Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / June 24 - Friends, Foes, and Faith

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June 24 - Friends, Foes, and Faith · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, June 24th.
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  Friends, foes, and faith. Have you ever heard one side of
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  a story and been completely convinced the other person was
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  wrong, only to find out later that there was a whole lot more
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  to it than you originally heard? It happens all the time, in
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  friend groups, in families, in classrooms.
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  Online. Someone tells their version and
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  it sounds so convincing that we run with it before we ever stop
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  to ask. Is there another side to this?
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  Proverbs chapter 18 verse 17 nails this so precisely.
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  The one who states his case first seems right until the
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  other comes and examines him. The first story always sounds
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  right. It's delivered with emotion,
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  with detail, with context. But it's only one perspective.
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  Wisdom waits. Wisdom asks questions.
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  Wisdom resists the pull toward instant judgment.
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  David lived this in First Samuel chapter 26.
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  Saul had been convinced by others that David was his enemy,
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  that David was plotting against him, seeking his harm.
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  And David had to live under the weight of that false accusation
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  for years, being haunted, misunderstood, treated as a
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  threat when he was actually loyal.
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  And when David finally had the chance to confront Saul
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  directly, he didn't react with bitterness or aggression.
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  He responded with dignity and a question that cut to the heart
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  of it. Why do you listen when men say
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  David seeks your harm? He invited Saul to examine the
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  full picture rather than react to a partial one.
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  That's integrity in the middle of injustice.
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  That's the kind of response that comes from a person who knows
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  their God, sees the full truth even when people only see
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  fragments of it. And that's exactly where Psalm
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  63 verse one anchors everything. Oh God, you are my God.
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  Earnestly, I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my
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  flesh faints for you. As in a dry and weary land where
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  there is no water. David wrote this from a literal
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  wilderness, hiding, exhausted, uncertain, and his first
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  instinct wasn't to strategize or defend himself.
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  It was to seek God, to thirst after God the way a person in a
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  desert thirsts for water. That level of desperation for
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  God's presence changes everything.
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  It shifts your perspective, it steadies your heart, and it
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  gives you the clarity and patience to respond wisely, even
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  when life feels chaotic and unfair.
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  Here's what I want you to take away from today.
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  When someone is being accused unfairly.
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  Maybe it's you. Maybe it's a friend.
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  Pause before reacting. Seek the full picture before
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  forming A verdict. When you're in a season of
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  confusion or conflict, seek God with that same urgent thirst
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  before you. Seek resolution through your own
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  efforts. And when people misunderstand
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  you, when the rumors circulate, when the accusations fly, you
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  can trust that God sees the whole story.
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  He is not working with incomplete information.
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  He knows your heart. He knows the truth, and He
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  rewards those who stay faithful and seek Him earnestly, even
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  when others are looking at the situation sideways.
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  Your reputation in God's eyes is secure.
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  Your peace comes from seeking Him First.
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  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
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  being the God who sees the full picture when everyone around us
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  is only seeing parts. Help us to pause before we react
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  to rumors or accusations and to seek the whole truth before we
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  judge when we are misunderstood or treated unfairly.
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  Remind us that you see everything and teach us to
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  respond with the integrity and patience that David showed.
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  Give us hearts that thirst for you above all else, in Jesus
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  name, Amen. What if the night was never
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  meant to be ruled by fear, but covered by the presence and
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  authority of God? Command Your Night is a
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  prophetic prayer script series created for believers who want
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  to pray with confidence before sleep, stand firm in spiritual
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  warfare and invite divine covering over every hour of
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  darkness. These prayers help you quiet
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  anxiety, guard your home, resist oppression, sanctify your
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  dreams, cover your family, and recognize sacred moments when
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  God may be calling you to intercede in the night watches.
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  From peaceful sleep to midnight breakthrough, this series gently
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  strengthens your faith and reminds you that no night season
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  is beyond God's power, protection, and voice.
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  Order now on Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org.
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  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
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  Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 18, verses 17
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  to 19 World English Bible. He who pleads his cause first
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  seems right, until another comes and questions him.
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  The lot settles disputes and keeps strong ones apart.
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  A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city.
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  Disputes are like the bars of a fortress.
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  First Samuel Chapter 26 World English Bible The Ziphytes came
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  to Saul to Jiba, saying, doesn't David hide himself in the hill
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  of Hakala, which is before the desert?
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  Then Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziff, having
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  3000 chosen men of Israel with him to seek David in the
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  wilderness of Ziff. Saul encamped in the hill of
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  Hakala, which is before the desert by the way.
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  But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul
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  came after him into the wilderness.
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  David therefore sent out spies and understood that Saul had
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  certainly come. Then David arose and came to the
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  place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where
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  Saul lay with Abner, the son of Nur, the captain of his army.
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  Saul Lay. Within the place of the wagons.
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  And the people were encamped around him.
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  Then David answered and said to Aheim Letch the Hittite, and to
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  Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, Who
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  will go down with me to Saul to the camp?
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  Abishai said, I will go down with you.
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  So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold,
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  Saul lay sleeping within. The place of the wagons.
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  With his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner
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  and the people lay around him. Then Abishai said to David, God
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  has delivered up your enemy into your hand today.
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  Now therefore please let me strike him with the spear to the
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  earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.
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  David said to Abishai, don't destroy him, for who can stretch
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  out his hand against Yahweh's anointed and be guiltless?
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  David said, as Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him, or his
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  day shall come to die, or he shall go down into battle and
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  perish. Yahweh forbid that I should
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  stretch out my hand against Yahweh's anointed, but now
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  please take the spear that is at his head and the jar of water,
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  and let's go. So David took the spear and the
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  jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away, and no man
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  saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep,
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  because a deep sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them.
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  Then David went over to the other side and stood on the top
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  of the mountain afar off, a great space being between them.
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  And David cried to the people and to Abnur the son of Nur,
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  saying, Don't you answer Abnur? Then Abnur answered, Who are you
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  who cries to the king? David said to Abnur, Aren't you
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  a man who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch
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  over your Lord the King? For one of the people came in to
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  destroy the king, your Lord. This thing isn't good that you
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  have done. As Yahweh lives.
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  You are worthy to die because you have not kept watch over
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  your Lord Yahweh's anointed. Now see where the King's spear
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  is, and the jar of water that was at his head.
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  Saul knew David's voice and said, Is this your voice, my son
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  David? David said, It is my voice, my
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  Lord, O king. He said, Why does my Lord pursue
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  his servant? For what have I done?
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  What evil is in my hand now? Therefore please let my Lord the
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  King hear the words of his servant.
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  If it is so that Yahweh has stirred you up against me, let
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  him accept an offering. But if it is the children of
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  men, they are cursed before Yahweh, for they have driven me
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  out today, that I shouldn't cling to Yahweh's inheritance,
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  saying, Go serve other gods now. Therefore don't let my blood
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  fall to the earth, away from the presence of Yahweh.
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  For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when 1
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  hunts a Partridge in the mountains.
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  Then Saul said, I have sinned, return my son David, for I will
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  no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes
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  today. Behold, I have played the fool
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  and have erred exceedingly. David answered.
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  Behold the spear, O king. Then let one of the young men
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  come over and get it. Yahweh will render to every man
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  his righteousness and his faithfulness, because Yahweh
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  delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn't stretch
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  out my hand against Yahweh's anointed.
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  Behold, as your life was respected today in my eyes, so
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  let my life be respected in Yahweh's eyes and let him
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  deliver me out of all oppression.
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  Then Saul said to David, You are blessed, my son David.
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  You will both do mightily and will surely prevail.
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  So David went his way and Saul returned to his place.
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  Psalm chapter 63 World English Bible God, you are my God.
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  I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you.
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  My flesh longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no
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  water. So I have seen you in the
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  sanctuary, watching your power and your glory, because your
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  loving kindness is better than life.
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  My lips shall praise you so I will bless you while I live.
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  I will lift up my hands in your name.
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  My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food.
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  My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips when I remember you
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  on my bed and think about you in the night.
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  Watches for you have been my help.
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  I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.
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  My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.
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  But those who seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the
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  lower parts of the earth. They shall be given over to the
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  power of the sword. They shall be Jackal food.
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  But the king shall rejoice in God.
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  Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of
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  those who speak lies shall be silenced.
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  Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
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  everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
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  Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope, and
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  walking daily with Jesus.