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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your Nightly Scripture,

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Speaker 1: a calming Scripture Center devotional podcast designed to help you

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Speaker 1: end each day with God's word in your mind and

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Speaker 1: on your heart. Right after this short word from our sponsors,

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Speaker 1: will reflect on tonight's scripture Psalm seventy three. Tonight's scripture

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Speaker 1: reflection is written by Clarence Haines and read by Kirie Ekberger.

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Speaker 1: Psalm seventy three. Surely God is good to Israel, to

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Speaker 1: those who are pure in heart. But as for me,

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Speaker 1: my feet had almost slipped. I had nearly lost my foothold,

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Speaker 1: for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity

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Speaker 1: of the wicked. They have no struggles. Their bodies are

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Speaker 1: healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens.

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Speaker 1: They are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is

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Speaker 1: their necklace. They clothe themselves with violence. From their callous

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Speaker 1: hearts comes iniquity. Their evil imaginations have no limits. They

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Speaker 1: scoff and speak with malice, with arrogance. They threaten oppression.

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Speaker 1: Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take

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Speaker 1: possession of the earth. Therefore, their people turn to them

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Speaker 1: and drink up waters in abundance. They say, how would

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Speaker 1: God know? Does the most high know anything? This is

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Speaker 1: what the wicked are like, Always free of care, they

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Speaker 1: go on amassing wealth. Surely in vain. I have kept

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Speaker 1: my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence.

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Speaker 1: All day long, I have been afflicted, and every morning

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Speaker 1: brings new punishments. If I had spoken out like that,

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Speaker 1: I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to

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Speaker 1: understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I enter

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Speaker 1: the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final destiny.

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Speaker 1: Surely you placed them on slippery ground, You cast them

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Speaker 1: down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed? Completely swept

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Speaker 1: away by terrors? They are like a dream when one awakes.

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Speaker 1: When you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.

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Speaker 1: When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I

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Speaker 1: was senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.

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Speaker 1: Yet I am always with you. You hold me by my

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Speaker 1: right hand, You guide me with your counsel, and afterward

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Speaker 1: you will take me into glory. Come have I in heaven.

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Speaker 1: But you and earth has nothing I desire besides you,

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Speaker 1: my flesh and my heart fail. But it is the

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Speaker 1: strength of my heart and my abortion forever. Those who

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Speaker 1: are far from you will perish. You destroy all who

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Speaker 1: are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is

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Speaker 1: good to be near God. I have made the sovereign

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Speaker 1: Lord my refuge. I will tell of all your deeds.

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Speaker 1: This season of life has taught me two invaluable lessons.

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Speaker 1: The first is that God can be trusted with your

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Speaker 1: whole life. That sounds simple, but how many times have

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Speaker 1: you been like Asaf in Psalm seventy three, wondering what

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Speaker 1: is going on and why this is working for everyone

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Speaker 1: else but not for me. This is not a lack

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Speaker 1: of faith, but a question. Because we see life there

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Speaker 1: is a small lens. However, God sees the entire picture and

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Speaker 1: knows not just what is best for you, but how

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Speaker 1: to get you to the place he wants you to be.

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Speaker 1: For that reason alone, you can trust him fully. The

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Speaker 1: second lesson I learned is that of options. It is

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Speaker 1: easy to say you trust when the path forward is clear. However,

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Speaker 1: when the way is cloudy and your next steps are uncertain,

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Speaker 1: that is when you have no choice but to trust.

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Speaker 1: As scary as that can feel, sometimes you are in

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Speaker 1: the right place because all other options are gone and

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Speaker 1: all that is left is to trust God. It may

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Speaker 1: not feel like it in the moment, but that is

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Speaker 1: the best place to be in life. When you feel

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Speaker 1: a little uncertain, you're shaky, then do what Ace Aft did.

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Speaker 1: When I tried to understand all this, It troubled me

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Speaker 1: deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I

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Speaker 1: understood their final destiny. When you enter God's sanctuary, your

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Speaker 1: perspective shifts. Instead of your eyes focusing on what is

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Speaker 1: happening around you, they focus on who is walking with you.

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Speaker 1: It is there that you can remind yourself of God's

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Speaker 1: faithfulness in your life, which is displayed time and time again.

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Speaker 1: It is that track record that gives you the confidence

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Speaker 1: to know, if He did it before, you will do

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Speaker 1: it again. As you think through your day, begin to

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Speaker 1: identify all the ways God showed up in your life.

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Speaker 1: I strongly believe your heart will be drawn to thanksgiving

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Speaker 1: and praise, which is the way we enter His sanctuary.

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Speaker 1: When you get there, it will give you the confidence

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Speaker 1: to remember you serve a God who can be trusted.

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Speaker 1: Your trust is not based on the confusion that life

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Speaker 1: can bring. Your trust is based on the certainty of God,

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Speaker 1: who has promised he will be with you until the end. Lord,

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Speaker 1: As I look back on the day, it's easy to

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Speaker 1: focus on all the things that went wrong. However, in

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Speaker 1: doing so, I might miss how your faithfulness shows up daily.

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Speaker 1: Help me to end each day thinking of your love,

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Speaker 1: your goodness, your kindness, and your faithfulness. Allow me to

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Speaker 1: look for your hand in everything, and help me to

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Speaker 1: trust what you are doing in my life even when

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Speaker 1: I can't see it in my life doesn't make sense.

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Speaker 1: In those moments, draw me to the peace of your

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Speaker 1: presence and the confidence that comes from resting in your arms.

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Speaker 1: Renew my hope and trust, knowing that no matter what

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Speaker 1: I see, you are still in control. I pray all

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Speaker 1: of this in Jesus name. Amen. How did Tonight's scripture

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Speaker 1: speak to you? Share your thoughts in the Your Nightly

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Speaker 1: Scripture Forum discussion.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to Your Nightly Scripture. Tonight's scripture

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Speaker 2: was read from the New International Version by Biblica. All

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Speaker 2: rights reserved. If Tonight's episode blessed you, be sure to

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Speaker 2: Scripture is ready when you are. Your Nightly Scripture is

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Speaker 2: a production of Life Audio and Salem Media. Thank you

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Speaker 2: and we'll see you tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: Night