“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,”
says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
In times of trouble,
may the LORD answer your cry.
May the name of the God of Jacob
keep you safe from all harm.
I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.
And yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.
Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down!
How the mountains would quake in your presence!
As fire causes wood to burn
and water to boil,
your coming would make the nations tremble.
Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!
When you came down long ago,
you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations.
And oh, how the mountains quaked!
for since the world began,
no ear has heard
and no eye has seen a God like you,
who works for those who wait for him!
…Then the LORD my God will come,
and all his holy ones with him.
On that day the sources of light will no longer shine,
yet there will be continuous day!
Only the LORD knows how this could happen.
There will be no normal day and night,
for at evening time it will still be light.
Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
…All humanity finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.
For you are the fountain of life,
the light by which we see.
Then he said to the crowd,
“If any of you wants to be my follower,
you must give up your own way,
take up your cross daily,
and follow me.
If you try to hang on to your life,
you will lose it.
But if you give up your life for my sake,
you will save it.
O God, do not be silent!
Do not be deaf.
Do not be quiet, O God.
Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies?
Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up?
They devise crafty schemes against your people;
they conspire against your precious ones.
“Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation.
We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”
Yes, this was their unanimous decision.
They signed a treaty as allies against you—
…for they said, “Let us seize for our own use
these pasturelands of God!”
…they will learn that you alone are called the LORD,
that you alone are the Most High,
supreme over all the earth.
