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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Studyheadquarters dot com.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible. I'm

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Speaker 1: John Stangey, and today we're reading Psalms fifty three, fifty four,

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Speaker 1: and fifty five, and we'll be reading from the Contemporary

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Speaker 1: English version. A special psalm by David for the Music Leader,

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Speaker 1: to the tune of Mahalath. Only a fool would say

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Speaker 1: there is no God. People like that are worthless. They

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Speaker 1: are heartless and cruel and never do right. From heaven,

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Speaker 1: God looks down to see if anyone is wise enough

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Speaker 1: to search for him, But all of them are crooked

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Speaker 1: and corrupt. Not one of them does write. Won't you

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Speaker 1: lawbreakers learn? You refuse to pray, and you gobble down

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Speaker 1: the people of God. But you will be terrified, worse

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Speaker 1: than ever before. God will scatter the bones of his enemies,

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Speaker 1: and you will be ashamed when God rejects you. I

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Speaker 1: long for someone from Zion to come and save Israel,

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Speaker 1: our God. When you bless your people again, Jacob's family

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Speaker 1: will be glad, and Israel will celebrate. Psalm fifty four

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Speaker 1: for the Music Leader. Use with stringed instruments, a special

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Speaker 1: psalm that David wrote when the people of Zif went

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Speaker 1: to Saul and said, David is hiding here with us.

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Speaker 1: Save me, God, by your power and prove that I

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Speaker 1: am right. Listen to my prayer and hear what I say.

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Speaker 1: Cruel strangers have attacked and want me dead. Not one

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Speaker 1: of them cares about you. You will help me, Lord God,

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Speaker 1: and keep me from falling. You will punish my enemies

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Speaker 1: for their evil deeds. Be my faithful friend and destroy them.

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Speaker 1: I will bring a gift and offer a sacrifice to you. Lord.

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Speaker 1: I will praise your name because you are good. You

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Speaker 1: have rescued me from all of my troubles, and my

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Speaker 1: own eyes have seen my enemies fall. Psalm fifty five

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Speaker 1: a special psalm by David for the music leader use

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Speaker 1: with stringed instruments. Listen God to my prayer. Don't reject

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Speaker 1: my request. Please listen and help me. My thoughts are troubled,

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Speaker 1: and I keep groaning because my loud enemies shout and attack.

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Speaker 1: They treat me terribly and hold angry grudges. My heart

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Speaker 1: is racing fast and I am afraid of dying. I

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Speaker 1: am trembling with fear completely terrified. I wish I had

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Speaker 1: wings like a dove, so I could fly far away

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Speaker 1: and be at peace. I would go and live in

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Speaker 1: some distant desert. I would quickly find shelter from howling

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Speaker 1: winds and raging storms. Confuse my enemies, Lord, upset their plans,

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Speaker 1: cruelty and violence are all I see in the city,

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Speaker 1: and they are like guards on patrol day and night.

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Speaker 1: The city is full of trouble, evil and corruption. Troublemakers

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Speaker 1: and liars freely roam the streets. My enemies are not

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Speaker 1: the ones who sneer and make fun. I could put

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Speaker 1: up with that, or even hide from them. But it

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Speaker 1: was my closest friend, the one I trusted most. We

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Speaker 1: enjoyed being together, and we went with others to your house,

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Speaker 1: Our God, all who hate me are controlled by the

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Speaker 1: power of evil. Sentence them to death, and send them

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Speaker 1: down alive to the world of the dead. I ask

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Speaker 1: for your help, Lord God, and you will keep me

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Speaker 1: safe morning, noon and night. You hear my concerns and

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Speaker 1: my complaints. I am attacked from all sides, but you

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Speaker 1: will rescue me, unharmed by the battle. You have always ruled,

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Speaker 1: and you will hear me, you will defeat my enemies

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Speaker 1: because they won't turn and worship you. My friend turned

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Speaker 1: against me and broke his promise. His words were smoother

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Speaker 1: than butter and softer than olive oil. But hatred filled

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Speaker 1: his heart and he was ready to attack with a sword.

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Speaker 1: Our Lord, we belong to you. We tell you what

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Speaker 1: worries us, and you won't let us fall. But what

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Speaker 1: about those people who are cruel and brutal? You will

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Speaker 1: throw them down into the deepest pit long before their time.

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Speaker 1: I trust you, Lord. Let's pray. Lord. We thank you

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Speaker 1: for your word, and we thank you for the things

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Speaker 1: that we read in these passages of scripture. And Lord,

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Speaker 1: it's clear when we look at this portion of scripture

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Speaker 1: that we could see that David experienced betrayal, and he

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Speaker 1: certainly experienced moments when he felt frightened because of those

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Speaker 1: who were set against him as his enemies, people who

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Speaker 1: were working against him actively, people who wanted him dead,

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Speaker 1: people who wanted him harmed, people who wanted to threaten

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Speaker 1: his ability to lead your people. And Lord, we know

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Speaker 1: that in these words we also see a glimpse of

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Speaker 1: the kind of experience that your son Jesus Christ had

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Speaker 1: on this earth, particularly as the Psalm speaks of betrayal,

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Speaker 1: knowing that your son was betrayed and experienced mockery and

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Speaker 1: death at the hands of those he had come to rescue. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we're grateful for the fact that we have been rescued

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Speaker 1: through faith in you, your son Jesus Christ. And we

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Speaker 1: thank you Lord that we can trust in you in

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Speaker 1: the midst of everything that we experience. So, Lord, we

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Speaker 1: pray that you would remind us of your presence with

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Speaker 1: us today and that our trust would be fully in

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Speaker 1: you in the midst of everything we experience. Thank you,

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Speaker 1: Lord for your goodness, thank you for your love, and

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Speaker 1: thank you Lord for the fact that you've given us

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Speaker 1: hope for the future through faith in your son. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we commit our day to you. We thank you for

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Speaker 1: being with us in the midst of it all, and

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Speaker 1: we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.