URC Daily Devotion 8th March 

‘As God lives, who has taken away my right,
   and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
as long as my breath is in me
   and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
my lips will not speak falsehood,
   and my tongue will not utter deceit.
Far be it from me to say that you are right;
   until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go;
   my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

‘May my enemy be like the wicked,
   and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.
For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off,
   when God takes away their lives?
Will God hear their cry
   when trouble comes upon them?
Will they take delight in the Almighty?
   Will they call upon God at all times?
I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
   that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
All of you have seen it yourselves;
   why then have you become altogether vain?

‘This is the portion of the wicked with God,
   and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
   and their offspring have not enough to eat.
Those who survive them the pestilence buries,
   and their widows make no lamentation.
Though they heap up silver like dust,
   and pile up clothing like clay—
they may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
   and the innocent will divide the silver.
They build their houses like nests,
   like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.
They go to bed with wealth, but will do so no more;
   they open their eyes, and it is gone.
Terrors overtake them like a flood;
   in the night a whirlwind carries them off.
The east wind lifts them up and they are gone;
   it sweeps them out of their place.
It hurls at them without pity;
   they flee from its power in headlong flight.
It claps its hands at them,
   and hisses at them from its place.