20 We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.
Psalm 55:12-14, 20-21
12 It is not an enemy who taunts me – I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me – I could have hidden from them.
13 Instead, it is you—my equal, my companion and close friend.
14 What good fellowship we once enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God.
20 As for my companion, he betrayed his friends; he broke his promises.
21 His words are as smooth as butter, but in his heart is war. His words are as soothing as lotion, but underneath are daggers!
Habakkuk 3:17-19
17 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,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He gives me the speed of and makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Romans 8:26-28
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.