There are many who pray: "Give us more blessings, O LORD. Look on us with kindness!"

Your blessings are with him forever, and your presence fills him with joy.

His anger lasts only a moment, his goodness for a lifetime. Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning.

I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing;

My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.

So I will not be silent; I will sing praise to you. LORD, you are my God; I will give you thanks forever.

Help me to speak, Lord, and I will praise you.

I cried to him for help; I praised him with songs.

Return to the LORD, and let this prayer be your offering to him: "Forgive all our sins and accept our prayer, and we will praise you as we have promised.

(I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.

So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.

he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory.

Let us, then, always offer praise to God as our sacrifice through Jesus, which is the offering presented by lips that confess him as Lord.

So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things. Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame!

We humans are able to tame and have tamed all other creatures---wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish.

We use it to give thanks to our Lord and Father and also to curse other people, who are created in the likeness of God.