Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit (Luke 23:44–49)
1 UST Yahweh, I come to you to protect me. Never allow{ them to defeat me, with the result that} I would be ashamed. Since you always do what is right and just, please rescue me. BSB BSB: For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; save me by Your righteousness.
2 UST Respond to my prayers for help, and save me right now! Be{ like} a huge rock where I can flee for refuge, and{ like} a strong fortress in which my enemies cannot harm me. BSB BSB: Incline Your ear to me; come quickly to my rescue. Be my rock of refuge, the stronghold of my deliverance.
3 UST { Yes,} you are{ like} a huge rock and{ like} a fortress{ where I can go to be safe}. For the sake of your reputation you guide me{ so that no harm comes to me}. BSB BSB: For You are my rock and my fortress; lead me and guide me for the sake of Your name.
4 UST You are the one who protects me, so you will rescue me from the evil plans my enemies have secretly made to hurt me. BSB BSB: You free me from the net laid out for me, for You are my refuge.
5 UST I put myself into your care. You have rescued me. Yahweh, you are faithful. BSB BSB: Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.
6 UST I hate those who worship useless idols, but I trust in Yahweh. BSB BSB: I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.
7 UST I will be very glad because you faithfully love me. You have noticed that I have suffered, and have known the troubling things I have experienced. BSB BSB: I will be glad and rejoice in Your loving devotion, for You have seen my affliction; You have known the anguish of my soul.
8 UST You have not allowed my enemies to capture me; instead, you brought me to a place where I was safe. BSB BSB: You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.
9 UST Yahweh, act kindly toward me because I am distressed. Because I cry so much that my eyes are tired, and I am completely exhausted. BSB BSB: Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.
10 UST I have become very weak because I am so miserable; my life is getting shorter. I have become weak because of the sinful things that I have done. I am totally exhausted. BSB BSB: For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.
11 UST All of my enemies make fun of me, and my neighbors, especially, despise me. My friends are afraid of me{ because they think that you, God, are punishing me}. When they see me on the streets, they run away. BSB BSB: Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends—they flee when they see me on the street.
12 UST People have forgotten me like they forget people who are dead. I am{ as useless as} a broken pot. BSB BSB: I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel.
13 UST There are terrifying things all around me. I hear people whispering{ things about me}. My enemies are making plans to kill me. BSB BSB: For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
14 UST But Yahweh, I trust in you. I say{ confidently} that you are the God I worship. BSB BSB: But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
15 UST You control the events and circumstances of my life. Save me from my enemies, from those who pursue me. BSB BSB: My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
16 UST Act kindly toward me and rescue me because you always faithfully love me. BSB BSB: Make Your face shine on Your servant; save me by Your loving devotion.
17 UST Yahweh, I call out to you, so do not allow others to shame me. I desire that you cause wicked people to be ashamed. I desire that they{ soon die and} go down to the place where the dead people are. BSB BSB: O LORD, let me not be ashamed, for I have called on You. Let the wicked be put to shame; let them lie silent in Sheol.
18 UST I desire that you will cause people who tell lies to be unable to speak.{ Do that to} people who arrogantly say disrespectful things about righteous people. BSB BSB: May lying lips be silenced—lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
19 UST Many indeed are the good things which you have prepared for the people who revere you! You do good things for those who go to you for protection. Everyone sees you protect them. BSB BSB: How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have bestowed before the sons of men on those who take refuge in You!
20 UST You protect people{ who trust in you} by being near to them and saving them from people who devise evil schemes{ to harm them}. You keep them safe from their enemies who accuse them. BSB BSB: You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.
21 UST Praise Yahweh! When my enemies surrounded the city{ in which I was living,} he showed me in a wonderful way that he faithfully loves me. BSB BSB: Blessed be the LORD, for He has shown me His loving devotion in a city under siege.
22 UST I was alarmed and cried out,“I have been separated from Yahweh!” But in fact you heard me{ and answered} my cry for help. BSB BSB: In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.
23 UST You people who belong to Yahweh, love him! Those who are loyal to him, he protects, but those who are proud, he punishes them severely like they deserve to be punished. BSB BSB: Love the LORD, all His saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but fully repays the arrogant.
24 UST You who confidently expect Yahweh{ to do great things for you,} be strong and be courageous! BSB BSB: Be strong and courageous, all you who hope in the LORD.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.