

¹“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh. Look to the rock you were cut from, and to the quarry you were dug from. ²Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, I blessed him, and made him many. ³For Yahweh has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found in them, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. ⁴“Listen to me, my people; and hear me, my nation, for a law will go out from me, and I will establish my justice for a light to the peoples. ⁵My righteousness is near. My salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and they will trust my arm. ⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment. Its inhabitants will die in the same way, but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.

¹I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. ²I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all. ³In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul. ⁴All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh, for they have heard the words of your mouth. ⁵Yes, they will sing of the ways of Yahweh, for Yahweh’s glory is great! ⁶For though Yahweh is high, yet he looks after the lowly; but he knows the proud from afar. ⁷Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me. ⁸Yahweh will fulfill that which concerns me. Your loving kindness, Yahweh, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.