Psalm 44, 365 DAYS OF LOVE #298 & 299

MEMORY VERSE: "Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts come iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, "How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?" This is what the wicked are like--always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure--in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies." Psalm 73:1-20

NOTES:

Psalm 44

    For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.^[a]

 ¹ We have heard with our ears, O God;
   our fathers have told us
what you did in their days,
   in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations
   and planted our fathers;
you crushed the peoples
   and made our fathers flourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,
   nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
   and the light of your face, for you loved them.

 ⁴ You are my King and my God,
   who decrees^[b] victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
   through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I do not trust in my bow,
   my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
   you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
   and we will praise your name forever.
                         Selah

 ⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us;
   you no longer go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy,
   and our adversaries have plundered us.
¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
   and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sold your people for a pittance,
   gaining nothing from their sale.

 ¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
   the scorn and derision of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations;
   the peoples shake their heads at us.
¹⁵ My disgrace is before me all day long,
   and my face is covered with shame
¹⁶ at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
   because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

 ¹⁷ All this happened to us,
   though we had not forgotten you
   or been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our hearts had not turned back;
   our feet had not strayed from your path.
¹⁹ But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals
   and covered us over with deep darkness.

 ²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
   or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God have discovered it,
   since he knows the secrets of the heart?
²² Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

 ²³ Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
   Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
²⁴ Why do you hide your face
   and forget our misery and oppression?

 ²⁵ We are brought down to the dust;
   our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up and help us;
   redeem us because of your unfailing love.

ACT OF LOVE #298: I was standing in line to buy a snack and I saw that my friend had arrived a few minutes after me. Offered to buy her snack so that she wouldn't have to wait as long. She was super grateful! :)

ACT OF LOVE #299: Went to my advisor's classroom during lunch to watch over her classroom and accept applications from people since she wasn't able to stay in during lunch today. Also, at the Souplantation Fundraiser tonight I (lowkey) paid tip to the waiter because no one else wanted to.