1-3 God is a safe place to hide,

ready to help when we need him.

We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,

courageous in seastorm and earthquake,

Before the rush and roar of oceans,

the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

1-13 You who sit down in the High God’s presence,

spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,

Say this: "God, you’re my refuge.

I trust in you and I’m safe!"

That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,

shields you from deadly hazards.

His huge outstretched arms protect you—

under them you’re perfectly safe;

his arms fend off all harm.

Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,

not flying arrows in the day,

Not disease that prowls through the darkness,

not disaster that erupts at high noon.

Even though others succumb all around,

drop like flies right and left,

no harm will even graze you.

You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,

watch the wicked turn into corpses.

Yes, because God’s your refuge,

the High God your very own home,

Evil can’t get close to you,

harm can’t get through the door.

He ordered his angels

to guard you wherever you go.

If you stumble, they’ll catch you;

their job is to keep you from falling.

You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,

and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

7,8 My help and glory are in God

—granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—

So trust him absolutely, people;

lay your lives on the line for him.

God is a safe place to be.

9,10 God’s a safe-house for the battered,

a sanctuary during bad times.

The moment you arrive, you relax;

you’re never sorry you knocked.

5-18 God! Let the cosmos praise your wonderful ways,

the choir of holy angels sing anthems to your faithful ways!

Search high and low, scan skies and land,

you’ll find nothing and no one quite like God.

The holy angels are in awe before him;

he looms immense and august over everyone around him.

God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who is like you,

powerful and faithful from every angle?

You put the arrogant ocean in its place

and calm its waves when they turn unruly.

You gave that old hag Egypt the back of your hand,

you brushed off your enemies with a flick of your wrist.

You own the cosmos—you made everything in it,

everything from atom to archangel.

You positioned the North and South Poles;

the mountains Tabor and Hermon sing duets to you.

With your well-muscled arm and your grip of steel—

nobody messes with you!

The Right and Justice are the roots of your rule;

Love and Truth are its fruits.

Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise,

who shout on parade in the bright presence of God.

Delighted, they dance all day long; they know

who you are, what you do—they can’t keep it quiet!

Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us—

you’ve been so good to us! We’re walking on air!

All we are and have we owe to God,

Holy God of Israel, our King!

3,4 Sea storms are up, God,

Sea storms wild and roaring,

Sea storms with thunderous breakers.

Stronger than wild sea storms,

Mightier than sea-storm breakers,

Mighty God rules from High Heaven.

23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;

you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.

Out at sea you saw God in action,

saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:

With a word he called up the wind—

an ocean storm, towering waves!

You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;

your hearts were stuck in your throats.

You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,

you didn’t know which end was up.

Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;

he got you out in the nick of time.

He quieted the wind down to a whisper,

put a muzzle on all the big waves.

And you were so glad when the storm died down,

and he led you safely back to harbor.

So thank God for his marvelous love,

for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.

Lift high your praises when the people assemble,

shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.

We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

15,16 And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family. The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: God’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!

23-42 Then Israel entered Egypt,

Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.

God gave his people lots of babies;

soon their numbers alarmed their foes.

He turned the Egyptians against his people;

they abused and cheated God’s servants.

Then he sent his servant Moses,

and Aaron, whom he also chose.

They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland,

miracles in the Land of Ham.

He spoke, "Darkness!" and it turned dark—

they couldn’t see what they were doing.

He turned all their water to blood

so that all their fish died;

He made frogs swarm through the land,

even into the king’s bedroom;

He gave the word and flies swarmed,

gnats filled the air.

He substituted hail for rain,

he stabbed their land with lightning;

He wasted their vines and fig trees,

smashed their groves of trees to splinters;

With a word he brought in locusts,

millions of locusts, armies of locusts;

They consumed every blade of grass in the country

and picked the ground clean of produce;

He struck down every firstborn in the land,

the first fruits of their virile powers.

He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,

and not one among his tribes even stumbled.

Egypt was glad to have them go—

they were scared to death of them.

God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day

and a fire to light their way through the night;

They prayed and he brought quail,

filled them with the bread of heaven;

He opened the rock and water poured out;

it flowed like a river through that desert—

All because he remembered his Covenant,

his promise to Abraham, his servant.

25,26 I once was young, now I’m a graybeard—

not once have I seen an abandoned believer,

or his kids out roaming the streets.

Every day he’s out giving and lending,

his children making him proud.

18,19 God keeps track of the decent folk;

what they do won’t soon be forgotten.

In hard times, they’ll hold their heads high;

when the shelves are bare, they’ll be full.

1-5 "But for now, dear servant Jacob, listen—

yes, you, Israel, my personal choice.

God who made you has something to say to you;

the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you.

Don’t be afraid, dear servant Jacob,

Jeshurun, the one I chose.

For I will pour water on the thirsty ground

and send streams coursing through the parched earth.

I will pour my Spirit into your descendants

and my blessing on your children.

They shall sprout like grass on the prairie,

like willows alongside creeks.

This one will say, ‘I am God’s,’

and another will go by the name Jacob;

That one will write on his hand ‘God’s property’—

and be proud to be called Israel."

1-5 God, you are my God.

I celebrate you. I praise you.

You’ve done your share of miracle-wonders,

well-thought-out plans, solid and sure.

Here you’ve reduced the city to rubble,

the strong city to a pile of stones.

The enemy Big City is a non-city,

never to be a city again.

Superpowers will see it and honor you,

brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence.

They’ll see that you take care of the poor,

that you take care of poor people in trouble,

Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather,

provide a cool place when it’s hot.

Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard

and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert.

But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun,

shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies.

5,6 Then God will bring back the ancient pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and mark Mount Zion and everyone in it with his glorious presence, his immense, protective presence, shade from the burning sun and shelter from the driving rain.

1-4 But now, God’s Message,

the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,

the One who got you started, Israel:

"Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.

I’ve called your name. You’re mine.

When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.

When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.

When you’re between a rock and a hard place,

it won’t be a dead end—

Because I am God, your personal God,

The Holy of Israel, your Savior.

I paid a huge price for you:

all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!

That’s how much you mean to me!

That’s how much I love you!

I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,

trade the creation just for you.

7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

7-10 God is good,

a hiding place in tough times.

He recognizes and welcomes

anyone looking for help,

No matter how desperate the trouble.

But cozy islands of escape

He wipes right off the map.

No one gets away from God.

Why waste time conniving against God?

He’s putting an end to all such scheming.

For troublemakers, no second chances.

Like a pile of dry brush,

Soaked in oil,

they’ll go up in flames.

5-14 "All the buried dead are in torment,

and all who’ve been drowned in the deep, deep sea.

Hell is ripped open before God,

graveyards dug up and exposed.

He spreads the skies over unformed space,

hangs the earth out in empty space.

He pours water into cumulus cloud-bags

and the bags don’t burst.

He makes the moon wax and wane,

putting it through its phases.

He draws the horizon out over the ocean,

sets a boundary between light and darkness.

Thunder crashes and rumbles in the skies.

Listen! It’s God raising his voice!

By his power he stills sea storms,

by his wisdom he tames sea monsters.

With one breath he clears the sky,

with one finger he crushes the sea serpent.

And this is only the beginning,

a mere whisper of his rule.

Whatever would we do if he really raised his voice!"

20-26 "In famine, he’ll keep you from starving,

in war, from being gutted by the sword.

You’ll be protected from vicious gossip

and live fearless through any catastrophe.

You’ll shrug off disaster and famine,

and stroll fearlessly among wild animals.

You’ll be on good terms with rocks and mountains;

wild animals will become your good friends.

You’ll know that your place on earth is safe,

you’ll look over your goods and find nothing amiss.

You’ll see your children grow up,

your family lovely and graceful as orchard grass.

You’ll arrive at your grave ripe with many good years,

like sheaves of golden grain at harvest.

26 Jesus reprimanded them. "Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?" Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: "Silence!" The sea became smooth as glass.

27 The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. "What’s going on here? Wind and sea stand up and take notice at his command!"

30-33 "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

5,6 The Woman gave birth to a Son who will shepherd all nations with an iron rod. Her Son was seized and placed safely before God on his Throne. The Woman herself escaped to the desert to a place of safety prepared by God, all comforts provided her for 1,260 days.

18-20 Jesus said, "I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s the agenda for rejoicing."