God is surely good to Israel
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God truly is good to us Israelite people, to those who, with all their inner being, want to do all that he desires.
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As for me, I almost stopped trusting in God; I was almost guilty of committing a great sin against him,
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because I saw those who proudly said that they did not need God, and I wanted to be like them. I saw that they became wealthy even though they were wicked.
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Those people do not suffer from sickness; they are always strong and healthy.
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They do not have the troubles that other people have; they do not have problems as others do.
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So they are proud, as proud as a woman with a beautiful necklace. They are as proud of their violent actions as some people are proud of their beautiful robes.
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From their inner beings pour out evil deeds, and in their inner beings they are always thinking about more evil things to do.
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They scoff at other people, and they talk about doing evil things to them; they are proud while they plan to oppress others.
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They say evil things about God, who is in heaven, and they talk boastfully about things that they have done here on the earth.
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The result is that people pay attention to them and listen to everything they say.
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Wicked people say to themselves, “God will certainly not know what we have done; people say that he is greater than any other god, but he cannot find out.”
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That is what wicked people are like; they never worry about anything, and they are always becoming richer.
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So, God, I think it is useless that I have always done what you want me to and that I have not committed sins.
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During each day I have problems, and every morning you punish me.
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But if I had said these things out loud in front of others, I would have been sinning against your people.
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When I tried to think completely about these things, it was too hard for me to understand them.
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But when I went to your temple, you spoke to me, and I understood what will happen to the wicked people after they die.
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Now I know that you will surely put them in dangerous places where they will fall down and die.
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They will be destroyed instantly; they will die in terrible ways.
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They will disappear as quickly as a dream disappears when a person awakes in the morning; Lord, when you arise, you will cause them to disappear.
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When I felt sad in my inner being and my feelings were hurt,
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I was stupid and ignorant, and I behaved like an animal toward you.
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But I am always close to you, and you hold my hand.
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You guide me by teaching me, and at the end of my life, you will receive me and honor me.
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You are in heaven, and I belong to you; there is nothing on this earth that I desire more than that.
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My body and my mind may become very weak, but, God, you continue to enable me to be strong; I belong to you forever.
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Those who remain far from you will be destroyed; you will get rid of those who abandon you.
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But as for me, it is wonderful to be near to God and to have Yahweh protect me and to proclaim to others all that he has done for me.
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