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1 Corinthians 4 11-1 Corinthians 4 13
Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home.We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us.We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash— right up to the present moment.
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2 Corinthians 4 8-2 Corinthians 4 9
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
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Psalms 42:7
I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
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Psalms 34:19
The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
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Psalms 77:2-4
When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted.I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. InterludeYou don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray!
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Psalms 107:6
“ Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.
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Psalms 38:1-8
O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage!Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me.Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.My guilt overwhelms me— it is a burden too heavy to bear.My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins.I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief.A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken.I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.
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Habakkuk 3:17-19
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.( For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)
