Psalm 26
Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have led a blameless life:
I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Test me, O Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
for your love is ever before me,
and I walk continually in your truth.
I do not sit with deceitful men,
nor do I consort with hypocrites;
I abhor the assembly of evildoers
and refuse to sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence,
and go about your altar, O Lord,
proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
I love the house where you live, O Lord,
the place where your glory dwells.
Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
my life with bloodthirsty men,
in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
But I lead a blameless life;
redeem me and be merciful to me.
My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly I will praise the Lord
(Remember the double way to read many psalms: identify yourself as one of the wicked sinners that deserve to die, and also with the righteous narrator, righteous because of God's mercy.)
Mark 10:2-16
Some Pharisees came and tested [Jesus] by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"
What did Moses command you?" he replied.
They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."
"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered,"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
