Bible (Berean Standard)/Psalms

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The Two Paths

(Matthew 5:3–12; Luke 6:20–23)


 * Blessed is the man
 * who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
 * or set foot on the path of sinners,
 * or sit in the seat of mockers.
 * But his delight is in the Law of the LORD,
 * and on His law he meditates day and night.
 * He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
 * yielding its fruit in season,
 * whose leaf does not wither,
 * and who prospers in all he does.


 * Not so the wicked!
 * For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
 * Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
 * nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.


 * For the LORD guards the path of the righteous,
 * but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Triumphant Messiah

(Acts 4:23–31)


 * Why do the nations rage
 * and the peoples plot in vain?
 * The kings of the earth take their stand
 * and the rulers gather together,
 * against the LORD
 * and against His Anointed One:
 * “Let us break Their chains
 * and cast away Their cords.”


 * The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
 * the Lord taunts them.
 * Then He rebukes them in His anger,
 * and terrifies them in His fury:
 * “I have installed My King on Zion,
 * upon My holy mountain.”


 * I will proclaim the decree
 * spoken to Me by the LORD:
 * “You are My Son;
 * today I have become Your Father.
 * Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance,
 * the ends of the earth Your possession.
 * You will break them with an iron scepter;
 * You will shatter them like pottery. ”


 * Therefore be wise, O kings;
 * be admonished, O judges of the earth.
 * Serve the LORD with fear,
 * and rejoice with trembling.
 * Kiss the Son, lest He be angry
 * and you perish in your rebellion,
 * when His wrath ignites in an instant.


 * Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

Deliver Me, O LORD!

(2 Samuel 15:13–29)


 * O LORD, how my foes have increased!
 * How many rise up against me!
 * Many say of me,
 * “God will not deliver him.”

Selah
 * But You, O LORD, are a shield around me,
 * my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
 * To the LORD I cry aloud,
 * and He answers me from His holy mountain.

Selah
 * I lie down and sleep;
 * I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
 * I will not fear the myriads
 * set against me on every side.


 * Arise, O LORD!
 * Save me, O my God!
 * Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
 * break the teeth of the wicked.
 * Salvation belongs to the LORD;
 * may Your blessing be on Your people.

Selah

Answer Me When I Call!


 * Answer me when I call,
 * O God of my righteousness!
 * You have relieved my distress;
 * show me grace and hear my prayer.


 * How long, O men, will my honor be maligned?
 * How long will you love vanity and seek after lies ?

Selah
 * Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself;
 * the LORD hears when I call to Him.


 * Be angry, yet do not sin;
 * on your bed, search your heart and be still.

Selah
 * Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
 * and trust in the LORD.


 * Many ask, “Who can show us the good?”
 * Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
 * You have filled my heart with more joy
 * than when grain and new wine abound.
 * I will lie down and sleep in peace,
 * for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Give Ear to My Words


 * Give ear to my words, O LORD;
 * consider my groaning.
 * Attend to the sound of my cry,
 * my King and my God,
 * for to You I pray.


 * In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice;
 * at daybreak I lay my plea before You
 * and wait in expectation.


 * For You are not a God who delights in wickedness;
 * no evil can dwell with You.
 * The boastful cannot stand in Your presence;
 * You hate all workers of iniquity.
 * You destroy those who tell lies;
 * the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.


 * But I will enter Your house
 * by the abundance of Your loving devotion;
 * in reverence I will bow down
 * toward Your holy temple.


 * Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness
 * because of my enemies;
 * make straight Your way before me.
 * For not a word they speak can be trusted;
 * destruction lies within them.
 * Their throats are open graves;
 * their tongues practice deceit.


 * Declare them guilty, O God;
 * let them fall by their own devices.
 * Drive them out for their many transgressions,
 * for they have rebelled against You.


 * But let all who take refuge in You rejoice;
 * let them ever shout for joy.
 * May You shelter them,
 * that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.
 * For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous;
 * You surround them with the shield of Your favor.

Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger

(Psalm 38:1–22)


 * O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger
 * or discipline me in Your wrath.
 * Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail;
 * heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
 * My soul is deeply distressed.
 * How long, O LORD, how long?


 * Turn, O LORD, and deliver my soul;
 * save me because of Your loving devotion.
 * For there is no mention of You in death;
 * who can praise You from Sheol?


 * I am weary from groaning;
 * all night I flood my bed with weeping
 * and drench my couch with tears.
 * My eyes fail from grief;
 * they grow dim because of all my foes.


 * Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity,
 * for the LORD has heard my weeping.
 * The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
 * the LORD accepts my prayer.
 * All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
 * they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

I Take Refuge in You


 * O LORD my God, I take refuge in You;
 * save me and deliver me from all my pursuers,
 * or they will shred my soul like a lion
 * and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.


 * O LORD my God, if I have done this,
 * if injustice is on my hands,
 * if I have rewarded my ally with evil,
 * if I have plundered my foe without cause,
 * then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me;
 * may he trample me to the ground
 * and leave my honor in the dust.

Selah
 * Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;
 * rise up against the fury of my enemies.
 * Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
 * Let the assembled peoples gather around You;
 * take Your seat over them on high.
 * The LORD judges the peoples;
 * vindicate me, O LORD,
 * according to my righteousness and integrity.
 * Put an end to the evil of the wicked,
 * but establish the righteous,
 * O righteous God who searches hearts and minds.


 * My shield is with God,
 * who saves the upright in heart.
 * God is a righteous judge
 * and a God who feels indignation each day.
 * If one does not repent,
 * God will sharpen His sword;
 * He has bent and strung His bow.
 * He has prepared His deadly weapons;
 * He ordains His arrows with fire.


 * Behold, the wicked man travails with evil;
 * he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
 * He has dug a hole and hollowed it out;
 * he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
 * His trouble recoils on himself,
 * and his violence falls on his own head.


 * I will thank the LORD for His righteousness
 * and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

How Majestic Is Your Name!


 * O LORD, our Lord,
 * how majestic is Your name in all the earth!


 * You have set Your glory
 * above the heavens.
 * From the mouths of children and infants
 * You have ordained praise
 * on account of Your adversaries,
 * to silence the enemy and avenger.


 * When I behold Your heavens,
 * the work of Your fingers,
 * the moon and the stars,
 * which You have set in place—


 * what is man that You are mindful of him,
 * or the son of man that You care for him?
 * You made him a little lower than the angels;
 * You crowned him with glory and honor.
 * You made him ruler of the works of Your hands;
 * You have placed everything under his feet:
 * all sheep and oxen,
 * and even the beasts of the field,
 * the birds of the air and the fish of the sea,
 * all that swim the paths of the seas.


 * O LORD, our Lord,
 * how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

I Will Give Thanks to the LORD


 * I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart;
 * I will recount all Your wonders.
 * I will be glad and rejoice in You;
 * I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.


 * When my enemies retreat,
 * they stumble and perish before You.
 * For You have upheld my just cause;
 * You sit on Your throne judging righteously.
 * You have rebuked the nations;
 * You have destroyed the wicked;
 * You have erased their name forever and ever.
 * The enemy has come to eternal ruin,
 * and You have uprooted their cities;
 * the very memory of them has vanished.


 * But the LORD abides forever;
 * He has established His throne for judgment.
 * He judges the world with justice;
 * He governs the people with equity.
 * The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
 * a stronghold in times of trouble.
 * Those who know Your name trust in You,
 * for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.


 * Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion;
 * proclaim His deeds among the nations.
 * For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers;
 * He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.


 * Be merciful to me, O LORD;
 * see how my enemies afflict me!
 * Lift me up from the gates of death,
 * that I may declare all Your praises—
 * that within the gates of Daughter Zion
 * I may rejoice in Your salvation.


 * The nations have fallen into a pit of their making;
 * their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
 * The LORD is known by the justice He brings;
 * the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

Higgaion Selah
 * The wicked will return to Sheol—
 * all the nations who forget God.
 * For the needy will not always be forgotten;
 * nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.


 * Rise up, O LORD, do not let man prevail;
 * let the nations be judged in Your presence.
 * Lay terror upon them, O LORD;
 * let the nations know they are but men.

Selah

The Perils of the Pilgrim


 * Why, O LORD, do You stand far off?
 * Why do You hide in times of trouble?
 * In pride the wicked pursue the needy;
 * let them be caught in the schemes they devise.


 * For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart;
 * he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
 * In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him;
 * in all his schemes there is no God.
 * He is secure in his ways at all times;
 * Your lofty judgments are far from him;
 * he sneers at all his foes.
 * He says to himself, “I will not be moved;
 * from age to age I am free of distress.”


 * His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence;
 * trouble and malice are under his tongue.
 * He lies in wait near the villages;
 * in ambush he slays the innocent;
 * his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
 * He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket;
 * he lurks to seize the oppressed;
 * he catches the lowly in his net.
 * They are crushed and beaten down;
 * the hapless fall prey to his strength.
 * He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
 * He hides His face and never sees.”


 * Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God!
 * Do not forget the helpless.
 * Why has the wicked man renounced God?
 * He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”
 * But You have regarded trouble and grief;
 * You see to repay it by Your hand.
 * The victim entrusts himself to You;
 * You are the helper of the fatherless.
 * Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
 * call him to account for his wickedness
 * until none is left to be found.


 * The LORD is King forever and ever;
 * the nations perish from His land.
 * You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble;
 * You will strengthen their hearts.
 * You will incline Your ear,
 * to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed,
 * that the men of the earth
 * may strike terror no more.

In the LORD I Take Refuge

(Habakkuk 1:12–17)


 * In the LORD I take refuge.
 * How then can you say to me:


 * “Flee like a bird to your mountain!
 * For behold, the wicked bend their bows.
 * They set their arrow on the string
 * to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
 * If the foundations are destroyed,
 * what can the righteous do?”


 * The LORD is in His holy temple;
 * the LORD is on His heavenly throne.
 * His eyes are watching closely;
 * they examine the sons of men.
 * The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked;
 * His soul hates the lover of violence.
 * On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur;
 * a scorching wind will be their portion.


 * For the LORD is righteous; He loves justice.
 * The upright will see His face.

The Godly Are No More


 * Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more;
 * the faithful have vanished from among men.
 * They lie to one another;
 * they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
 * May the LORD cut off all flattering lips
 * and every boastful tongue.
 * They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.
 * We own our lips—who can be our master?”


 * “For the cause of the oppressed
 * and for the groaning of the needy,
 * I will now arise,” says the LORD.
 * “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”


 * The words of the LORD are flawless,
 * like silver refined in a furnace,
 * like gold purified sevenfold.
 * You, O LORD, will keep us;
 * You will forever guard us from this generation.
 * The wicked wander freely,
 * and vileness is exalted among men.

How Long, O LORD?


 * How long, O LORD?
 * Will You forget me forever?
 * How long will You hide Your face from me?
 * How long must I wrestle in my soul,
 * with sorrow in my heart each day?
 * How long will my enemy dominate me?


 * Consider me and respond, O LORD my God.
 * Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,
 * lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,”
 * and my foes rejoice when I fall.


 * But I have trusted in Your loving devotion;
 * my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.
 * I will sing to the LORD,
 * for He has been good to me.

The Fool Says There Is No God

(Psalm 53:1–6; Isaiah 59:1–17; Romans 3:9–20)


 * The fool says in his heart,
 * “There is no God.”


 * They are corrupt; their acts are vile.
 * There is no one who does good.


 * The LORD looks down from heaven
 * upon the sons of men
 * to see if any understand,
 * if any seek God.
 * All have turned away,
 * they have together become corrupt;
 * there is no one who does good,
 * not even one.


 * Will the workers of iniquity never learn?


 * They devour my people like bread;
 * they refuse to call upon the LORD.
 * There they are, overwhelmed with dread,
 * for God is in the company of the righteous.
 * You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed,
 * yet the LORD is their shelter.


 * Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!


 * When the LORD restores His captive people,
 * let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!

Who May Dwell on Your Holy Mountain?


 * O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?
 * Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?


 * He who walks with integrity
 * and practices righteousness,
 * who speaks the truth from his heart,
 * who has no slander on his tongue,
 * who does no harm to his neighbor,
 * who casts no scorn on his friend,
 * who despises the vile
 * but honors those who fear the LORD,
 * who does not revise a costly oath,
 * who lends his money without interest
 * and refuses a bribe against the innocent.


 * He who does these things
 * will never be shaken.

The Presence of the LORD

(Acts 2:14–36)


 * Preserve me, O God,
 * for in You I take refuge.


 * I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
 * apart from You I have no good thing.”
 * As for the saints in the land,
 * they are the excellence
 * in whom all my delight resides.
 * Sorrows will multiply
 * to those who chase other gods.
 * I will not pour out their libations of blood,
 * or speak their names with my lips.


 * The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
 * You have made my lot secure.
 * The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places;
 * surely my inheritance is delightful.
 * I will bless the LORD who counsels me;
 * even at night my conscience instructs me.


 * I have set the LORD always before me.
 * Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
 * Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
 * my body also will dwell securely.
 * For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
 * nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
 * You have made known to me the path of life;
 * You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
 * with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Hear My Righteous Plea


 * Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;
 * listen to my cry.
 * Give ear to my prayer—
 * it comes from lips free of deceit.
 * May my vindication come from Your presence;
 * may Your eyes see what is right.


 * You have tried my heart;
 * You have visited me in the night.
 * You have tested me and found no evil;
 * I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.
 * As for the deeds of men—
 * by the word of Your lips
 * I have avoided the ways of the violent.
 * My steps have held to Your paths;
 * my feet have not slipped.


 * I call on You, O God,
 * for You will answer me.
 * Incline Your ear to me;
 * hear my words.
 * Show the wonders of Your loving devotion,
 * You who save by Your right hand
 * those who seek refuge from their foes.
 * Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
 * hide me in the shadow of Your wings
 * from the wicked who assail me,
 * from my mortal enemies who surround me.


 * They have closed their callous hearts;
 * their mouths speak with arrogance.
 * They have tracked us down, and now surround us;
 * their eyes are set to cast us to the ground,
 * like a lion greedy for prey,
 * like a young lion lurking in ambush.


 * Arise, O LORD, confront them!
 * Bring them to their knees;
 * deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
 * from such men, O LORD, by Your hand—
 * from men of the world
 * whose portion is in this life.
 * May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons,
 * so they leave their abundance to their children.


 * As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness;
 * when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.

The LORD Is My Rock

(2 Samuel 22:1–51)


 * I love You, O LORD, my strength.


 * The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.
 * My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
 * my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
 * my stronghold.
 * I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
 * so shall I be saved from my enemies.


 * The cords of death encompassed me;
 * the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
 * The cords of Sheol entangled me;
 * the snares of death confronted me.
 * In my distress I called upon the LORD;
 * I cried to my God for help.
 * From His temple He heard my voice,
 * and my cry for His help reached His ears.


 * Then the earth shook and quaked,
 * and the foundations of the mountains trembled;
 * they were shaken because He burned with anger.
 * Smoke rose from His nostrils,
 * and consuming fire came from His mouth;
 * glowing coals blazed forth.
 * He parted the heavens and came down
 * with dark clouds beneath His feet.
 * He mounted a cherub and flew;
 * He soared on the wings of the wind.
 * He made darkness His hiding place,
 * and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
 * From the brightness of His presence
 * His clouds advanced—
 * hailstones and coals of fire.


 * The LORD thundered from heaven;
 * the voice of the Most High resounded—
 * hailstones and coals of fire.
 * He shot His arrows and scattered the foes;
 * He hurled lightning and routed them.
 * The channels of the sea appeared,
 * and the foundations of the world were exposed,
 * at Your rebuke, O LORD,
 * at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.


 * He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
 * He drew me out of deep waters.
 * He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
 * from foes too mighty for me.
 * They confronted me in my day of calamity,
 * but the LORD was my support.
 * He brought me out into the open;
 * He rescued me because He delighted in me.


 * The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
 * He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.
 * For I have kept the ways of the LORD
 * and have not wickedly departed from my God.
 * For all His ordinances are before me;
 * I have not disregarded His statutes.
 * And I have been blameless before Him
 * and kept myself from iniquity.
 * So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness,
 * according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.


 * To the faithful You show Yourself faithful,
 * to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
 * to the pure You show Yourself pure,
 * but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
 * For You save an afflicted people,
 * but You humble those with haughty eyes.


 * For You, O LORD, light my lamp;
 * my God lights up my darkness.
 * For in You I can charge an army,
 * and with my God I can scale a wall.
 * As for God, His way is perfect;
 * the word of the LORD is flawless.
 * He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.


 * For who is God besides the LORD?
 * And who is the Rock except our God?
 * It is God who arms me with strength
 * and makes my way clear.
 * He makes my feet like those of a deer
 * and stations me upon the heights.
 * He trains my hands for battle;
 * my arms can bend a bow of bronze.


 * You have given me Your shield of salvation;
 * Your right hand upholds me,
 * and Your gentleness exalts me.
 * You broaden the path beneath me
 * so that my ankles do not give way.
 * I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
 * I did not turn back until they were consumed.
 * I crushed them so they could not rise;
 * they have fallen under my feet.


 * You have armed me with strength for battle;
 * You have subdued my foes beneath me.
 * You have made my enemies retreat before me;
 * I put an end to those who hated me.
 * They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
 * to the LORD, but He did not answer.
 * I ground them as dust in the face of the wind;
 * I trampled them like mud in the streets.


 * You have delivered me from the strife of the people;
 * You have made me the head of nations;
 * a people I had not known shall serve me.
 * When they hear me, they obey me;
 * foreigners cower before me.
 * Foreigners lose heart
 * and come trembling from their strongholds.


 * The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock!
 * And may the God of my salvation be exalted—
 * the God who avenges me
 * and subdues nations beneath me,
 * who delivers me from my enemies.
 * You exalt me above my foes;
 * You rescue me from violent men.
 * Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations;
 * I will sing praises to Your name.


 * Great salvation He brings to His king.
 * He shows loving devotion to His anointed,
 * to David and his descendants forever.

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God


 * The heavens declare the glory of God;
 * the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
 * Day after day they pour forth speech;
 * night after night they reveal knowledge.
 * Without speech or language,
 * without a sound to be heard,
 * their voice has gone out into all the earth,
 * their words to the ends of the world.


 * In the heavens He has pitched
 * a tent for the sun.
 * Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber,
 * like a champion rejoicing to run his course,
 * it rises at one end of the heavens
 * and runs its circuit to the other;
 * nothing is deprived of its warmth.


 * The Law of the LORD is perfect,
 * reviving the soul;
 * the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy,
 * making wise the simple.
 * The precepts of the LORD are right,
 * bringing joy to the heart;
 * the commandments of the LORD are radiant,
 * giving light to the eyes.
 * The fear of the LORD is pure,
 * enduring forever;
 * the judgments of the LORD are true,
 * being altogether righteous.
 * They are more precious than gold,
 * than much pure gold;
 * they are sweeter than honey,
 * than honey from the comb.
 * By them indeed Your servant is warned;
 * in keeping them is great reward.


 * Who can discern his own errors?
 * Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
 * Keep Your servant also from willful sins;
 * may they not rule over me.
 * Then I will be blameless
 * and cleansed of great transgression.
 * May the words of my mouth
 * and the meditation of my heart
 * be pleasing in Your sight,
 * O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

The Day of Trouble


 * May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble;
 * may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
 * May He send you help from the sanctuary
 * and sustain you from Zion.
 * May He remember all your gifts
 * and look favorably on your burnt offerings.

Selah
 * May He give you the desires of your heart
 * and make all your plans succeed.
 * May we shout for joy at your victory
 * and raise a banner in the name of our God.
 * May the LORD grant all your petitions.


 * Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed;
 * He answers him from His holy heaven
 * with the saving power of His right hand.
 * Some trust in chariots and others in horses,
 * but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
 * They collapse and fall,
 * but we rise up and stand firm.
 * O LORD, save the king.
 * Answer us on the day we call.

After the Battle

(Proverbs 21:1–31)


 * O LORD, the king rejoices in Your strength.
 * How greatly he exults in Your salvation!
 * You have granted his heart’s desire
 * and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Selah
 * For You welcomed him with rich blessings;
 * You placed on his head a crown of pure gold.
 * He asked You for life, and You granted it—
 * length of days, forever and ever.


 * Great is his glory in Your salvation;
 * You bestow on him splendor and majesty.
 * For You grant him blessings forever;
 * You cheer him with joy in Your presence.
 * For the king trusts in the LORD;
 * through the loving devotion of the Most High,
 * he will not be shaken.


 * Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies;
 * Your right hand will seize those who hate You.
 * You will place them in a fiery furnace
 * at the time of Your appearing.


 * In His wrath the LORD will engulf them,
 * and the fire will consume them.
 * You will wipe their descendants from the earth,
 * and their offspring from the sons of men.


 * Though they intend You harm,
 * the schemes they devise will not prevail.
 * For You will put them to flight
 * when Your bow is trained upon them.


 * Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength;
 * we will sing and praise Your power.

The Psalm of the Cross

(Matthew 27:32–56; Mark 15:21–41; Luke 23:26–43; John 19:16–30)


 * My God, my God,
 * why have You forsaken me?
 * Why are You so far from saving me,
 * so far from my words of groaning?
 * I cry out by day, O my God,
 * but You do not answer,
 * and by night,
 * but I have no rest.


 * Yet You are holy,
 * enthroned on the praises of Israel.
 * In You our fathers trusted;
 * they trusted and You delivered them.
 * They cried out to You and were set free;
 * they trusted in You and were not disappointed.


 * But I am a worm and not a man,
 * scorned by men and despised by the people.
 * All who see me mock me;
 * they sneer and shake their heads:
 * “He trusts in the LORD,
 * let the LORD deliver him;
 * let the LORD rescue him,
 * since He delights in him.”


 * Yet You brought me forth from the womb;
 * You made me secure at my mother’s breast.
 * From birth I was cast upon You;
 * from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
 * Be not far from me,
 * for trouble is near
 * and there is no one to help.


 * Many bulls surround me;
 * strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
 * They open their jaws against me
 * like lions that roar and maul.
 * I am poured out like water,
 * and all my bones are disjointed.
 * My heart is like wax;
 * it melts away within me.
 * My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
 * and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
 * You lay me in the dust of death.


 * For dogs surround me;
 * a band of evil men encircles me;
 * they have pierced my hands and feet.
 * I can count all my bones;
 * they stare and gloat over me.
 * They divide my garments among them
 * and cast lots for my clothing.


 * But You, O LORD, be not far off;
 * O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
 * Deliver my soul from the sword,
 * my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
 * Save me from the mouth of the lion;
 * at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!


 * I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;
 * I will praise You in the assembly.
 * You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
 * All descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
 * All offspring of Israel, revere Him!
 * For He has not despised or detested
 * the torment of the afflicted.
 * He has not hidden His face from him,
 * but has attended to his cry for help.


 * My praise for You resounds in the great assembly;
 * I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.
 * The poor will eat and be satisfied;
 * those who seek the LORD will praise Him.
 * May your hearts live forever!


 * All the ends of the earth
 * will remember and turn to the LORD.
 * All the families of the nations
 * will bow down before Him.
 * For dominion belongs to the LORD
 * and He rules over the nations.
 * All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
 * all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—
 * even those unable to preserve their lives.
 * Posterity will serve Him;
 * they will declare the Lord to a new generation.
 * They will come and proclaim His righteousness
 * to a people yet unborn—
 * all that He has done.

The LORD Is My Shepherd

(Ezekiel 34:11–24; John 10:1–21)


 * The LORD is my shepherd;
 * I shall not want.
 * He makes me lie down in green pastures;
 * He leads me beside quiet waters.
 * He restores my soul;
 * He guides me in the paths of righteousness
 * for the sake of His name.
 * Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
 * I will fear no evil,
 * for You are with me;
 * Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.


 * You prepare a table before me
 * in the presence of my enemies.
 * You anoint my head with oil;
 * my cup overflows.
 * Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
 * all the days of my life,
 * and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
 * forever.

The Earth Is the LORD’s


 * The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof,
 * the world and all who dwell therein.
 * For He has founded it upon the seas
 * and established it upon the waters.


 * Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
 * Who may stand in His holy place?
 * He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
 * who does not lift up his soul to an idol
 * or swear deceitfully.
 * He will receive blessing from the LORD
 * and vindication from the God of his salvation.
 * Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
 * who seek Your face, O God of Jacob.

Selah
 * Lift up your heads, O gates!
 * Be lifted up, O ancient doors,
 * that the King of Glory may enter!
 * Who is this King of Glory?
 * The LORD strong and mighty,
 * the LORD mighty in battle.
 * Lift up your heads, O gates!
 * Be lifted up, O ancient doors,
 * that the King of Glory may enter!
 * Who is He, this King of Glory?
 * The LORD of Hosts—
 * He is the King of Glory.

Selah

To You I Lift Up My Soul


 * To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
 * in You, my God, I trust.
 * Do not let me be put to shame;
 * do not let my enemies exult over me.
 * Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame;
 * but those who are faithless without cause will be disgraced.


 * Show me Your ways, O LORD;
 * teach me Your paths.
 * Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
 * for You are the God of my salvation;
 * all day long I wait for You.
 * Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion,
 * for they are from age to age.
 * Remember not the sins of my youth,
 * nor my rebellious acts;
 * remember me according to Your loving devotion,
 * because of Your goodness, O LORD.


 * Good and upright is the LORD;
 * therefore He shows sinners the way.
 * He guides the humble in what is right
 * and teaches them His way.
 * All the LORD’s ways are loving and faithful
 * to those who keep His covenant and His decrees.
 * For the sake of Your name, O LORD,
 * forgive my iniquity, for it is great.


 * Who is the man who fears the LORD?
 * He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.
 * His soul will dwell in prosperity,
 * and his descendants will inherit the land.
 * The LORD confides in those who fear Him,
 * and reveals His covenant to them.
 * My eyes are always on the LORD,
 * for He will free my feet from the mesh.


 * Turn to me and be gracious,
 * for I am lonely and afflicted.
 * The troubles of my heart increase;
 * free me from my distress.
 * Consider my affliction and trouble,
 * and take away all my sins.
 * Consider my enemies, for they are many,
 * and they hate me with vicious hatred.


 * Guard my soul and deliver me;
 * let me not be put to shame,
 * for I take refuge in You.
 * May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
 * because I wait for You.


 * Redeem Israel, O God,
 * from all its distress.

Vindicate Me, O LORD


 * Vindicate me, O LORD!


 * For I have walked with integrity;
 * I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
 * Test me, O LORD, and try me;
 * examine my heart and mind.
 * For Your loving devotion is before my eyes,
 * and I have walked in Your truth.


 * I do not sit with deceitful men,
 * nor keep company with hypocrites.
 * I hate the mob of evildoers,
 * and refuse to sit with the wicked.
 * I wash my hands in innocence
 * that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,
 * to raise my voice in thanksgiving
 * and declare all Your wonderful works.


 * O LORD, I love the house where You dwell,
 * the place where Your glory resides.
 * Do not take my soul away with sinners,
 * or my life with men of bloodshed,
 * in whose hands are wicked schemes,
 * whose right hands are full of bribes.


 * But I will walk with integrity;
 * redeem me and be merciful to me.
 * My feet stand on level ground;
 * in the congregations I will bless the LORD.

The LORD Is My Salvation


 * The LORD is my light and my salvation—
 * whom shall I fear?
 * The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
 * whom shall I dread?
 * When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh,
 * my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
 * Though an army encamps around me,
 * my heart will not fear;
 * though a war breaks out against me,
 * I will keep my trust.


 * One thing I have asked of the LORD;
 * this is what I desire:
 * to dwell in the house of the LORD
 * all the days of my life,
 * to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
 * and seek Him in His temple.
 * For in the day of trouble
 * He will hide me in His shelter;
 * He will conceal me under the cover of His tent;
 * He will set me high upon a rock.
 * Then my head will be held high
 * above my enemies around me.
 * At His tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy;
 * I will sing and make music to the LORD.


 * Hear, O LORD, my voice when I call;
 * be merciful and answer me.
 * My heart said, “Seek His face.”
 * Your face, O LORD, I will seek.
 * Hide not Your face from me,
 * nor turn away Your servant in anger.
 * You have been my helper;
 * do not leave me or forsake me,
 * O God of my salvation.


 * Though my father and mother forsake me,
 * the LORD will receive me.
 * Teach me Your way, O LORD,
 * and lead me on a level path,
 * because of my oppressors.
 * Do not hand me over to the will of my foes,
 * for false witnesses rise up against me,
 * breathing out violence.


 * Still I am certain to see
 * the goodness of the LORD
 * in the land of the living.
 * Wait patiently for the LORD;
 * be strong and courageous.


 * Wait patiently for the LORD!

The LORD Is My Strength


 * To You, O LORD, I call;
 * be not deaf to me, O my Rock.
 * For if You remain silent,
 * I will be like those descending to the Pit.
 * Hear my cry for mercy
 * when I call to You for help,
 * when I lift up my hands
 * toward Your holy sanctuary.


 * Do not drag me away with the wicked,
 * and with the workers of iniquity,
 * who speak peace to their neighbors
 * while malice is in their hearts.
 * Repay them according to their deeds
 * and for their works of evil.
 * Repay them for what their hands have done;
 * bring back on them what they deserve.
 * Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD
 * or what His hands have done,
 * He will tear them down
 * and never rebuild them.


 * Blessed be the LORD,
 * for He has heard my cry for mercy.
 * The LORD is my strength and my shield;
 * my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
 * Therefore my heart rejoices,
 * and I give thanks to Him with my song.


 * The LORD is the strength of His people,
 * a stronghold of salvation for His anointed.
 * Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;
 * shepherd them and carry them forever.

Ascribe Glory to the LORD


 * Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
 * ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
 * Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;
 * worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.


 * The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
 * the God of glory thunders;
 * the LORD is heard over many waters.
 * The voice of the LORD is powerful;
 * the voice of the LORD is majestic.
 * The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
 * the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
 * He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
 * and Sirion like a young wild ox.


 * The voice of the LORD
 * strikes with flames of fire.
 * The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
 * the LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
 * The voice of the LORD twists the oaks
 * and strips the forests bare.
 * And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”


 * The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
 * the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
 * The LORD gives His people strength;
 * the LORD blesses His people with peace.

You Turned My Mourning into Dancing


 * I will exalt You, O LORD,
 * for You have lifted me up
 * and have not allowed my foes
 * to rejoice over me.
 * O LORD my God, I cried to You for help,
 * and You healed me.
 * O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol;
 * You spared me from descending into the Pit.


 * Sing to the LORD, O you His saints,
 * and praise His holy name.
 * For His anger is fleeting,
 * but His favor lasts a lifetime.
 * Weeping may stay the night,
 * but joy comes in the morning.


 * In prosperity I said,
 * “I will never be shaken.”
 * O LORD, You favored me;
 * You made my mountain stand strong.


 * When You hid Your face,
 * I was dismayed.
 * To You, O LORD, I called,
 * and I begged my Lord for mercy:
 * “What gain is there in my bloodshed,
 * in my descent to the Pit?
 * Will the dust praise You?
 * Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
 * Hear me, O LORD, and have mercy;
 * O LORD, be my helper.”


 * You turned my mourning into dancing;
 * You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
 * that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent.
 * O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.

Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit

(Luke 23:44–49)


 * In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
 * let me never be put to shame;
 * save me by Your righteousness.
 * Incline Your ear to me;
 * come quickly to my rescue.
 * Be my rock of refuge,
 * the stronghold of my deliverance.


 * For You are my rock and my fortress;
 * lead me and guide me for the sake of Your name.
 * You free me from the net laid out for me,
 * for You are my refuge.
 * Into Your hands I commit my spirit;
 * You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.


 * I hate those who cling to worthless idols,
 * but in the LORD I trust.
 * I will be glad and rejoice in Your loving devotion,
 * for You have seen my affliction;
 * You have known the anguish of my soul.
 * You have not delivered me to the enemy;
 * You have set my feet in the open.


 * Be merciful to me, O LORD,
 * for I am in distress;
 * my eyes fail from sorrow,
 * my soul and body as well.
 * For my life is consumed with grief
 * and my years with groaning;
 * my iniquity has drained my strength,
 * and my bones are wasting away.
 * Among all my enemies I am a disgrace,
 * and among my neighbors even more.
 * I am dreaded by my friends—
 * they flee when they see me on the street.
 * I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind.
 * I am like a broken vessel.
 * For I hear the slander of many;
 * there is terror on every side.
 * They conspire against me
 * and plot to take my life.


 * But I trust in You, O LORD;
 * I say, “You are my God.”
 * My times are in Your hands;
 * deliver me from my enemies
 * and from those who pursue me.
 * Make Your face shine on Your servant;
 * save me by Your loving devotion.


 * O LORD, let me not be ashamed,
 * for I have called on You.
 * Let the wicked be put to shame;
 * let them lie silent in Sheol.
 * May lying lips be silenced—
 * lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous,
 * full of pride and contempt.


 * How great is Your goodness
 * which You have laid up for those who fear You,
 * which You have bestowed before the sons of men
 * on those who take refuge in You!
 * You hide them in the secret place of Your presence
 * from the schemes of men.
 * You conceal them in Your shelter
 * from accusing tongues.


 * Blessed be the LORD,
 * for He has shown me His loving devotion
 * in a city under siege.
 * In my alarm I said,
 * “I am cut off from Your sight!”
 * But You heard my plea for mercy
 * when I called to You for help.


 * Love the LORD, all His saints.
 * The LORD preserves the faithful,
 * but fully repays the arrogant.
 * Be strong and courageous,
 * all you who hope in the LORD.

The Joy of Forgiveness

(Romans 4:1–12)


 * Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
 * whose sins are covered.
 * Blessed is the man
 * whose iniquity the LORD does not count against him,
 * in whose spirit there is no deceit.


 * When I kept silent, my bones became brittle
 * from my groaning all day long.
 * For day and night
 * Your hand was heavy upon me;
 * my strength was drained
 * as in the summer heat.

Selah
 * Then I acknowledged my sin to You
 * and did not hide my iniquity.
 * I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
 * and You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Selah
 * Therefore let all the godly pray to You
 * while You may be found.
 * Surely when great waters rise,
 * they will not come near.
 * You are my hiding place.
 * You protect me from trouble;
 * You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Selah
 * I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
 * I will give you counsel and watch over you.
 * Do not be like the horse or mule,
 * which have no understanding;
 * they must be controlled with bit and bridle
 * to make them come to you.
 * Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
 * but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.


 * Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous ones;
 * shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Praise to the Creator

(Psalm 148:1–14)


 * Rejoice in the LORD, O righteous ones;
 * it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.
 * Praise the LORD with the harp;
 * make music to Him with ten strings.
 * Sing to Him a new song;
 * play skillfully with a shout of joy.


 * For the word of the LORD is upright,
 * and all His work is trustworthy.
 * The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
 * the earth is full of His loving devotion.


 * By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
 * and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.
 * He piles up the waters of the sea;
 * He puts the depths into storehouses.
 * Let all the earth fear the LORD;
 * let all the people of the world revere Him.
 * For He spoke, and it came to be;
 * He commanded, and it stood firm.


 * The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations;
 * He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
 * The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
 * the purposes of His heart to all generations.
 * Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
 * the people He has chosen as His inheritance!


 * The LORD looks down from heaven;
 * He sees all the sons of men.
 * From His dwelling place He gazes
 * on all who inhabit the earth.
 * He shapes the hearts of each;
 * He considers all their works.
 * No king is saved by his vast army;
 * no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
 * A horse is a vain hope for salvation;
 * even its great strength cannot save.


 * Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him,
 * on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
 * to deliver them from death
 * and keep them alive in famine.


 * Our soul waits for the LORD;
 * He is our help and our shield.
 * For our hearts rejoice in Him,
 * since we trust in His holy name.
 * May Your loving devotion rest on us, O LORD,
 * as we put our hope in You.

Taste and See That the LORD Is Good

(1 Samuel 21:8–15)


 * I will bless the LORD at all times;
 * His praise will always be on my lips.
 * My soul boasts in the LORD;
 * let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
 * Magnify the LORD with me;
 * let us exalt His name together.


 * I sought the LORD, and He answered me;
 * He delivered me from all my fears.
 * Those who look to Him are radiant with joy;
 * their faces shall never be ashamed.
 * This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him;
 * He saved him from all his troubles.
 * The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
 * and he delivers them.


 * Taste and see that the LORD is good;
 * blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
 * Fear the LORD, you His saints,
 * for those who fear Him lack nothing.
 * Young lions go lacking and hungry,
 * but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
 * Come, children, listen to me;
 * I will teach you the fear of the LORD.


 * Who is the man who delights in life,
 * who desires to see good days?
 * Keep your tongue from evil
 * and your lips from deceitful speech.
 * Turn away from evil and do good;
 * seek peace and pursue it.
 * The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
 * and His ears are inclined to their cry.
 * But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
 * to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.


 * The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears;
 * He delivers them from all their troubles.
 * The LORD is near to the brokenhearted;
 * He saves the contrite in spirit.


 * Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
 * but the LORD delivers him from them all.
 * He protects all his bones;
 * not one of them will be broken.


 * Evil will slay the wicked,
 * and the haters of the righteous will be condemned.
 * The LORD redeems His servants,
 * and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Contend with My Opponents, O LORD


 * Contend with my opponents, O LORD;
 * fight against those who fight against me.
 * Take up Your shield and buckler;
 * arise and come to my aid.
 * Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers;
 * say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”


 * May those who seek my life
 * be disgraced and put to shame;
 * may those who plan to harm me
 * be driven back and confounded.
 * May they be like chaff in the wind,
 * as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
 * May their path be dark and slick,
 * as the angel of the LORD pursues.
 * For without cause they laid their net for me;
 * without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
 * May ruin befall them by surprise;
 * may the net they hid ensnare them;
 * may they fall into the hazard they created.


 * Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
 * and exult in His salvation.
 * All my bones will exclaim,
 * “Who is like You, O LORD,
 * who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor,
 * the poor and needy from the robber?”


 * Hostile witnesses come forward;
 * they make charges I know nothing about.
 * They repay me evil for good,
 * to the bereavement of my soul.
 * Yet when they were ill,
 * I put on sackcloth;
 * I humbled myself with fasting,
 * but my prayers returned unanswered.
 * I paced about
 * as for my friend or brother;
 * I was bowed down with grief,
 * like one mourning for his mother.
 * But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee;
 * they gathered together against me.
 * Assailants I did not know
 * slandered me without ceasing.
 * Like godless jesters at a feast,
 * they gnashed their teeth at me.


 * How long, O Lord, will You look on?
 * Rescue my soul from their ravages,
 * my precious life from these lions.
 * Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
 * I will praise You among many people.
 * Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause,
 * nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
 * For they do not speak peace,
 * but they devise deceitful schemes
 * against those who live quietly in the land.
 * They gape at me and say,
 * “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”


 * O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent.
 * O Lord, be not far from me.
 * Awake and rise to my defense,
 * to my cause, my God and my Lord!
 * Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God,
 * and do not let them gloat over me.
 * Let them not say in their hearts,
 * “Aha, just what we wanted!”
 * Let them not say,
 * “We have swallowed him up!”


 * May those who gloat in my distress
 * be ashamed and confounded;
 * may those who exalt themselves over me
 * be clothed in shame and reproach.
 * May those who favor my vindication
 * shout for joy and gladness;
 * may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD
 * who delights in His servant’s well-being.”


 * Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness
 * and Your praises all day long.

The Transgression of the Wicked


 * An oracle is in my heart
 * regarding the transgression of the wicked man:
 * There is no fear of God
 * before his eyes.
 * For his eyes are too full of conceit
 * to detect or hate his own sin.
 * The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
 * he has ceased to be wise and well-doing.
 * Even on his bed he plots wickedness;
 * he sets himself on a path that is not good;
 * he fails to reject evil.


 * Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
 * Your faithfulness to the clouds.
 * Your righteousness is like the highest mountains;
 * Your judgments are like the deepest sea.
 * O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
 * How precious is Your loving devotion, O God,
 * that the children of men take refuge
 * in the shadow of Your wings!
 * They feast on the abundance of Your house,
 * and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
 * For with You is the fountain of life;
 * in Your light we see light.


 * Extend Your loving devotion to those who know You,
 * and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
 * Let not the foot of the proud come against me,
 * nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
 * There the evildoers lie fallen,
 * thrown down and unable to rise.

Delight Yourself in the LORD

(1 Kings 2:1–9)


 * Do not fret over those who do evil;
 * do not envy those who do wrong.
 * For they wither quickly like grass
 * and wilt like tender plants.


 * Trust in the LORD and do good;
 * dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
 * Delight yourself in the LORD,
 * and He will give you the desires of your heart.


 * Commit your way to the LORD;
 * trust in Him, and He will do it.
 * He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn,
 * your justice like the noonday sun.


 * Be still before the LORD
 * and wait patiently for Him;
 * do not fret when men prosper in their ways,
 * when they carry out wicked schemes.


 * Refrain from anger and abandon wrath;
 * do not fret—it can only bring harm.
 * For the evildoers will be cut off,
 * but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.


 * Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
 * though you look for them, they will not be found.
 * But the meek will inherit the land
 * and delight in abundant prosperity.


 * The wicked scheme against the righteous
 * and gnash their teeth at them,
 * but the Lord laughs,
 * seeing that their day is coming.


 * The wicked have drawn the sword
 * and bent the bow
 * to bring down the poor and needy,
 * to slay those whose ways are upright.
 * But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
 * and their bows will be broken.


 * Better is the little of the righteous
 * than the abundance of many who are wicked.
 * For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
 * but the LORD upholds the righteous.


 * The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
 * and their inheritance will last forever.
 * In the time of evil they will not be ashamed,
 * and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.


 * But the wicked and enemies of the LORD
 * will perish like the glory of the fields.
 * They will vanish;
 * like smoke they will fade away.


 * The wicked borrow and do not repay,
 * but the righteous are gracious and giving.
 * Surely those He blesses will inherit the land,
 * but the cursed will be destroyed.


 * The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD
 * who takes delight in his journey.
 * Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
 * for the LORD is holding his hand.


 * I once was young and now am old,
 * yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned
 * or their children begging for bread.
 * They are ever generous and quick to lend,
 * and their children are a blessing.


 * Turn away from evil and do good,
 * so that you will abide forever.
 * For the LORD loves justice
 * and will not forsake His saints.
 * They are preserved forever,
 * but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
 * The righteous will inherit the land
 * and dwell in it forever.


 * The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
 * and his tongue speaks justice.
 * The law of his God is in his heart;
 * his steps do not falter.


 * Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
 * and seek to slay them,
 * the LORD will not leave them in their power
 * or let them be condemned under judgment.


 * Wait for the LORD and keep His way,
 * and He will raise you up to inherit the land.
 * When the wicked are cut off,
 * you will see it.


 * I have seen a wicked, ruthless man
 * flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
 * yet he passed away and was no more;
 * though I searched, he could not be found.


 * Consider the blameless and observe the upright,
 * for posterity awaits the man of peace.
 * But the transgressors will all be destroyed;
 * the future of the wicked will be cut off.


 * The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
 * He is their stronghold in time of trouble.
 * The LORD helps and delivers them;
 * He rescues and saves them from the wicked,
 * because they take refuge in Him.

Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger

(Psalm 6:1–10)


 * O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger
 * or discipline me in Your wrath.
 * For Your arrows have pierced me deeply,
 * and Your hand has pressed down on me.


 * There is no soundness in my body
 * because of Your anger;
 * there is no rest in my bones
 * because of my sin.
 * For my iniquities have overwhelmed me;
 * they are a burden too heavy to bear.
 * My wounds are foul and festering
 * because of my sinful folly.
 * I am bent and brought low;
 * all day long I go about mourning.
 * For my loins are full of burning pain,
 * and no soundness remains in my body.
 * I am numb and badly crushed;
 * I groan in anguish of heart.


 * O Lord, my every desire is before You;
 * my groaning is not hidden from You.
 * My heart pounds, my strength fails,
 * and even the light of my eyes has faded.
 * My beloved and friends shun my disease,
 * and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
 * Those who seek my life lay snares;
 * those who wish me harm speak destruction,
 * plotting deceit all day long.


 * But like a deaf man, I do not hear;
 * and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth.
 * I am like a man who cannot hear,
 * whose mouth offers no reply.
 * I wait for You, O LORD;
 * You will answer, O Lord my God.
 * For I said, “Let them not gloat over me—
 * those who taunt me when my foot slips.”


 * For I am ready to fall,
 * and my pain is ever with me.
 * Yes, I confess my iniquity;
 * I am troubled by my sin.
 * Many are my enemies without cause,
 * and many hate me without reason.
 * Those who repay my good with evil
 * attack me for pursuing the good.


 * Do not forsake me, O LORD;
 * be not far from me, O my God.
 * Come quickly to help me,
 * O Lord my Savior.

I Will Watch My Ways


 * I said, “I will watch my ways
 * so that I will not sin with my tongue;
 * I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
 * as long as the wicked are present.”
 * I was speechless and still;
 * I remained silent, even from speaking good,
 * and my sorrow was stirred.
 * My heart grew hot within me;
 * as I mused, the fire burned.


 * Then I spoke with my tongue:


 * “Show me, O LORD, my end
 * and the measure of my days.
 * Let me know how fleeting my life is.
 * You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths,
 * and my lifetime as nothing before You.
 * Truly each man at his best
 * exists as but a breath.

Selah
 * Surely every man goes about like a phantom;
 * surely he bustles in vain;
 * he heaps up riches
 * not knowing who will haul them away.


 * And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
 * My hope is in You.
 * Deliver me from all my transgressions;
 * do not make me the reproach of fools.
 * I have become mute;
 * I do not open my mouth
 * because of what You have done.
 * Remove Your scourge from me;
 * I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
 * You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity,
 * consuming like a moth what he holds dear;
 * surely each man is but a vapor.

Selah
 * Hear my prayer, O LORD,
 * and give ear to my cry for help;
 * do not be deaf to my weeping.
 * For I am a foreigner dwelling with You,
 * a stranger like all my fathers.
 * Turn Your gaze away from me,
 * that I may again be cheered
 * before I depart and am no more.”

I Waited Patiently for the LORD

(Psalm 70:1–5; Hebrews 10:1–18)


 * I waited patiently for the LORD;
 * He inclined to me and heard my cry.
 * He lifted me up from the pit of despair,
 * out of the miry clay;
 * He set my feet upon a rock,
 * and made my footsteps firm.
 * He put a new song in my mouth,
 * a hymn of praise to our God.
 * Many will see and fear
 * and put their trust in the LORD.


 * Blessed is the man
 * who has made the LORD his trust,
 * who has not turned to the proud,
 * nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
 * Many, O LORD my God,
 * are the wonders You have done,
 * and the plans You have for us—
 * none can compare to You—
 * if I proclaim and declare them,
 * they are more than I can count.


 * Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
 * but my ears You have opened.
 * Burnt offerings and sin offerings
 * You did not require.
 * Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
 * it is written about me in the scroll:
 * I delight to do Your will, O my God;
 * Your law is within my heart.”


 * I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
 * behold, I do not seal my lips,
 * as You, O LORD, do know.
 * I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart;
 * I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation;
 * I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness
 * from the great assembly.


 * O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me;
 * Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.
 * For evils without number surround me;
 * my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see.
 * They are more than the hairs of my head,
 * and my heart has failed within me.
 * Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
 * hurry, O LORD, to help me.


 * May those who seek my life
 * be ashamed and confounded;
 * may those who wish me harm
 * be repelled and humiliated.
 * May those who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
 * be appalled at their own shame.
 * May all who seek You
 * rejoice and be glad in You;
 * may those who love Your salvation
 * always say, “The LORD be magnified!”


 * But I am poor and needy;
 * may the Lord think of me.
 * You are my helper and deliverer;
 * O my God, do not delay.

Victory over Betrayal

(John 13:18–30)


 * Blessed is the one who cares for the poor;
 * the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.
 * The LORD will protect and preserve him;
 * He will bless him in the land
 * and refuse to surrender him
 * to the will of his foes.
 * The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness
 * and restore him from his bed of sickness.


 * I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
 * heal me, for I have sinned against You.”
 * My enemies say with malice:
 * “When will he die and be forgotten?”
 * My visitor speaks falsehood;
 * he gathers slander in his heart;
 * he goes out and spreads it abroad.
 * All who hate me whisper against me;
 * they imagine the worst for me:
 * “A vile disease has been poured into him;
 * he will never get up from where he lies!”
 * Even my close friend whom I trusted,
 * the one who shared my bread,
 * has lifted up his heel against me.


 * But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up,
 * that I may repay them.
 * By this I know that You delight in me,
 * for my enemy does not triumph over me.
 * In my integrity You uphold me
 * and set me in Your presence forever.


 * Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
 * from everlasting to everlasting.


 * Amen and Amen.

As the Deer Pants for the Water


 * As the deer pants for streams of water,
 * so my soul longs after You, O God.
 * My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
 * When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
 * My tears have been my food
 * both day and night,
 * while men ask me all day long,
 * “Where is your God?”
 * These things come to mind as I pour out my soul:
 * how I walked with the multitude,
 * leading the procession to the house of God
 * with shouts of joy and praise.


 * Why are you downcast, O my soul?
 * Why the unease within me?
 * Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him
 * for the salvation of His presence.


 * O my God, my soul despairs within me.
 * Therefore I remember You
 * from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—
 * even from Mount Mizar.
 * Deep calls to deep
 * in the roar of Your waterfalls;
 * all Your breakers and waves
 * have rolled over me.
 * The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day,
 * and at night His song is with me
 * as a prayer to the God of my life.


 * I say to God my Rock,
 * “Why have You forgotten me?
 * Why must I walk in sorrow
 * because of the enemy’s oppression?”
 * Like the crushing of my bones,
 * my enemies taunt me,
 * while they say to me all day long,
 * “Where is your God?”


 * Why are you downcast, O my soul?
 * Why the unease within me?
 * Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
 * my Savior and my God.

Send Out Your Light


 * Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case
 * against an ungodly nation;
 * deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
 * For You are the God of my refuge.
 * Why have You rejected me?
 * Why must I walk in sorrow
 * because of the enemy’s oppression?


 * Send out Your light and Your truth;
 * let them lead me.
 * Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,
 * and to the place where You dwell.
 * Then I will go to the altar of God,
 * to God, my greatest joy.
 * I will praise You with the harp,
 * O God, my God.


 * Why are you downcast, O my soul?
 * Why the unease within me?
 * Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
 * my Savior and my God.

Redeem Us, O God

(Romans 8:35–39)


 * We have heard with our ears, O God;
 * our fathers have told us
 * the work You did in their days,
 * in the days of old.
 * With Your hand You drove out the nations
 * and planted our fathers there;
 * You crushed the peoples
 * and cast them out.
 * For it was not by their sword that they took the land;
 * their arm did not bring them victory.
 * It was by Your right hand,
 * Your arm, and the light of Your face,
 * because You favored them.


 * You are my King, O God,
 * who ordains victories for Jacob.
 * Through You we repel our foes;
 * through Your name we trample our enemies.
 * For I do not trust in my bow,
 * nor does my sword save me.
 * For You save us from our enemies;
 * You put those who hate us to shame.
 * In God we have boasted all day long,
 * and Your name we will praise forever.

Selah
 * But You have rejected and humbled us;
 * You no longer go forth with our armies.
 * You have made us retreat from the foe,
 * and those who hate us have plundered us.
 * You have given us up as sheep to be devoured;
 * You have scattered us among the nations.
 * You sell Your people for nothing;
 * no profit do You gain from their sale.


 * You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
 * a mockery and derision to those around us.
 * You have made us a byword among the nations,
 * a laughingstock among the peoples.
 * All day long my disgrace is before me,
 * and shame has covered my face,
 * at the voice of the scorner and reviler,
 * because of the enemy, bent on revenge.


 * All this has come upon us,
 * though we have not forgotten You
 * or betrayed Your covenant.
 * Our hearts have not turned back;
 * our steps have not strayed from Your path.
 * But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals;
 * You have covered us with deepest darkness.


 * If we had forgotten the name of our God
 * or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
 * would not God have discovered,
 * since He knows the secrets of the heart?
 * Yet for Your sake we face death all day long;
 * we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.


 * Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping?
 * Arise! Do not reject us forever.
 * Why do You hide Your face
 * and forget our affliction and oppression?
 * For our soul has sunk to the dust;
 * our bodies cling to the earth.
 * Rise up; be our help!
 * Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.

My Heart Is Stirred by a Noble Theme

(1 Kings 3:1–15; 2 Chronicles 1:1–13; Psalm 72:1–20)


 * My heart is stirred by a noble theme
 * as I recite my verses to the king;
 * my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
 * You are the most handsome of men;
 * grace has anointed your lips,
 * since God has blessed you forever.
 * Strap your sword at your side, O mighty warrior;
 * appear in your majesty and splendor.
 * In your splendor ride forth in victory
 * on behalf of truth and humility and justice;
 * may your right hand show your awesome deeds.
 * Your arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s foes;
 * the nations fall beneath your feet.


 * Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever,
 * and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
 * You have loved righteousness
 * and hated wickedness;
 * therefore God, your God, has anointed you
 * above your companions with the oil of joy.


 * All your garments are fragrant
 * with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
 * from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.
 * The daughters of kings are among your honored women;
 * the queen stands at your right hand,
 * adorned with the gold of Ophir.


 * Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear:
 * Forget your people and your father’s house,
 * and the king will desire your beauty;
 * bow to him, for he is your lord.
 * The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
 * men of wealth will seek your favor.


 * All glorious is the princess in her chamber;
 * her gown is embroidered with gold.
 * In colorful garments she is led to the king;
 * her virgin companions are brought before you.
 * They are led in with joy and gladness;
 * they enter the palace of the king.


 * Your sons will succeed your fathers;
 * you will make them princes throughout the land.
 * I will commemorate your name through all generations;
 * therefore the nations will praise you forever and ever.

God Is Our Refuge and Strength

(2 Kings 18:13–16; 2 Chronicles 32:1–8)


 * God is our refuge and strength,
 * an ever-present help in times of trouble.
 * Therefore we will not fear,
 * though the earth is transformed
 * and the mountains are toppled
 * into the depths of the seas,
 * though their waters roar and foam
 * and the mountains quake in the surge.

Selah
 * There is a river whose streams delight the city of God,
 * the holy place where the Most High dwells.
 * God is within her; she will not be moved.
 * God will help her when morning dawns.
 * Nations rage, kingdoms crumble;
 * the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
 * The LORD of Hosts is with us;
 * the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah
 * Come, see the works of the LORD,
 * who brings devastation upon the earth.
 * He makes wars to cease throughout the earth;
 * He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
 * He burns the shields in the fire.


 * “Be still and know that I am God;
 * I will be exalted among the nations,
 * I will be exalted over the earth.”


 * The LORD of Hosts is with us;
 * the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

Clap Your Hands, All You Peoples


 * Clap your hands, all you peoples;
 * shout unto God with a voice of triumph.


 * How awesome is the LORD Most High,
 * the great King over all the earth!
 * He subdues nations beneath us,
 * and peoples under our feet.
 * He chooses our inheritance for us,
 * the pride of Jacob, whom He loves.

Selah
 * God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
 * the LORD with the sound of the horn.
 * Sing praises to God, sing praises;
 * sing praises to our King, sing praises!
 * For God is King of all the earth;
 * sing profound praises to Him.


 * God reigns over the nations;
 * God is seated on His holy throne.
 * The nobles of the nations have assembled
 * as the people of the God of Abraham;
 * for the shields of the earth belong to God;
 * He is highly exalted.

Broken Bondage


 * Great is the LORD,
 * and greatly to be praised
 * in the city of our God,
 * His holy mountain.
 * Beautiful in loftiness,
 * the joy of all the earth,
 * like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
 * the city of the great King.
 * God is in her citadels;
 * He has shown Himself to be a fortress.


 * For behold, the kings assembled;
 * they all advanced together.
 * They saw and were astounded;
 * they fled in terror.
 * Trembling seized them there,
 * anguish like a woman in labor.
 * With a wind from the east
 * You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.


 * As we have heard, so we have seen
 * in the city of the LORD of Hosts,
 * in the city of our God:
 * God will establish her forever.

Selah
 * Within Your temple, O God,
 * we contemplate Your loving devotion.
 * Your name, O God, like Your praise,
 * reaches to the ends of the earth;
 * Your right hand is full of righteousness.
 * Mount Zion is glad,
 * the daughters of Judah rejoice,
 * on account of Your judgments.


 * March around Zion, encircle her,
 * count her towers,
 * consider her ramparts, tour her citadels,
 * that you may tell the next generation.
 * For this God is our God forever and ever;
 * He will be our guide even till death.

The Evanescence of Wealth

(Ecclesiastes 5:8–20)


 * Hear this, all you peoples;
 * listen, all inhabitants of the world,
 * both low and high,
 * rich and poor alike.
 * My mouth will impart wisdom,
 * and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.
 * I will incline my ear to a proverb;
 * I will express my riddle with the harp:


 * Why should I fear in times of trouble,
 * when wicked usurpers surround me?
 * They trust in their wealth
 * and boast in their great riches.
 * No man can possibly redeem his brother
 * or pay his ransom to God.
 * For the redemption of his soul is costly,
 * and never can payment suffice,
 * that he should live on forever
 * and not see decay.


 * For it is clear that wise men die,
 * and the foolish and the senseless both perish
 * and leave their wealth to others.
 * Their graves are their eternal homes—
 * their dwellings for endless generations—
 * even though their lands were their namesakes.
 * But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure;
 * he is like the beasts that perish.


 * This is the fate of the self-confident
 * and their followers who endorse their sayings.

Selah
 * Like sheep they are destined for Sheol.
 * Death will be their shepherd.
 * The upright will rule them in the morning,
 * and their form will decay in Sheol,
 * far from their lofty abode.
 * But God will redeem my life from Sheol,
 * for He will surely take me to Himself.

Selah
 * Do not be amazed when a man grows rich,
 * when the splendor of his house increases.
 * For when he dies, he will carry nothing away;
 * his abundance will not follow him down.
 * Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—
 * and men praise you when you prosper—
 * he will join the generation of his fathers,
 * who will never see the light of day.
 * A man who has riches without understanding
 * is like the beasts that perish.

The Mighty One Calls


 * The Mighty One, God the LORD,
 * speaks and summons the earth
 * from where the sun rises to where it sets.
 * From Zion, perfect in beauty,
 * God shines forth.
 * Our God approaches and will not be silent!
 * Consuming fire precedes Him,
 * and a tempest rages around Him.
 * He summons the heavens above,
 * and the earth, that He may judge His people:
 * “Gather to Me My saints,
 * who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
 * And the heavens proclaim His righteousness,
 * for God Himself is Judge.

Selah
 * “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
 * O Israel, and I will testify against you:
 * I am God, your God.
 * I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
 * and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.
 * I have no need for a bull from your stall
 * or goats from your pens,
 * for every beast of the forest is Mine—
 * the cattle on a thousand hills.
 * I know every bird in the mountains,
 * and the creatures of the field are Mine.
 * If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
 * for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
 * Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
 * or drink the blood of goats?
 * Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
 * and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
 * Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
 * I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”


 * To the wicked, however, God says,
 * “What right have you to recite My statutes
 * and to bear My covenant on your lips?
 * For you hate My instruction
 * and cast My words behind you.
 * When you see a thief, you befriend him,
 * and throw in your lot with adulterers.
 * You unleash your mouth for evil
 * and unharness your tongue for deceit.
 * You sit and malign your brother;
 * you slander your own mother’s son.
 * You have done these things, and I kept silent;
 * you thought I was just like you.
 * But now I rebuke you
 * and accuse you to your face.


 * Now consider this, you who forget God,
 * lest I tear you to pieces,
 * with no one to rescue you:
 * He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me,
 * and to him who rights his way,
 * I will show the salvation of God.”

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

(2 Samuel 12:1–12)


 * Have mercy on me, O God,
 * according to Your loving devotion;
 * according to Your great compassion,
 * blot out my transgressions.
 * Wash me clean of my iniquity
 * and cleanse me from my sin.
 * For I know my transgressions,
 * and my sin is always before me.
 * Against You, You only, have I sinned
 * and done what is evil in Your sight,
 * so that You may be proved right when You speak
 * and blameless when You judge.
 * Surely I was brought forth in iniquity;
 * I was sinful when my mother conceived me.


 * Surely You desire truth in the inmost being;
 * You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
 * Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
 * wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
 * Let me hear joy and gladness;
 * let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
 * Hide Your face from my sins
 * and blot out all my iniquities.


 * Create in me a clean heart, O God,
 * and renew a right spirit within me.
 * Cast me not away from Your presence;
 * take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
 * Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
 * and sustain me with a willing spirit.
 * Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
 * and sinners will return to You.


 * Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God,
 * the God of my salvation,
 * and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
 * O Lord, open my lips,
 * and my mouth will declare Your praise.
 * For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
 * You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.
 * The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
 * a broken and a contrite heart,
 * O God, You will not despise.


 * In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper;
 * build up the walls of Jerusalem.
 * Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
 * in whole burnt offerings;
 * then bulls will be offered on Your altar.

Why Do You Boast of Evil?

(1 Samuel 22:6–23)


 * Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
 * The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
 * Your tongue devises destruction
 * like a sharpened razor,
 * O worker of deceit.
 * You love evil more than good,
 * falsehood more than speaking truth.

Selah
 * You love every word that devours,
 * O deceitful tongue.
 * Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin;
 * He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent;
 * He will uproot you from the land of the living.

Selah
 * The righteous will see and fear;
 * they will mock the evildoer, saying,
 * “Look at the man
 * who did not make God his refuge,
 * but trusted in the abundance of his wealth
 * and strengthened himself by destruction.”


 * But I am like an olive tree
 * flourishing in the house of God;
 * I trust in the loving devotion of God
 * forever and ever.
 * I will praise You forever,
 * because You have done it.
 * I will wait on Your name—
 * for it is good—
 * in the presence of Your saints.

The Fool Says There Is No God

(Psalm 14:1–7; Isaiah 59:1–17; Romans 3:9–20)


 * The fool says in his heart,
 * “There is no God.”


 * They are corrupt; their ways are vile.
 * There is no one who does good.


 * God looks down from heaven
 * upon the sons of men
 * to see if any understand,
 * if any seek God.
 * All have turned away,
 * they have together become corrupt;
 * there is no one who does good,
 * not even one.


 * Will the workers of iniquity never learn?


 * They devour my people like bread;
 * they refuse to call upon God.
 * There they are, overwhelmed with dread,
 * where there was nothing to fear.
 * For God has scattered the bones
 * of those who besieged you.
 * You put them to shame,
 * for God has despised them.


 * Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!


 * When God restores His captive people,
 * let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!

Save Me by Your Name

(1 Samuel 23:7–29)


 * Save me, O God, by Your name,
 * and vindicate me by Your might!
 * Hear my prayer, O God;
 * listen to the words of my mouth.
 * For strangers rise up against me,
 * and ruthless men seek my life—
 * men with no regard for God.

Selah
 * Surely God is my helper;
 * the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
 * He will reward my enemies with evil.
 * In Your faithfulness, destroy them.
 * Freely I will sacrifice to You;
 * I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good.
 * For He has delivered me from every trouble,
 * and my eyes have stared down my foes.

Cast Your Burden upon the LORD

(2 Samuel 17:15–29)


 * Listen to my prayer, O God,
 * and do not ignore my plea.
 * Attend to me and answer me.
 * I am restless in my complaint,
 * and distraught

at the voice of the enemy,
 * at the pressure of the wicked.
 * For they release disaster upon me
 * and revile me in their anger.


 * My heart murmurs within me,
 * and the terrors of death assail me.
 * Fear and trembling grip me,
 * and horror has overwhelmed me.
 * I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
 * I would fly away and find rest.
 * How far away I would flee!
 * In the wilderness I would remain.

Selah
 * I would hurry to my shelter,
 * far from this raging tempest.”


 * O Lord, confuse and confound their speech,
 * for I see violence and strife in the city.
 * Day and night they encircle the walls,
 * while malice and trouble lie within.
 * Destruction is within;
 * oppression and deceit never leave the streets.


 * For it is not an enemy who insults me;
 * that I could endure.
 * It is not a foe who rises against me;
 * from him I could hide.
 * But it is you, a man like myself,
 * my companion and close friend.
 * We shared sweet fellowship together;
 * we walked with the crowd into the house of God.


 * Let death seize them by surprise;
 * let them go down to Sheol alive,
 * for evil is with them in their homes.
 * But I call to God,
 * and the LORD saves me.
 * Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress,
 * and He hears my voice.
 * He redeems my soul in peace
 * from the battle waged against me,
 * even though many oppose me.
 * God will hear and humiliate them—
 * the One enthroned for the ages—

Selah
 * because they do not change
 * and they have no fear of God.


 * My companion attacks his friends;
 * he violates his covenant.
 * His speech is smooth as butter,
 * but war is in his heart.
 * His words are softer than oil,
 * yet they are swords unsheathed.


 * Cast your burden upon the LORD
 * and He will sustain you;
 * He will never let the righteous be shaken.
 * But You, O God, will bring them down
 * to the Pit of destruction;
 * men of bloodshed and deceit
 * will not live out half their days.


 * But I will trust in You.

Be Merciful to Me, O God

(1 Samuel 21:8–15)


 * Be merciful to me, O God,
 * for men are hounding me;
 * all day they press their attack.
 * My enemies pursue me all day long,
 * for many proudly assail me.


 * When I am afraid,
 * I put my trust in You.
 * In God, whose word I praise—
 * in God I trust.
 * I will not be afraid.
 * What can man do to me?


 * All day long they twist my words;
 * all their thoughts are on my demise.
 * They conspire, they lurk,
 * they watch my steps
 * while they wait to take my life.
 * In spite of such sin, will they escape?
 * In Your anger, O God, cast down the nations.


 * You have taken account of my wanderings.
 * Put my tears in Your bottle—
 * are they not in Your book?
 * Then my enemies will retreat
 * on the day I cry for help.
 * By this I will know that God is on my side.


 * In God, whose word I praise,
 * in the LORD, whose word I praise,
 * in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
 * What can man do to me?


 * Your vows are upon me, O God;
 * I will render thank offerings to You.
 * For You have delivered my soul from death,
 * and my feet from stumbling,
 * that I may walk before God
 * in the light of life.

In You My Soul Takes Refuge

(1 Samuel 22:1–5; Psalm 108:1–13; Psalm 142:1–7)


 * Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy,
 * for in You my soul takes refuge.
 * In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter
 * until the danger has passed.
 * I cry out to God Most High,
 * to God who fulfills His purpose for me.
 * He reaches down from heaven and saves me;
 * He rebukes those who trample me.

Selah
 * God sends forth
 * His loving devotion and His truth.
 * My soul is among the lions;
 * I lie down with ravenous beasts—
 * with men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
 * whose tongues are sharp swords.


 * Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
 * may Your glory cover all the earth.


 * They spread a net for my feet;
 * my soul was despondent.
 * They dug a pit before me,
 * but they themselves have fallen into it!

Selah
 * My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.
 * I will sing and make music.
 * Awake, my glory!
 * Awake, O harp and lyre!
 * I will awaken the dawn.


 * I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
 * I will sing Your praises among the peoples.
 * For Your loving devotion reaches to the heavens,
 * and Your faithfulness to the clouds.
 * Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
 * may Your glory cover all the earth.

God Judges the Earth


 * Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers?
 * Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
 * No, in your hearts you devise injustice;
 * with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.


 * The wicked are estranged from the womb;
 * the liars go astray from birth.
 * Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
 * like a cobra that shuts its ears,
 * refusing to hear the tune of the charmer
 * who skillfully weaves his spell.


 * O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths;
 * O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
 * May they vanish
 * like water that runs off;
 * when they draw the bow,
 * may their arrows be blunted.
 * Like a slug that dissolves in its slime,
 * like a woman’s stillborn child,
 * may they never see the sun.


 * Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—
 * whether green or dry—
 * He will sweep them away.
 * The righteous will rejoice
 * when they see they are avenged;
 * they will wash their feet
 * in the blood of the wicked.
 * Then men will say,
 * “There is surely a reward for the righteous!
 * There is surely a God who judges the earth!”

Deliver Me from My Enemies

(1 Samuel 19:1–24)


 * Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
 * protect me from those who rise against me.
 * Deliver me from workers of iniquity,
 * and save me from men of bloodshed.
 * See how they lie in wait for me.
 * Fierce men conspire against me
 * for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
 * For no fault of my own,
 * they move swiftly to attack me.
 * Arise to help me, and take notice.
 * O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel,
 * rouse Yourself to punish all the nations;
 * show no mercy to the wicked traitors.

Selah
 * They return in the evening, snarling like dogs
 * and prowling around the city.
 * See what they spew from their mouths—
 * sharp words from their lips:
 * “For who can hear us?”
 * But You, O LORD, laugh at them;
 * You scoff at all the nations.


 * I will keep watch for You, O my strength,
 * because You, O God, are my fortress.
 * My God of loving devotion will come to meet me;
 * God will let me stare down my foes.


 * Do not kill them,
 * or my people will forget.
 * Scatter them by Your power,
 * and bring them down,
 * O Lord, our shield.
 * By the sins of their mouths
 * and the words of their lips,
 * let them be trapped in their pride,
 * in the curses and lies they utter.
 * Consume them in wrath;
 * consume them till they are no more,
 * so it may be known to the ends of the earth
 * that God rules over Jacob.

Selah
 * They return in the evening,
 * snarling like dogs
 * and prowling around the city.
 * They scavenge for food,
 * and growl if they are not satisfied.


 * But I will sing of Your strength
 * and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning.
 * For You are my fortress,
 * my refuge in times of trouble.
 * To You, O my strength, I sing praises,
 * for You, O God, are my fortress,
 * my God of loving devotion.

Victory with God

(2 Samuel 8:1–14; 1 Chronicles 18:1–13; Psalm 108:1–13)


 * You have rejected us, O God;
 * You have broken us;
 * You have been angry;
 * restore us!
 * You have shaken the land
 * and torn it open.
 * Heal its fractures,
 * for it is quaking.
 * You have shown Your people hardship;
 * we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.


 * You have raised a banner for those who fear You,
 * that they may flee the bow.

Selah
 * Respond and save us with Your right hand,
 * that Your beloved may be delivered.


 * God has spoken from His sanctuary:
 * “I will triumph!
 * I will parcel out Shechem
 * and apportion the Valley of Succoth.
 * Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
 * Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.
 * Moab is My washbasin;
 * upon Edom I toss My sandal;
 * over Philistia I shout in triumph.”


 * Who will bring me to the fortified city?
 * Who will lead me to Edom?
 * Have You not rejected us, O God?
 * Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies?
 * Give us aid against the enemy,
 * for the help of man is worthless.
 * With God we will perform with valor,
 * and He will trample our enemies.

You Have Heard My Vows


 * Hear my cry, O God;
 * attend to my prayer.
 * From the ends of the earth I call out to You
 * whenever my heart is faint.
 * Lead me to the rock
 * that is higher than I.
 * For You have been my refuge,
 * a tower of strength against the enemy.
 * Let me dwell in Your tent forever
 * and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

Selah
 * For You have heard my vows, O God;
 * You have given me the inheritance
 * reserved for those who fear Your name.


 * Increase the days of the king’s life;
 * may his years span many generations.
 * May he sit enthroned in God’s presence forever;
 * appoint Your loving devotion
 * and Your faithfulness to guard him.
 * Then I will ever sing praise to Your name
 * and fulfill my vows day by day.

Waiting on God


 * In God alone my soul finds rest;
 * my salvation comes from Him.
 * He alone is my rock and my salvation.
 * He is my fortress;
 * I will never be shaken.


 * How long will you threaten a man?
 * Will all of you throw him down
 * like a leaning wall
 * or a tottering fence?
 * They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch;
 * they delight in lies;
 * with their mouths they bless,
 * but inwardly they curse.

Selah
 * Rest in God alone, O my soul,
 * for my hope comes from Him.
 * He alone is my rock and my salvation;
 * He is my fortress; I will not be shaken.
 * My salvation and my honor rest on God, my strong rock;
 * my refuge is in God.
 * Trust in Him at all times, O people;
 * pour out your hearts before Him.
 * God is our refuge.

Selah
 * Lowborn men are but a vapor,
 * the exalted but a lie.
 * Weighed on the scale, they go up;
 * together they are but a vapor.
 * Place no trust in extortion,
 * or false hope in stolen goods.
 * If your riches increase,
 * do not set your heart upon them.


 * God has spoken once;
 * I have heard this twice:
 * that power belongs to God,
 * and loving devotion to You, O Lord.
 * For You will repay each man
 * according to his deeds.

Thirsting for God

(2 Samuel 15:30–37)


 * O God, You are my God.
 * Earnestly I seek You;
 * my soul thirsts for You.
 * My body yearns for You
 * in a dry and weary land without water.


 * So I have seen You in the sanctuary
 * and beheld Your power and glory.
 * Because Your loving devotion is better than life,
 * my lips will glorify You.
 * So I will bless You as long as I live;
 * in Your name I will lift my hands.


 * My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods;
 * with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
 * When I remember You on my bed,
 * I think of You through the watches of the night.
 * For You are my help;
 * I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
 * My soul clings to You;
 * Your right hand upholds me.


 * But those who seek my life to destroy it
 * will go into the depths of the earth.
 * They will fall to the power of the sword;
 * they will become a portion for foxes.
 * But the king will rejoice in God;
 * all who swear by Him will exult,
 * for the mouths of liars will be shut.

The Hurtful Tongue

(James 3:1–12)


 * Hear, O God, my voice of complaint;
 * preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
 * Hide me from the scheming of the wicked,
 * from the mob of workers of iniquity,
 * who sharpen their tongues like swords
 * and aim their bitter words like arrows,
 * ambushing the innocent in seclusion,
 * shooting suddenly, without fear.


 * They hold fast to their evil purpose;
 * they speak of hiding their snares.
 * “Who will see them?” they say.
 * They devise injustice and say,
 * “We have perfected a secret plan.”
 * For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.


 * But God will shoot them with arrows;
 * suddenly they will be wounded.
 * They will be made to stumble,
 * their own tongues turned against them.
 * All who see will shake their heads.
 * Then all mankind will fear
 * and proclaim the work of God;
 * so they will ponder what He has done.


 * Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD
 * and take refuge in Him;
 * let all the upright in heart exult.

Praise Awaits God in Zion


 * Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion;
 * to You our vows will be fulfilled.
 * O You who listen to prayer,
 * all people will come to You.
 * When iniquities prevail against me,
 * You atone for our transgressions.
 * Blessed is the one You choose
 * and bring near to dwell in Your courts!
 * We are filled with the goodness of Your house,
 * the holiness of Your temple.


 * With awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us,
 * O God of our salvation,
 * the hope of all the ends of the earth
 * and of the farthest seas.
 * You formed the mountains by Your power,
 * having girded Yourself with might.
 * You stilled the roaring of the seas,
 * the pounding of their waves,
 * and the tumult of the nations.
 * Those who live far away fear Your wonders;
 * You make the dawn and sunset shout for joy.


 * You attend to the earth and water it;
 * with abundance You enrich it.
 * The streams of God are full of water,
 * for You prepare our grain
 * by providing for the earth.
 * You soak its furrows and level its ridges;
 * You soften it with showers and bless its growth.
 * You crown the year with Your bounty,
 * and Your paths overflow with plenty.
 * The pastures of the wilderness overflow;
 * the hills are robed with joy.
 * The pastures are clothed with flocks,
 * and the valleys are decked with grain.
 * They shout in triumph;
 * indeed, they sing.

Make a Joyful Noise

(Psalm 100:1–5)


 * Make a joyful noise to God,
 * all the earth!
 * Sing the glory of His name;
 * make His praise glorious.
 * Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds!
 * So great is Your power
 * that Your enemies cower before You.
 * All the earth bows down to You;
 * they sing praise to You;
 * they sing praise to Your name.”

Selah
 * Come and see the works of God;
 * how awesome are His deeds toward mankind.
 * He turned the sea into dry land;
 * they passed through the waters on foot;
 * there we rejoiced in Him.
 * He rules forever by His power;
 * His eyes watch the nations.
 * Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.

Selah
 * Bless our God, O peoples;
 * let the sound of His praise be heard.
 * He preserves our lives
 * and keeps our feet from slipping.


 * For You, O God, have tested us;
 * You have refined us like silver.
 * You led us into the net;
 * You laid burdens on our backs.
 * You let men ride over our heads;
 * we went through fire and water,
 * but You brought us into abundance.


 * I will enter Your house with burnt offerings;
 * I will fulfill my vows to You—
 * the vows that my lips promised
 * and my mouth spoke in my distress.
 * I will offer You fatlings as burnt offerings,
 * with the fragrant smoke of rams;
 * I will offer bulls and goats.

Selah
 * Come and listen, all you who fear God,
 * and I will declare what He has done for me.
 * I cried out to Him with my mouth
 * and praised Him with my tongue.
 * If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
 * the Lord would not have listened.
 * But God has surely heard;
 * He has attended to the sound of my prayer.


 * Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer
 * or withheld from me His loving devotion!

May God Cause His Face to Shine upon Us


 * May God be gracious to us and bless us,
 * and cause His face to shine upon us,

Selah
 * that Your ways may be known on earth,
 * Your salvation among all nations.


 * Let the peoples praise You, O God;
 * let all the peoples praise You.
 * Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
 * for You judge the peoples justly
 * and lead the nations of the earth.

Selah
 * Let the peoples praise You, O God;
 * let all the peoples praise You.


 * The earth has yielded its harvest;
 * God, our God, blesses us.
 * God blesses us,
 * that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

God’s Enemies Are Scattered


 * God arises. His enemies are scattered,
 * and those who hate Him flee His presence.
 * As smoke is blown away,
 * You will drive them out;
 * as wax melts before the fire,
 * the wicked will perish in the presence of God.
 * But the righteous will be glad
 * and rejoice before God;
 * they will celebrate with joy.


 * Sing to God!
 * Sing praises to His name.
 * Exalt Him who rides on the clouds —
 * His name is the LORD—
 * and rejoice before Him.
 * A father of the fatherless,
 * and a defender of the widows,
 * is God in His holy habitation.
 * God settles the lonely in families;
 * He leads the prisoners out to prosperity,
 * but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.


 * O God, when You went out before Your people,
 * when You marched through the wasteland,

Selah
 * the earth shook and the heavens poured down rain
 * before God, the One on Sinai,
 * before God, the God of Israel.
 * You sent abundant rain, O God;
 * You refreshed Your weary inheritance.
 * Your flock settled therein;
 * O God, from Your bounty You provided for the poor.


 * The Lord gives the command;
 * a great company of women proclaim it:
 * “Kings and their armies flee in haste;
 * she who waits at home divides the plunder.
 * Though you lie down among the sheepfolds,
 * the wings of the dove are covered with silver,
 * and her feathers with shimmering gold.”
 * When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,
 * it was like the snow falling on Zalmon.


 * A mountain of God is Mount Bashan;
 * a mountain of many peaks is Mount Bashan.
 * Why do you gaze in envy, O mountains of many peaks?
 * This is the mountain God chose for His dwelling,
 * where the LORD will surely dwell forever.


 * The chariots of God are tens of thousands—
 * thousands of thousands are they;
 * the Lord is in His sanctuary
 * as He was at Sinai.
 * You have ascended on high;
 * You have led captives away.
 * You have received gifts from men,
 * even from the rebellious,
 * that the LORD God may dwell there.
 * Blessed be the Lord,
 * who daily bears our burden,
 * the God of our salvation.

Selah
 * Our God is a God of deliverance;
 * the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.
 * Surely God will crush the heads of His enemies,
 * the hairy crowns of those who persist in guilty ways.
 * The Lord said, “I will retrieve them from Bashan,
 * I will bring them up from the depths of the sea,
 * that your foot may be dipped
 * in the blood of your foes—
 * the tongues of your dogs in the same.”


 * They have seen Your procession, O God—
 * the march of my God and King into the sanctuary.
 * The singers lead the way,
 * the musicians follow after,
 * among the maidens playing tambourines.
 * Bless God in the great congregation;
 * bless the LORD from the fountain of Israel.
 * There is Benjamin, the youngest, ruling them,
 * the princes of Judah in their company,
 * the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.


 * Summon Your power, O God;
 * show Your strength, O God,
 * which You have exerted on our behalf.
 * Because of Your temple at Jerusalem
 * kings will bring You gifts.
 * Rebuke the beast in the reeds,
 * the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations,
 * until it submits, bringing bars of silver.
 * Scatter the nations who delight in war.
 * Envoys will arrive from Egypt;
 * Cush will stretch out her hands to God.


 * Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
 * sing praises to the Lord—

Selah
 * to Him who rides upon the highest heavens of old;
 * behold, His mighty voice resounds.
 * Ascribe the power to God,
 * whose majesty is over Israel,
 * whose strength is in the skies.
 * O God, You are awesome in Your sanctuary;
 * the God of Israel Himself
 * gives strength and power to His people.


 * Blessed be God!

The Waters Are up to My Neck


 * Save me, O God,
 * for the waters are up to my neck.
 * I have sunk into the miry depths,
 * where there is no footing;
 * I have drifted into deep waters,
 * where the flood engulfs me.
 * I am weary from my crying;
 * my throat is parched.
 * My eyes fail,
 * looking for my God.
 * Those who hate me without cause
 * outnumber the hairs of my head;
 * many are those who would destroy me—
 * my enemies for no reason.
 * Though I did not steal,
 * I must repay.


 * You know my folly, O God,
 * and my guilt is not hidden from You.
 * May those who hope in You not be ashamed through me,
 * O Lord GOD of Hosts;
 * may those who seek You not be dishonored through me,
 * O God of Israel.
 * For I have endured scorn for Your sake,
 * and shame has covered my face.
 * I have become a stranger to my brothers
 * and a foreigner to my mother’s sons,
 * because zeal for Your house has consumed me,
 * and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
 * I wept and fasted,
 * but it brought me reproach.
 * I made sackcloth my clothing,
 * and I was sport to them.
 * Those who sit at the gate mock me,
 * and I am the song of drunkards.


 * But my prayer to You, O LORD,
 * is for a time of favor.
 * In Your abundant loving devotion, O God,
 * answer me with Your sure salvation.
 * Rescue me from the mire
 * and do not let me sink;
 * deliver me from my foes
 * and out of the deep waters.
 * Do not let the floods engulf me
 * or the depths swallow me up;
 * let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
 * Answer me, O LORD,
 * for Your loving devotion is good;
 * turn to me in keeping with Your great compassion.
 * Hide not Your face from Your servant,
 * for I am in distress.
 * Answer me quickly!
 * Draw near to my soul and redeem me;
 * ransom me because of my foes.


 * You know my reproach, my shame and disgrace.
 * All my adversaries are before You.
 * Insults have broken my heart,
 * and I am in despair.
 * I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
 * for comforters, but I found no one.
 * They poisoned my food with gall
 * and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.


 * May their table become a snare;
 * may it be a retribution and a trap.
 * May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
 * and their backs be bent forever.
 * Pour out Your wrath upon them,
 * and let Your burning anger overtake them.
 * May their place be deserted;
 * let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
 * For they persecute the one You struck
 * and recount the pain of those You wounded.
 * Add iniquity to their iniquity;
 * let them not share in Your righteousness.
 * May they be blotted out of the Book of Life
 * and not listed with the righteous.


 * But I am in pain and distress;
 * let Your salvation protect me, O God.
 * I will praise God’s name in song
 * and exalt Him with thanksgiving.
 * And this will please the LORD more than an ox,
 * more than a bull with horns and hooves.
 * The humble will see and rejoice.
 * You who seek God, let your hearts be revived!
 * For the LORD listens to the needy
 * and does not despise His captive people.


 * Let heaven and earth praise Him,
 * the seas and everything that moves in them.
 * For God will save Zion
 * and rebuild the cities of Judah,
 * that they may dwell there and possess it.
 * The descendants of His servants will inherit it,
 * and those who love His name will settle in it.

Hurry, O LORD, to Help Me!

(Psalm 40:1–17; Psalm 141:1–10)


 * Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
 * Hurry, O LORD, to help me!


 * May those who seek my life
 * be ashamed and confounded;
 * may those who wish me harm
 * be repelled and humiliated.
 * May those who say, “Aha, aha!”
 * retreat because of their shame.


 * May all who seek You
 * rejoice and be glad in You;
 * may those who love Your salvation always say,
 * “Let God be magnified!”
 * But I am poor and needy;
 * hurry to me, O God.
 * You are my help and my deliverer;
 * O LORD, do not delay.

Be My Rock of Refuge


 * In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
 * let me never be put to shame.
 * In Your justice, rescue and deliver me;
 * incline Your ear and save me.
 * Be my rock of refuge,
 * where I can always go.
 * Give the command to save me,
 * for You are my rock and my fortress.
 * Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
 * from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.


 * For You are my hope, O Lord GOD,
 * my confidence from my youth.
 * I have leaned on You since birth;
 * You pulled me from my mother’s womb.
 * My praise is always for You.
 * I have become a portent to many,
 * but You are my strong refuge.
 * My mouth is filled with Your praise
 * and with Your splendor all day long.


 * Do not discard me in my old age;
 * do not forsake me when my strength fails.
 * For my enemies speak against me,
 * and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,
 * saying, “God has forsaken him;
 * pursue him and seize him,
 * for there is no one to rescue him.”


 * Be not far from me, O God.
 * Hurry, O my God, to help me.
 * May the accusers of my soul
 * be ashamed and consumed;
 * may those who seek my harm
 * be covered with scorn and disgrace.


 * But I will always hope
 * and will praise You more and more.
 * My mouth will declare Your righteousness
 * and Your salvation all day long,
 * though I cannot know their full measure.
 * I will enter in the strength of the Lord GOD;
 * I will proclaim Your righteousness—Yours alone.


 * O God, You have taught me from my youth,
 * and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.
 * Even when I am old and gray,
 * do not forsake me, O God,
 * until I proclaim Your power to the next generation,
 * Your might to all who are to come.
 * Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O God,
 * You who have done great things.
 * Who, O God, is like You?


 * Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes,
 * You will revive me once again.
 * Even from the depths of the earth
 * You will bring me back up.
 * You will increase my honor
 * and comfort me once again.


 * So I will praise You with the harp
 * for Your faithfulness, O my God;
 * I will sing praise to You with the lyre,
 * O Holy One of Israel.
 * When I sing praise to You
 * my lips will shout for joy,
 * along with my soul,
 * which You have redeemed.
 * My tongue will indeed proclaim
 * Your righteousness all day long,
 * for those who seek my harm
 * are disgraced and confounded.

Endow the King with Your Justice

(1 Kings 3:1–15; 2 Chronicles 1:1–13; Psalm 45:1–17)


 * Endow the king with Your justice, O God,
 * and the son of the king with Your righteousness.
 * May he judge Your people with righteousness
 * and Your afflicted with justice.


 * May the mountains bring peace to the people,
 * and the hills bring righteousness.
 * May he vindicate the afflicted among the people;
 * may he save the children of the needy
 * and crush the oppressor.
 * May they fear him as long as the sun shines,
 * as long as the moon remains,
 * through all generations.
 * May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass,
 * like spring showers that water the earth.
 * May the righteous flourish in his days
 * and prosperity abound,
 * until the moon is no more.


 * May he rule from sea to sea,
 * and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
 * May the nomads bow before him,
 * and his enemies lick the dust.
 * May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute;
 * may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
 * May all kings bow down to him
 * and all nations serve him.


 * For he will deliver the needy who cry out
 * and the afflicted who have no helper.
 * He will take pity on the poor and needy
 * and save the lives of the oppressed.
 * He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
 * for their blood is precious in his sight.


 * Long may he live!
 * May gold from Sheba be given him.
 * May people ever pray for him;
 * may they bless him all day long.
 * May there be an abundance of grain in the land;
 * may it sway atop the hills.
 * May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon,
 * and its people like the grass of the field.
 * May his name endure forever;
 * may his name continue as long as the sun shines.
 * In him may all nations be blessed;
 * may they call him blessed.


 * Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
 * who alone does marvelous deeds.
 * And blessed be His glorious name forever;
 * may all the earth be filled with His glory.


 * Amen and amen.

Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse.

Surely God Is Good to Israel


 * Surely God is good to Israel,
 * to those who are pure in heart.
 * But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
 * my steps had nearly slipped.
 * For I envied the arrogant
 * when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.


 * They have no struggle in their death;
 * their bodies are well-fed.
 * They are free of the burdens others carry;
 * they are not afflicted like other men.
 * Therefore pride is their necklace;
 * a garment of violence covers them.
 * From their prosperity proceeds iniquity;
 * the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
 * They mock and speak with malice;
 * with arrogance they threaten oppression.
 * They set their mouths against the heavens,
 * and their tongues strut across the earth.


 * So their people return to this place
 * and drink up waters in abundance.
 * The wicked say, “How can God know?
 * Does the Most High have knowledge?”
 * Behold, these are the wicked—
 * always carefree as they increase their wealth.


 * Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure;
 * in innocence I have washed my hands.
 * For I am afflicted all day long
 * and punished every morning.
 * If I had said, “I will speak this way,”
 * then I would have betrayed Your children.
 * When I tried to understand all this,
 * it was troublesome in my sight
 * until I entered God’s sanctuary;
 * then I discerned their end.


 * Surely You set them on slick ground;
 * You cast them down into ruin.
 * How suddenly they are laid waste,
 * completely swept away by terrors!
 * Like one waking from a dream,
 * so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.


 * When my heart was grieved
 * and I was pierced within,
 * I was senseless and ignorant;
 * I was a brute beast before You.


 * Yet I am always with You;
 * You hold my right hand.
 * You guide me with Your counsel,
 * and later receive me in glory.
 * Whom have I in heaven but You?
 * And on earth I desire no one besides You.
 * My flesh and my heart may fail,
 * but God is the strength of my heart
 * and my portion forever.


 * Those far from You will surely perish;
 * You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
 * But as for me, it is good to draw near to God.
 * I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
 * that I may proclaim all Your works.

Why Have You Rejected Us Forever?

(Psalm 79:1–13; Jeremiah 52:1–11)


 * Why have You rejected us forever, O God?
 * Why does Your anger smolder
 * against the sheep of Your pasture?
 * Remember Your congregation,
 * which You purchased long ago
 * and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—
 * Mount Zion where You dwell.
 * Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins,
 * to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.


 * Your foes have roared within Your meeting place;
 * they have unfurled their banners as signs,
 * like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees
 * and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
 * They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
 * they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.


 * They said in their hearts,
 * “We will crush them completely.”
 * They burned down every place
 * where God met us in the land.
 * There are no signs for us to see.
 * There is no longer any prophet.
 * And none of us knows how long this will last.
 * How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You?
 * Will the foe revile Your name forever?
 * Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand?
 * Stretch it out to destroy them!


 * Yet God is my King from ancient times,
 * working salvation on the earth.
 * You divided the sea by Your strength;
 * You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
 * You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
 * You fed him to the creatures of the desert.
 * You broke open the fountain and the flood;
 * You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
 * The day is Yours, and also the night;
 * You established the moon and the sun.
 * You set all the boundaries of the earth;
 * You made the summer and winter.


 * Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD,
 * how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
 * Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts;
 * do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
 * Consider Your covenant,
 * for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
 * Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame;
 * may the poor and needy praise Your name.


 * Rise up, O God; defend Your cause!
 * Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
 * Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries,
 * the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.

God’s Righteous Judgment

(Romans 2:1–16)


 * We give thanks to You, O God;
 * we give thanks, for Your Name is near.
 * The people declare Your wondrous works.


 * “When I choose a time,
 * I will judge fairly.
 * When the earth and all its dwellers quake,
 * it is I who bear up its pillars.

Selah
 * I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’
 * and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.
 * Do not lift up your horn against heaven
 * or speak with an outstretched neck.’”


 * For exaltation comes neither from east nor west,
 * nor out of the desert,
 * but it is God who judges;
 * He brings down one and exalts another.
 * For a cup is in the hand of the LORD,
 * full of foaming wine mixed with spices.
 * He pours from His cup,
 * and all the wicked of the earth
 * drink it down to the dregs.


 * But I will proclaim Him forever;
 * I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.


 * “All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
 * but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”

God’s Name Is Great in Israel


 * God is known in Judah;
 * His name is great in Israel.
 * His tent is in Salem,
 * His dwelling place in Zion.
 * There He shattered the flaming arrows,
 * the shield and sword and weapons of war.

Selah
 * You are resplendent with light,
 * more majestic than mountains filled with game.
 * The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep.
 * No men of might could lift a hand.
 * At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
 * both horse and rider lie stunned.


 * You alone are to be feared.
 * When You are angry, who can stand before You?
 * From heaven You pronounced judgment,
 * and the earth feared and was still
 * when God rose up to judge,
 * to save all the lowly of the earth.

Selah
 * Even the wrath of man shall praise You;
 * with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.


 * Make and fulfill your vows to the LORD your God;
 * let all the neighboring lands bring tribute
 * to Him who is to be feared.
 * He breaks the spirits of princes;
 * He is feared by the kings of the earth.

In the Day of Trouble I Sought the LORD


 * I cried out to God;
 * I cried aloud to God to hear me.
 * In the day of trouble I sought the Lord;
 * through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary;
 * my soul refused to be comforted.
 * I remembered You, O God, and I groaned;
 * I mused and my spirit grew faint.

Selah
 * You have kept my eyes from closing;
 * I am too troubled to speak.
 * I considered the days of old,
 * the years long in the past.
 * At night I remembered my song;
 * in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered:


 * “Will the Lord spurn us forever
 * and never show His favor again?
 * Is His loving devotion gone forever?
 * Has His promise failed for all time?
 * Has God forgotten to be gracious?
 * Has His anger shut off His compassion?”

Selah
 * So I said, “I am grieved
 * that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”


 * I will remember the works of the LORD;
 * yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
 * I will reflect on all You have done
 * and ponder Your mighty deeds.
 * Your way, O God, is holy.
 * What god is so great as our God?
 * You are the God who works wonders;
 * You display Your strength among the peoples.
 * With power You redeemed Your people,
 * the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah
 * The waters saw You, O God;
 * the waters saw You and swirled;
 * even the depths were shaken.
 * The clouds poured down water;
 * the skies resounded with thunder;
 * Your arrows flashed back and forth.
 * Your thunder resounded in the whirlwind;
 * the lightning lit up the world;
 * the earth trembled and quaked.


 * Your path led through the sea,
 * Your way through the mighty waters,
 * but Your footprints were not to be found.
 * You led Your people like a flock
 * by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

I Will Open My Mouth in Parables

(Matthew 13:34–35)


 * Give ear, O my people, to my instruction;
 * listen to the words of my mouth.


 * I will open my mouth in parables;
 * I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
 * that we have heard and known
 * and our fathers have relayed to us.
 * We will not hide them from their children,
 * but will declare to the next generation
 * the praises of the LORD and His might,
 * and the wonders He has performed.


 * For He established a testimony in Jacob
 * and appointed a law in Israel,
 * which He commanded our fathers
 * to teach to their children,
 * that the coming generation would know them—
 * even children yet to be born—
 * to arise and tell their own children
 * that they should put their confidence in God,
 * not forgetting His works,
 * but keeping His commandments.
 * Then they will not be like their fathers,
 * a stubborn and rebellious generation,
 * whose heart was not loyal,
 * whose spirit was not faithful to God.


 * The archers of Ephraim
 * turned back on the day of battle.
 * They failed to keep God’s covenant
 * and refused to live by His law.
 * They forgot what He had done,
 * the wonders He had shown them.
 * He worked wonders before their fathers
 * in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
 * He split the sea and brought them through;
 * He set the waters upright like a wall.
 * He led them with a cloud by day
 * and with a light of fire all night.
 * He split the rocks in the wilderness
 * and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
 * He brought streams from the stone
 * and made water flow down like rivers.


 * But they continued to sin against Him,
 * rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
 * They willfully tested God
 * by demanding the food they craved.
 * They spoke against God, saying,
 * “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
 * When He struck the rock, water gushed out
 * and torrents raged.
 * But can He also give bread
 * or supply His people with meat?”


 * Therefore the LORD heard
 * and was filled with wrath;
 * so a fire was kindled against Jacob,
 * and His anger flared against Israel,
 * because they did not believe God
 * or rely on His salvation.


 * Yet He commanded the clouds above
 * and opened the doors of the heavens.
 * He rained down manna for them to eat;
 * He gave them grain from heaven.
 * Man ate the bread of angels;
 * He sent them food in abundance.
 * He stirred the east wind from the heavens
 * and drove the south wind by His might.
 * He rained meat on them like dust,
 * and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
 * He felled them in the midst of their camp,
 * all around their dwellings.
 * So they ate and were well filled,
 * for He gave them what they craved.


 * Yet before they had filled their desire,
 * with the food still in their mouths,
 * God’s anger flared against them,
 * and He put to death their strongest
 * and subdued the young men of Israel.


 * In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
 * despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
 * So He ended their days in futility,
 * and their years in sudden terror.
 * When He slew them, they would seek Him;
 * they repented and searched for God.
 * And they remembered that God was their Rock,
 * that God Most High was their Redeemer.


 * But they deceived Him with their mouths,
 * and lied to Him with their tongues.
 * Their hearts were disloyal to Him,
 * and they were unfaithful to His covenant.


 * And yet He was compassionate;
 * He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them.
 * He often restrained His anger
 * and did not unleash His full wrath.
 * He remembered that they were but flesh,
 * a passing breeze that does not return.


 * How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness
 * and grieved Him in the desert!
 * Again and again they tested God
 * and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
 * They did not remember His power —
 * the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
 * when He performed His signs in Egypt
 * and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.


 * He turned their rivers to blood,
 * and from their streams they could not drink.
 * He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,
 * and frogs that devastated them.
 * He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
 * the fruit of their labor to the locust.
 * He killed their vines with hailstones
 * and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
 * He abandoned their cattle to the hail
 * and their livestock to bolts of lightning.


 * He unleashed His fury against them,
 * wrath, indignation, and calamity—
 * a band of destroying angels.
 * He cleared a path for His anger;
 * He did not spare them from death
 * but delivered their lives to the plague.
 * He struck all the firstborn of Egypt,
 * the virility in the tents of Ham.


 * He led out His people like sheep
 * and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
 * He led them safely, so they did not fear,
 * but the sea engulfed their enemies.
 * He brought them to His holy land,
 * to the mountain His right hand had acquired.
 * He drove out nations before them
 * and apportioned their inheritance;
 * He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.


 * But they tested and disobeyed God Most High,
 * for they did not keep His decrees.
 * They turned back and were faithless like their fathers,
 * twisted like a faulty bow.
 * They enraged Him with their high places
 * and provoked His jealousy with their idols.


 * On hearing it, God was furious
 * and rejected Israel completely.
 * He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
 * the tent He had pitched among men.
 * He delivered His strength to captivity,
 * and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
 * He surrendered His people to the sword
 * because He was enraged by His heritage.
 * Fire consumed His young men,
 * and their maidens were left without wedding songs.
 * His priests fell by the sword,
 * but their widows could not lament.


 * Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
 * like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.
 * He beat back His foes;
 * He put them to everlasting shame.
 * He rejected the tent of Joseph
 * and refused the tribe of Ephraim.
 * But He chose the tribe of Judah,
 * Mount Zion, which He loved.
 * He built His sanctuary like the heights,
 * like the earth He has established forever.


 * He chose David His servant
 * and took him from the sheepfolds;
 * from tending the ewes He brought him
 * to be shepherd of His people Jacob,
 * of Israel His inheritance.
 * So David shepherded them with integrity of heart
 * and guided them with skillful hands.

A Prayer for Deliverance

(Psalm 74:1–23; Jeremiah 52:1–11)


 * The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance;
 * they have defiled Your holy temple
 * and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
 * They have given the corpses of Your servants
 * as food to the birds of the air,
 * the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
 * They have poured out their blood like water
 * all around Jerusalem,
 * and there is no one to bury the dead.
 * We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
 * a scorn and derision to those around us.


 * How long, O LORD?
 * Will You be angry forever?
 * Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
 * Pour out Your wrath on the nations
 * that do not acknowledge You,
 * on the kingdoms
 * that refuse to call on Your name,
 * for they have devoured Jacob
 * and devastated his homeland.


 * Do not hold past sins against us;
 * let Your compassion come quickly,
 * for we are brought low.
 * Help us, O God of our salvation,
 * for the glory of Your name;
 * deliver us and atone for our sins,
 * for the sake of Your name.
 * Why should the nations ask,
 * “Where is their God?”
 * Before our eyes, make known among the nations
 * Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants.


 * May the groans of the captives reach You;
 * by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.
 * Pay back into the laps of our neighbors
 * sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.
 * Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
 * will thank You forever;
 * from generation to generation
 * we will declare Your praise.

Hear Us, O Shepherd of Israel


 * Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
 * who leads Joseph like a flock;
 * You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
 * shine forth

before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
 * Rally Your mighty power
 * and come to save us.
 * Restore us, O God,
 * and cause Your face to shine upon us,
 * that we may be saved.


 * O LORD God of Hosts,
 * how long will Your anger smolder
 * against the prayers of Your people?
 * You fed them with the bread of tears
 * and made them drink the full measure of their tears.
 * You make us contend with our neighbors;
 * our enemies mock us.
 * Restore us, O God of Hosts,
 * and cause Your face to shine upon us,
 * that we may be saved.


 * You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
 * You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
 * You cleared the ground for it,
 * and it took root and filled the land.
 * The mountains were covered by its shade,
 * and the mighty cedars with its branches.
 * It sent out its branches to the Sea,
 * and its shoots toward the River.


 * Why have You broken down its walls,
 * so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
 * The boar from the forest ravages it,
 * and the creatures of the field feed upon it.
 * Return, O God of Hosts, we pray!
 * Look down from heaven and see!
 * Attend to this vine—
 * the root Your right hand has planted,
 * the son You have raised up for Yourself.


 * Your vine has been cut down and burned;
 * they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
 * Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand,
 * on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.
 * Then we will not turn away from You;
 * revive us, and we will call on Your name.
 * Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;
 * cause Your face to shine upon us,
 * that we may be saved.

Sing for Joy to God Our Strength


 * Sing for joy to God our strength;
 * make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.
 * Lift up a song, strike the tambourine,
 * play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre.
 * Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
 * and at the full moon on the day of our Feast.
 * For this is a statute for Israel,
 * an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
 * He ordained it as a testimony for Joseph
 * when he went out over the land of Egypt,
 * where I heard an unfamiliar language:


 * “I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
 * his hands were freed from the basket.
 * You called out in distress, and I rescued you;
 * I answered you from the cloud of thunder;
 * I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Selah
 * Hear, O My people, and I will warn you:
 * O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!
 * There must be no strange god among you,
 * nor shall you bow to a foreign god.
 * I am the LORD your God,
 * who brought you up out of Egypt.
 * Open wide your mouth,
 * and I will fill it.


 * But My people would not listen to Me,
 * and Israel would not obey Me.
 * So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts
 * to follow their own devices.
 * If only My people would listen to Me,
 * if Israel would follow My ways,
 * how soon I would subdue their enemies
 * and turn My hand against their foes!
 * Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience,
 * and their doom would last forever.
 * But I would feed you the finest wheat;
 * with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

God Presides in the Divine Assembly


 * God presides in the divine assembly;
 * He renders judgment among the gods:


 * “How long will you judge unjustly
 * and show partiality to the wicked?

Selah
 * Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
 * uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
 * Rescue the weak and needy;
 * save them from the hand of the wicked.
 * They do not know or understand;
 * they wander in the darkness;
 * all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
 * I have said, ‘You are gods;
 * you are all sons of the Most High.’
 * But like mortals you will die,
 * and like rulers you will fall.”


 * Arise, O God, judge the earth,
 * for all the nations are Your inheritance.

O God, Be Not Silent


 * O God, be not silent; be not speechless;
 * be not still, O God.
 * See how Your enemies rage,
 * how Your foes have reared their heads.
 * With cunning they scheme against Your people
 * and conspire against those You cherish,
 * saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation;
 * may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”


 * For with one mind they plot together,
 * they form an alliance against You—
 * the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
 * of Moab and the Hagrites,
 * of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
 * of Philistia with the people of Tyre.
 * Even Assyria has joined them,
 * lending strength to the sons of Lot.

Selah
 * Do to them as You did to Midian,
 * as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,
 * who perished at Endor
 * and became like dung on the ground.
 * Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
 * and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
 * who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
 * the pastures of God.”


 * Make them like tumbleweed, O my God,
 * like chaff before the wind.
 * As fire consumes a forest,
 * as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
 * so pursue them with Your tempest,
 * and terrify them with Your storm.
 * Cover their faces with shame,
 * that they may seek Your name, O LORD.


 * May they be ever ashamed and terrified;
 * may they perish in disgrace.
 * May they know that You alone,
 * whose name is the LORD,
 * are Most High over all the earth.

Better Is One Day in Your Courts

(John 1:14–18)


 * How lovely is Your dwelling place,
 * O LORD of Hosts!
 * My soul longs, even faints,
 * for the courts of the LORD;
 * my heart and my flesh cry out
 * for the living God.


 * Even the sparrow has found a home,
 * and the swallow a nest for herself,
 * where she places her young near Your altars,
 * O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.
 * How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
 * They are ever praising You.

Selah
 * Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
 * whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
 * As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
 * they make it a place of springs;
 * even the autumn rain covers it with pools.
 * They go from strength to strength,
 * until each appears before God in Zion.


 * O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer;
 * give ear, O God of Jacob.

Selah
 * Take notice of our shield, O God,
 * and look with favor on the face of Your anointed.
 * For better is one day in Your courts
 * than a thousand elsewhere.
 * I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
 * than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
 * For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;
 * the LORD gives grace and glory;
 * He withholds no good thing
 * from those who walk with integrity.


 * O LORD of Hosts,
 * how blessed is the man who trusts in You!

You Showed Favor to Your Land


 * You showed favor to Your land, O LORD;
 * You restored Jacob from captivity.
 * You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
 * You covered all their sin.

Selah
 * You withheld all Your fury;
 * You turned from Your burning anger.


 * Restore us, O God of our salvation,
 * and put away Your displeasure toward us.
 * Will You be angry with us forever?
 * Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?
 * Will You not revive us again,
 * that Your people may rejoice in You?
 * Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD,
 * and grant us Your salvation.


 * I will listen to what God the LORD will say;
 * for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints;
 * He will not let them return to folly.
 * Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
 * that His glory may dwell in our land.


 * Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together;
 * righteousness and peace have kissed.
 * Faithfulness sprouts from the earth,
 * and righteousness looks down from heaven.
 * The LORD will indeed provide what is good,
 * and our land will yield its increase.
 * Righteousness will go before Him
 * to prepare the way for His steps.

Tried but Trusting


 * Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
 * for I am poor and needy.
 * Preserve my soul, for I am godly.
 * You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.
 * Be merciful to me, O Lord,
 * for I call to You all day long.
 * Bring joy to Your servant,
 * for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.


 * For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving,
 * rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
 * Hear my prayer, O LORD,
 * and attend to my plea for mercy.
 * In the day of my distress I call on You,
 * because You answer me.


 * O Lord, there is none like You among the gods,
 * nor any works like Yours.
 * All the nations You have made
 * will come and bow before You, O Lord,
 * and they will glorify Your name.
 * For You are great and perform wonders;
 * You alone are God.


 * Teach me Your way, O LORD,
 * that I may walk in Your truth.
 * Give me an undivided heart,
 * that I may fear Your name.
 * I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
 * I will glorify Your name forever.
 * For great is Your loving devotion to me;
 * You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.


 * The arrogant rise against me, O God;
 * a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
 * with no regard for You.
 * But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
 * slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.


 * Turn to me and have mercy;
 * grant Your strength to Your servant;
 * save the son of Your maidservant.
 * Show me a sign of Your goodness,
 * that my enemies may see and be ashamed;
 * for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

The LORD Loves the Gates of Zion


 * He has founded His city
 * on the holy mountains.
 * The LORD loves the gates of Zion
 * more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
 * Glorious things are ascribed to you,
 * O city of God.

Selah
 * “I will mention Rahab and Babylon
 * among those who know Me—
 * along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush —
 * when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”


 * And it will be said of Zion:
 * “This one and that one were born in her,
 * and the Most High Himself will establish her.”


 * The LORD will record in the register of the peoples:
 * “This one was born in Zion.”

Selah
 * Singers and pipers will proclaim,
 * “All my springs of joy are in You.”

I Cry Out before You


 * O LORD, the God of my salvation,
 * day and night I cry out before You.
 * May my prayer come before You;
 * incline Your ear to my cry.
 * For my soul is full of troubles,
 * and my life draws near to Sheol.
 * I am counted among those descending to the Pit.
 * I am like a man without strength.


 * I am forsaken among the dead,
 * like the slain who lie in the grave,
 * whom You remember no more,
 * who are cut off from Your care.


 * You have laid me in the lowest Pit,
 * in the darkest of the depths.
 * Your wrath weighs heavily upon me;
 * all Your waves have submerged me.

Selah
 * You have removed my friends from me;
 * You have made me repulsive to them;
 * I am confined and cannot escape.
 * My eyes grow dim with grief.
 * I call to You daily, O LORD;
 * I spread out my hands to You.
 * Do You work wonders for the dead?
 * Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?

Selah
 * Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave,
 * Your faithfulness in Abaddon ?
 * Will Your wonders be known in the darkness,
 * or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?


 * But to You, O LORD, I cry for help;
 * in the morning my prayer comes before You.
 * Why, O LORD, do You reject me?
 * Why do You hide Your face from me?


 * From my youth I was afflicted and near death.
 * I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
 * Your wrath has swept over me;
 * Your terrors have destroyed me.
 * All day long they engulf me like water;
 * they enclose me on every side.
 * You have removed my beloved and my friend;
 * darkness is my closest companion.

I Will Sing of His Love Forever


 * I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever;
 * with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations.
 * For I have said, “Loving devotion is built up forever;
 * in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”


 * You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one,
 * I have sworn to David My servant:
 * ‘I will establish your offspring forever
 * and build up your throne for all generations.’”

Selah
 * The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD—
 * Your faithfulness as well—
 * in the assembly of the holy ones.
 * For who in the skies can compare with the LORD?
 * Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?
 * In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared,
 * and awesome above all who surround Him.


 * O LORD God of Hosts, who is like You?
 * O mighty LORD, Your faithfulness surrounds You.
 * You rule the raging sea;
 * when its waves mount up, You still them.
 * You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
 * You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
 * The heavens are Yours, and also the earth.
 * The earth and its fullness You founded.
 * North and south You created;
 * Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.


 * Mighty is Your arm; strong is Your hand.
 * Your right hand is exalted.
 * Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
 * loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.


 * Blessed are those who know the joyful sound,
 * who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.
 * They rejoice in Your name all day long,
 * and in Your righteousness they exult.
 * For You are the glory of their strength,
 * and by Your favor our horn is exalted.
 * Surely our shield belongs to the LORD,
 * and our king to the Holy One of Israel.


 * You once spoke in a vision;
 * to Your godly ones You said,
 * “I have bestowed help on a warrior;
 * I have exalted one chosen from the people.
 * I have found My servant David;
 * with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
 * My hand will sustain him;
 * surely My arm will strengthen him.


 * No enemy will exact tribute;
 * no wicked man will oppress him.
 * I will crush his foes before him
 * and strike down those who hate him.
 * My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him,
 * and through My name his horn will be exalted.
 * I will set his hand over the sea,
 * and his right hand upon the rivers.
 * He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father,
 * my God, the Rock of my salvation.’


 * I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn,
 * the highest of the kings of the earth.
 * I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him,
 * and My covenant with him will stand fast.
 * I will establish his line forever,
 * his throne as long as the heavens endure.


 * If his sons forsake My law
 * and do not walk in My judgments,
 * if they violate My statutes
 * and fail to keep My commandments,
 * I will attend to their transgression with the rod,
 * and to their iniquity with stripes.


 * But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him,
 * nor ever betray My faithfulness.
 * I will not violate My covenant
 * or alter the utterance of My lips.
 * Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness—
 * I will not lie to David—
 * his offspring shall endure forever,
 * and his throne before Me like the sun,
 * like the moon, established forever,
 * a faithful witness in the sky.”

Selah
 * Now, however, You have spurned and rejected him;
 * You are enraged by Your anointed one.
 * You have renounced the covenant with Your servant
 * and sullied his crown in the dust.
 * You have broken down all his walls;
 * You have reduced his strongholds to rubble.
 * All who pass by plunder him;
 * he has become a reproach to his neighbors.


 * You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
 * You have made all his enemies rejoice.
 * You have bent the edge of his sword
 * and have not sustained him in battle.
 * You have ended his splendor
 * and cast his throne to the ground.
 * You have cut short the days of his youth;
 * You have covered him with shame.

Selah
 * How long, O LORD?
 * Will You hide Yourself forever?
 * Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
 * Remember the briefness of my lifespan!
 * For what futility You have created all men!
 * What man can live and never see death?
 * Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?

Selah
 * Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old,
 * which You faithfully swore to David?
 * Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants,
 * which I bear in my heart from so many people—
 * how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD,
 * and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!


 * Blessed be the LORD forever!


 * Amen and amen.

From Everlasting to Everlasting


 * Lord, You have been our dwelling place
 * through all generations.
 * Before the mountains were born
 * or You brought forth the earth and the world,
 * from everlasting to everlasting
 * You are God.


 * You return man to dust,
 * saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”
 * For in Your sight a thousand years
 * are but a day that passes,
 * or a watch of the night.
 * You whisk them away in their sleep;
 * they are like the new grass of the morning—
 * in the morning it springs up new,
 * but by evening it fades and withers.


 * For we are consumed by Your anger
 * and terrified by Your wrath.
 * You have set our iniquities before You,
 * our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
 * For all our days decline in Your fury;
 * we finish our years with a sigh.
 * The length of our days is seventy years—
 * or eighty if we are strong—
 * yet their pride is but labor and sorrow,
 * for they quickly pass, and we fly away.


 * Who knows the power of Your anger?
 * Your wrath matches the fear You are due.
 * So teach us to number our days,
 * that we may present a heart of wisdom.


 * Return, O LORD! How long will it be?
 * Have compassion on Your servants.
 * Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion,
 * that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
 * Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us,
 * for as many years as we have seen evil.


 * May Your work be shown to Your servants,
 * and Your splendor to their children.
 * May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
 * establish for us the work of our hands—
 * yes, establish the work of our hands!

You Are My Refuge and My Fortress


 * He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
 * will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
 * I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress,
 * my God, in whom I trust.”


 * Surely He will deliver you
 * from the snare of the fowler,
 * and from the deadly plague.
 * He will cover you with His feathers;
 * under His wings you will find refuge;
 * His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
 * You will not fear the terror of the night,
 * nor the arrow that flies by day,
 * nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
 * nor the calamity that destroys at noon.
 * Though a thousand may fall at your side,
 * and ten thousand at your right hand,
 * no harm will come near you.
 * You will only see it with your eyes
 * and witness the punishment of the wicked.


 * Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—
 * my refuge, the Most High—
 * no evil will befall you,
 * no plague will approach your tent.
 * For He will command His angels concerning you
 * to guard you in all your ways.
 * They will lift you up in their hands,
 * so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
 * You will tread on the lion and cobra;
 * you will trample the young lion and serpent.


 * “Because he loves Me, I will deliver him;
 * because he knows My name, I will protect him.
 * When he calls out to Me,
 * I will answer him;
 * I will be with him in trouble.
 * I will deliver him and honor him.
 * With long life I will satisfy him
 * and show him My salvation.”

How Great Are Your Works!


 * It is good to praise the LORD,
 * and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,
 * to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning
 * and Your faithfulness at night
 * with the ten-stringed harp
 * and the melody of the lyre.


 * For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds;
 * I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
 * How great are Your works, O LORD,
 * how deep are Your thoughts!
 * A senseless man does not know,
 * and a fool does not understand,
 * that though the wicked sprout like grass,
 * and all evildoers flourish,
 * they will be forever destroyed.


 * But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!


 * For surely Your enemies, O LORD,
 * surely Your enemies will perish;
 * all evildoers will be scattered.
 * But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
 * with fine oil I have been anointed.
 * My eyes see the downfall of my enemies;
 * my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.


 * The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
 * and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
 * Planted in the house of the LORD,
 * they will flourish in the courts of our God.
 * In old age they will still bear fruit;
 * healthy and green they will remain,
 * to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock,
 * and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”

The LORD Reigns!

(Psalm 99:1–9)


 * The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty;
 * the LORD has clothed and armed Himself with strength.
 * The world indeed is firmly established;
 * it cannot be moved.
 * Your throne was established long ago;
 * You are from all eternity.


 * The floodwaters have risen, O LORD;
 * the rivers have raised their voice;
 * the seas lift up their pounding waves.
 * Above the roar of many waters—
 * the mighty breakers of the sea—
 * the LORD on high is majestic.


 * Your testimonies are fully confirmed;
 * holiness adorns Your house, O LORD,
 * for all the days to come.

The LORD Will Not Forget His People


 * O LORD, God of vengeance,
 * O God of vengeance, shine forth.
 * Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
 * render a reward to the proud.
 * How long will the wicked, O LORD,
 * how long will the wicked exult?


 * They pour out arrogant words;
 * all workers of iniquity boast.
 * They crush Your people, O LORD;
 * they oppress Your heritage.
 * They kill the widow and the foreigner;
 * they murder the fatherless.
 * They say, “The LORD does not see;
 * the God of Jacob pays no heed.”


 * Take notice, O senseless among the people!
 * O fools, when will you be wise?
 * He who affixed the ear, can He not hear?
 * He who formed the eye, can He not see?
 * He who admonishes the nations, does He not discipline?
 * He who teaches man, does He lack knowledge?
 * The LORD knows the thoughts of man,
 * that they are futile.


 * Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD,
 * and teach from Your law,
 * to grant him relief from days of trouble,
 * until a pit is dug for the wicked.
 * For the LORD will not forsake His people;
 * He will never abandon His heritage.
 * Surely judgment will again be righteous,
 * and all the upright in heart will follow it.


 * Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
 * Who will stand for me against the workers of iniquity?
 * Unless the LORD had been my helper,
 * I would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
 * If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
 * Your loving devotion, O LORD, supports me.
 * When anxiety overwhelms me,
 * Your consolation delights my soul.


 * Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—
 * one devising mischief by decree?
 * They band together against the righteous
 * and condemn the innocent to death.
 * But the LORD has been my stronghold,
 * and my God is my rock of refuge.
 * He will bring upon them their own iniquity
 * and destroy them for their wickedness.
 * The LORD our God will destroy them.

Do Not Harden Your Hearts

(Hebrews 3:7–11)


 * Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
 * let us shout to the Rock of our salvation!
 * Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
 * let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.


 * For the LORD is a great God,
 * a great King above all gods.
 * In His hand are the depths of the earth,
 * and the mountain peaks belong to Him.
 * The sea is His, for He made it,
 * and His hands formed the dry land.


 * O come, let us worship and bow down;
 * let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
 * For He is our God,
 * and we are the people of His pasture,
 * the sheep under His care.


 * Today, if you hear His voice,
 * do not harden your hearts
 * as you did at Meribah,
 * in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
 * where your fathers tested and tried Me,
 * though they had seen My work.
 * For forty years I was angry with that generation,
 * and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
 * and they have not known My ways.”
 * So I swore on oath in My anger,
 * “They shall never enter My rest.”

Sing to the LORD, All the Earth

(1 Chronicles 16:23–36)


 * Sing to the LORD a new song;
 * sing to the LORD, all the earth.
 * Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
 * proclaim His salvation day after day.
 * Declare His glory among the nations,
 * His wonderful deeds among all peoples.


 * For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
 * He is to be feared above all gods.
 * For all the gods of the nations are idols,
 * but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
 * Splendor and majesty are before Him;
 * strength and beauty fill His sanctuary.


 * Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the nations,
 * ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
 * Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;
 * bring an offering and enter His courts.
 * Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness;
 * tremble before Him, all the earth.


 * Declare among the nations: “The LORD reigns!”
 * The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved;
 * He will judge the peoples with equity.


 * Let the heavens be glad
 * and the earth rejoice;
 * let the sea resound,
 * and all that fills it.
 * Let the fields exult,
 * and all that is in them.
 * Then all the trees of the forest
 * will sing for joy

before the LORD,
 * for He is coming—
 * He is coming to judge the earth.
 * He will judge the world in righteousness
 * and the peoples in His faithfulness.

Let the Earth Rejoice


 * The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
 * let the distant shores be glad.


 * Clouds and darkness surround Him;
 * righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
 * Fire goes before Him
 * and consumes His foes on every side.
 * His lightning illuminates the world;
 * the earth sees and trembles.
 * The mountains melt like wax
 * at the presence of the LORD,
 * before the Lord of all the earth.
 * The heavens proclaim His righteousness;
 * all the peoples see His glory.


 * All worshipers of images are put to shame—
 * those who boast in idols.
 * Worship Him, all you gods!
 * Zion hears and rejoices,
 * and the towns of Judah exult
 * because of Your judgments, O LORD.
 * For You, O LORD, are Most High over all the earth;
 * You are exalted far above all gods.


 * Hate evil, O you who love the LORD!
 * He preserves the souls of His saints;
 * He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
 * Light shines on the righteous,
 * gladness on the upright in heart.
 * Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous ones,
 * and praise His holy name.

Sing to the LORD a New Song

(Psalm 149:1–9; Isaiah 42:10–17)


 * Sing to the LORD a new song,
 * for He has done wonders;
 * His right hand and holy arm
 * have gained Him the victory.
 * The LORD has proclaimed His salvation
 * and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
 * He has remembered His love and faithfulness
 * to the house of Israel;
 * all the ends of the earth
 * have seen the salvation of our God.


 * Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
 * break forth—let your cry ring out, and sing praises!
 * Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
 * in melodious song with the harp.
 * With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn
 * shout for joy before the LORD, the King.


 * Let the sea resound, and all that fills it,
 * the world, and all who dwell in it.
 * Let the rivers clap their hands,
 * let the mountains sing together for joy
 * before the LORD,
 * for He comes to judge the earth.
 * He will judge the world with righteousness
 * and the peoples with equity.

The LORD Reigns!

(Psalm 93:1–5)


 * The LORD reigns;
 * let the nations tremble!
 * He is enthroned above the cherubim;
 * let the earth quake!
 * Great is the LORD in Zion;
 * He is exalted above all the peoples.
 * Let them praise Your great and awesome name—
 * He is holy!


 * The mighty King loves justice.
 * You have established equity;
 * You have exercised justice
 * and righteousness in Jacob.
 * Exalt the LORD our God,
 * and worship at His footstool;
 * He is holy!


 * Moses and Aaron were among His priests;
 * Samuel was among those who called on His name.
 * They called to the LORD and He answered.
 * He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
 * they kept His decrees and the statutes He gave them.
 * O LORD our God, You answered them.
 * You were a forgiving God to them,
 * yet an avenger of their misdeeds.


 * Exalt the LORD our God
 * and worship at His holy mountain,
 * for the LORD our God is holy.

Make a Joyful Noise

(Psalm 66:1–20)


 * Make a joyful noise to the LORD,
 * all the earth.


 * Serve the LORD with gladness;
 * come into His presence with joyful songs.
 * Know that the LORD is God.
 * It is He who made us, and we are His;
 * we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
 * Enter His gates with thanksgiving
 * and His courts with praise;
 * give thanks to Him and bless His name.


 * For the LORD is good,
 * and His loving devotion endures forever;
 * His faithfulness continues to all generations.

I Will Set No Worthless Thing before My Eyes


 * I will sing of Your loving devotion and justice;
 * to You, O LORD, I will sing praises.


 * I will ponder the way that is blameless—
 * when will You come to me?
 * I will walk in my house
 * with integrity of heart.
 * I will set no worthless thing
 * before my eyes.
 * I hate the work of those who fall away;
 * it shall not cling to me.
 * A perverse heart shall depart from me;
 * I will know nothing of evil.


 * Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,
 * I will put to silence;
 * the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart,
 * I will not endure.
 * My eyes favor the faithful of the land,
 * that they may dwell with me;
 * he who walks in the way of integrity
 * shall minister to me.


 * No one who practices deceit
 * shall dwell in my house;
 * no one who tells lies
 * shall stand in my presence.
 * Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land,
 * that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

The Prayer of the Afflicted


 * Hear my prayer, O LORD;
 * let my cry for help come before You.
 * Do not hide Your face from me
 * in my day of distress.
 * Incline Your ear to me;
 * answer me quickly when I call.


 * For my days vanish like smoke,
 * and my bones burn like glowing embers.
 * My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass;
 * I even forget to eat my bread.
 * Through my loud groaning
 * my flesh clings to my bones.
 * I am like a desert owl,
 * like an owl among the ruins.
 * I lie awake;
 * I am like a lone bird on a housetop.


 * All day long my enemies taunt me;
 * they ridicule me and curse me.
 * For I have eaten ashes like bread
 * and mixed my drink with tears
 * because of Your indignation and wrath,
 * for You have picked me up and cast me aside.
 * My days are like lengthening shadows,
 * and I wither away like grass.


 * But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;
 * Your renown endures to all generations.
 * You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
 * for it is time to show her favor—
 * the appointed time has come.
 * For Your servants delight in her stones
 * and take pity on her dust.


 * So the nations will fear the name of the LORD,
 * and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.
 * For the LORD will rebuild Zion;
 * He has appeared in His glory.
 * He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute;
 * He will not despise their prayer.


 * Let this be written for the generation to come,
 * so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.
 * For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary;
 * the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth
 * to hear a prisoner’s groaning,
 * to release those condemned to death,
 * that they may proclaim the name of the LORD in Zion
 * and praise Him in Jerusalem,
 * when peoples and kingdoms assemble
 * to serve the LORD.


 * He has broken my strength on the way;
 * He has cut short my days.
 * I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days!
 * Your years go on through all generations.
 * In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth,
 * and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
 * They will perish, but You remain;
 * they will all wear out like a garment.
 * Like clothing You will change them,
 * and they will be passed on.
 * But You remain the same,
 * and Your years will never end.
 * The children of Your servants will dwell securely,
 * and their descendants will be established before You.”

Bless the LORD, O My Soul


 * Bless the LORD, O my soul;
 * all that is within me, bless His holy name.
 * Bless the LORD, O my soul,
 * and do not forget all His kind deeds—
 * He who forgives all your iniquities
 * and heals all your diseases,
 * who redeems your life from the Pit
 * and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,
 * who satisfies you with good things,
 * so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.


 * The LORD executes righteousness
 * and justice for all the oppressed.
 * He made known His ways to Moses,
 * His deeds to the people of Israel.
 * The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
 * slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
 * He will not always accuse us,
 * nor harbor His anger forever.
 * He has not dealt with us according to our sins
 * or repaid us according to our iniquities.


 * For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
 * so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
 * As far as the east is from the west,
 * so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
 * As a father has compassion on his children,
 * so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
 * For He knows our frame;
 * He is mindful that we are dust.


 * As for man, his days are like grass—
 * he blooms like a flower of the field;
 * when the wind passes over, it vanishes,
 * and its place remembers it no more.
 * But from everlasting to everlasting
 * the loving devotion of the LORD
 * extends to those who fear Him,
 * and His righteousness to their children’s children—
 * to those who keep His covenant
 * and remember to obey His precepts.
 * The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
 * and His kingdom rules over all.


 * Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength
 * who carry out His word,
 * who hearken to the voice of His command.
 * Bless the LORD, all His hosts,
 * you servants who do His will.
 * Bless the LORD, all His works
 * in all places of His dominion.


 * Bless the LORD, O my soul!

How Many Are Your Works, O LORD!


 * Bless the LORD, O my soul!


 * O LORD my God, You are very great;
 * You are clothed with splendor and majesty.
 * He wraps Himself in light as with a garment;
 * He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
 * laying the beams of His chambers
 * in the waters above,
 * making the clouds His chariot,
 * walking on the wings of the wind.
 * He makes the winds His messengers,
 * flames of fire His servants.


 * He set the earth on its foundations,
 * never to be moved.
 * You covered it with the deep like a garment;
 * the waters stood above the mountains.
 * At Your rebuke the waters fled;
 * at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away—
 * the mountains rose and the valleys sank
 * to the place You assigned for them—
 * You set a boundary they cannot cross,
 * that they may never again cover the earth.


 * He sends forth springs in the valleys;
 * they flow between the mountains.
 * They give drink to every beast of the field;
 * the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
 * The birds of the air nest beside the springs;
 * they sing among the branches.
 * He waters the mountains from His chambers;
 * the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.


 * He makes the grass grow for the livestock
 * and provides crops for man to cultivate,
 * bringing forth food from the earth:
 * wine that gladdens the heart of man,
 * oil that makes his face to shine,
 * and bread that sustains his heart.
 * The trees of the LORD have their fill,
 * the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,
 * where the birds build their nests;
 * the stork makes her home in the cypresses.
 * The high mountains are for the wild goats,
 * the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.


 * He made the moon to mark the seasons;
 * the sun knows when to set.
 * You bring darkness, and it becomes night,
 * when all the beasts of the forest prowl.
 * The young lions roar for their prey
 * and seek their food from God.
 * The sun rises, and they withdraw;
 * they lie down in their dens.
 * Man goes forth to his work
 * and to his labor until evening.


 * How many are Your works, O LORD!
 * In wisdom You have made them all;
 * the earth is full of Your creatures.
 * Here is the sea, vast and wide,
 * teeming with creatures beyond number,
 * living things both great and small.
 * There the ships pass,
 * and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.


 * All creatures look to You
 * to give them their food in due season.
 * When You give it to them,
 * they gather it up;
 * when You open Your hand,
 * they are satisfied with good things.
 * When You hide Your face,
 * they are terrified;
 * when You take away their breath,
 * they die and return to dust.
 * When You send Your Spirit,
 * they are created,
 * and You renew
 * the face of the earth.


 * May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
 * may the LORD rejoice in His works.
 * He looks on the earth,
 * and it trembles;
 * He touches the mountains,
 * and they smolder.
 * I will sing to the LORD all my life;
 * I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
 * May my meditation be pleasing to Him,
 * for I rejoice in the LORD.
 * May sinners vanish from the earth
 * and the wicked be no more.


 * Bless the LORD, O my soul.


 * Hallelujah!

Tell of His Wonders

(1 Chronicles 16:7–22)


 * Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;
 * make known His deeds among the nations.
 * Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
 * tell of all His wonders.
 * Glory in His holy name;
 * let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
 * Seek out the LORD and His strength;
 * seek His face always.
 * Remember the wonders He has done,
 * His marvels, and the judgments He has pronounced,
 * O offspring of His servant Abraham,
 * O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.


 * He is the LORD our God;
 * His judgments carry throughout the earth.
 * He remembers His covenant forever,
 * the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
 * the covenant He made with Abraham,
 * and the oath He swore to Isaac.
 * He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
 * to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
 * “I will give you the land of Canaan
 * as the portion of your inheritance.”


 * When they were few in number,
 * few indeed, and strangers in the land,
 * they wandered from nation to nation,
 * from one kingdom to another.
 * He let no man oppress them;
 * He rebuked kings on their behalf:
 * “Do not touch My anointed ones!
 * Do no harm to My prophets!”


 * He called down famine on the land
 * and cut off all their supplies of food.
 * He sent a man before them—
 * Joseph, sold as a slave.
 * They bruised his feet with shackles
 * and placed his neck in irons,
 * until his prediction came true
 * and the word of the LORD proved him right.
 * The king sent and released him;
 * the ruler of peoples set him free.
 * He made him master of his household,
 * ruler over all his substance,
 * to instruct his princes as he pleased
 * and teach his elders wisdom.


 * Then Israel entered Egypt;
 * Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
 * And the LORD made His people very fruitful,
 * more numerous than their foes,
 * whose hearts He turned to hate His people,
 * to conspire against His servants.
 * He sent Moses His servant,
 * and Aaron, whom He had chosen.
 * They performed His miraculous signs among them,
 * and wonders in the land of Ham.
 * He sent darkness, and it became dark—
 * yet they defied His words.


 * He turned their waters to blood
 * and caused their fish to die.
 * Their land teemed with frogs,
 * even in their royal chambers.
 * He spoke, and insects swarmed—
 * gnats throughout their country.
 * He gave them hail for rain,
 * with lightning throughout their land.
 * He struck their vines and fig trees
 * and shattered the trees of their country.
 * He spoke, and the locusts came—
 * young locusts without number.
 * They devoured every plant in their land
 * and consumed the produce of their soil.
 * Then He struck all the firstborn in their land,
 * the firstfruits of all their vigor.


 * He brought Israel out with silver and gold,
 * and none among His tribes stumbled.
 * Egypt was glad when they departed,
 * for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.
 * He spread a cloud as a covering
 * and a fire to light up the night.
 * They asked, and He brought quail
 * and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
 * He opened a rock, and water gushed out;
 * it flowed like a river in the desert.
 * For He remembered His holy promise
 * to Abraham His servant.
 * He brought forth His people with rejoicing,
 * His chosen with shouts of joy.
 * He gave them the lands of the nations,
 * that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,
 * that they might keep His statutes
 * and obey His laws.


 * Hallelujah!

Give Thanks to the LORD, for He Is Good


 * Hallelujah!


 * Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
 * His loving devotion endures forever.
 * Who can describe the mighty acts of the LORD
 * or fully proclaim His praise?
 * Blessed are those who uphold justice,
 * who practice righteousness at all times.


 * Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people;
 * visit me with Your salvation,
 * that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,
 * and rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
 * and give glory with Your inheritance.


 * We have sinned like our fathers;
 * we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
 * Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders
 * or remember Your abundant kindness;
 * but they rebelled by the sea,
 * there at the Red Sea.
 * Yet He saved them for the sake of His name,
 * to make His power known.
 * He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
 * He led them through the depths as through a desert.
 * He saved them from the hand that hated them;
 * He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
 * The waters covered their foes;
 * not one of them remained.
 * Then they believed His promises
 * and sang His praise.


 * Yet they soon forgot His works
 * and failed to wait for His counsel.
 * They craved intensely in the wilderness
 * and tested God in the desert.
 * So He granted their request,
 * but sent a wasting disease upon them.


 * In the camp they envied Moses,
 * as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.
 * The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
 * it covered the assembly of Abiram.
 * Then fire blazed through their company;
 * flames consumed the wicked.


 * At Horeb they made a calf
 * and worshiped a molten image.
 * They exchanged their Glory
 * for the image of a grass-eating ox.
 * They forgot God their Savior,
 * who did great things in Egypt,
 * wondrous works in the land of Ham,
 * and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
 * So He said He would destroy them—
 * had not Moses His chosen one
 * stood before Him in the breach
 * to divert His wrath from destroying them.


 * They despised the pleasant land;
 * they did not believe His promise.
 * They grumbled in their tents
 * and did not listen to the voice of the LORD.
 * So He raised His hand and swore
 * to cast them down in the wilderness,
 * to disperse their offspring among the nations
 * and scatter them throughout the lands.


 * They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor
 * and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
 * So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds,
 * and a plague broke out among them.
 * But Phinehas stood and intervened,
 * and the plague was restrained.
 * It was credited to him as righteousness
 * for endless generations to come.


 * At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD,
 * and trouble came to Moses because of them.
 * For they rebelled against His Spirit,
 * and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.


 * They did not destroy the peoples
 * as the LORD had commanded them,
 * but they mingled with the nations
 * and adopted their customs.
 * They worshiped their idols,
 * which became a snare to them.
 * They sacrificed their sons
 * and their daughters to demons.
 * They shed innocent blood—
 * the blood of their sons and daughters,
 * whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
 * and the land was polluted with blood.
 * They defiled themselves by their actions
 * and prostituted themselves by their deeds.


 * So the anger of the LORD burned against His people,
 * and He abhorred His own inheritance.
 * He delivered them into the hand of the nations,
 * and those who hated them ruled over them.
 * Their enemies oppressed them,
 * and subdued them under their hand.
 * Many times He rescued them,
 * but they were bent on rebellion
 * and sank down in their iniquity.


 * Nevertheless He heard their cry;
 * He took note of their distress.
 * And He remembered His covenant with them,
 * and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
 * He made them objects of compassion
 * to all who held them captive.


 * Save us, O LORD our God,
 * and gather us from the nations,
 * that we may give thanks to Your holy name,
 * that we may glory in Your praise.


 * Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
 * from everlasting to everlasting.


 * Let all the people say, “Amen!”


 * Hallelujah!

Thanksgiving for Deliverance

(Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25)


 * Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
 * His loving devotion endures forever.
 * Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
 * whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
 * and gathered from the lands,
 * from east and west, from north and south.


 * Some wandered in desert wastelands,
 * finding no path to a city in which to dwell.
 * They were hungry and thirsty;
 * their soul fainted within them.
 * Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
 * and He delivered them from their distress.
 * He led them on a straight path
 * to reach a city where they could live.
 * Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
 * and His wonders to the sons of men.
 * For He satisfies the thirsty
 * and fills the hungry with good things.


 * Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
 * prisoners in affliction and chains,
 * because they rebelled against the words of God
 * and despised the counsel of the Most High.
 * He humbled their hearts with hard labor;
 * they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
 * Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
 * and He saved them from their distress.
 * He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
 * and broke away their chains.
 * Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
 * and His wonders to the sons of men.
 * For He has broken down the gates of bronze
 * and cut through the bars of iron.


 * Fools, in their rebellious ways,
 * and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.
 * They loathed all food
 * and drew near to the gates of death.
 * Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
 * and He saved them from their distress.
 * He sent forth His word and healed them;
 * He rescued them from the Pit.
 * Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
 * and His wonders to the sons of men.
 * Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
 * and declare His works with rejoicing.


 * Others went out to sea in ships,
 * conducting trade on the mighty waters.
 * They saw the works of the LORD,
 * and His wonders in the deep.
 * For He spoke and raised a tempest
 * that lifted the waves of the sea.
 * They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths;
 * their courage melted in their anguish.
 * They reeled and staggered like drunkards,
 * and all their skill was useless.


 * Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
 * and He brought them out of their distress.
 * He calmed the storm to a whisper,
 * and the waves of the sea were hushed.
 * They rejoiced in the silence,
 * and He guided them to the harbor they desired.
 * Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
 * and His wonders to the sons of men.
 * Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people
 * and praise Him in the council of the elders.


 * He turns rivers into deserts,
 * springs of water into thirsty ground,
 * and fruitful land into fields of salt,
 * because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
 * He turns a desert into pools of water
 * and a dry land into flowing springs.
 * He causes the hungry to settle there,
 * that they may establish a city in which to dwell.
 * They sow fields and plant vineyards
 * that yield a fruitful harvest.
 * He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
 * He does not let their herds diminish.


 * When they are decreased and humbled
 * by oppression, evil, and sorrow,
 * He pours out contempt on the nobles
 * and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
 * But He lifts the needy from affliction
 * and increases their families like flocks.
 * The upright see and rejoice,
 * and all iniquity shuts its mouth.


 * Let him who is wise pay heed to these things
 * and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.

Israel’s Kingdom Blessing

(Psalm 57:1–11; Psalm 60:1–12)


 * My heart is steadfast, O God;
 * I will sing and make music with all my being.
 * Awake, O harp and lyre!
 * I will awaken the dawn.
 * I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations;
 * I will sing Your praises among the peoples.
 * For Your loving devotion extends beyond the heavens,
 * and Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
 * Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
 * may Your glory cover all the earth.
 * Respond and save us with Your right hand,
 * that Your beloved may be delivered.


 * God has spoken from His sanctuary:
 * “I will triumph!
 * I will parcel out Shechem
 * and apportion the Valley of Succoth.
 * Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
 * Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.
 * Moab is My washbasin;
 * upon Edom I toss My sandal;
 * over Philistia I shout in triumph.”


 * Who will bring me to the fortified city?
 * Who will lead me to Edom?
 * Have You not rejected us, O God?
 * Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies?
 * Give us aid against the enemy,
 * for the help of man is worthless.
 * With God we will perform with valor,
 * and He will trample our enemies.

The Song of the Slandered


 * O God of my praise,
 * be not silent.
 * For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me;
 * they speak against me with lying tongues.
 * They surround me with hateful words
 * and attack me without cause.
 * In return for my love they accuse me,
 * but I am a man of prayer.
 * They repay me evil for good,
 * and hatred for my love.


 * Set over him a wicked man;
 * let an accuser stand at his right hand.
 * When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
 * and may his prayer be regarded as sin.
 * May his days be few;
 * may another take his position.
 * May his children be fatherless
 * and his wife a widow.
 * May his children wander as beggars,
 * seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
 * May the creditor seize all he owns,
 * and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
 * May there be no one to extend kindness to him,
 * and no one to favor his fatherless children.
 * May his descendants be cut off;
 * may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
 * May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
 * and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
 * May their sins always remain before the LORD,
 * that He may cut off their memory from the earth.


 * For he never thought to show kindness,
 * but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted,
 * even to their death.
 * The cursing that he loved,
 * may it fall on him;
 * the blessing in which he refused to delight,
 * may it be far from him.
 * The cursing that he wore like a coat,
 * may it soak into his body like water,
 * and into his bones like oil.
 * May it be like a robe wrapped about him,
 * like a belt tied forever around him.
 * May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers,
 * to those who speak evil against me.


 * But You, O GOD, the Lord,
 * deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name;
 * deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.
 * For I am poor and needy;
 * my heart is wounded within me.
 * I am fading away like a lengthening shadow;
 * I am shaken off like a locust.
 * My knees are weak from fasting,
 * and my body grows lean and gaunt.
 * I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
 * when they see me, they shake their heads.


 * Help me, O LORD my God;
 * save me according to Your loving devotion.
 * Let them know that this is Your hand,
 * that You, O LORD, have done it.
 * Though they curse, You will bless.
 * When they rise up, they will be put to shame,
 * but Your servant will rejoice.
 * May my accusers be clothed with disgrace;
 * may they wear their shame like a robe.
 * With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely;
 * I will praise Him in the presence of many.
 * For He stands at the right hand of the needy one,
 * to save him from the condemners of his soul.

God’s Faithful Messiah

(Genesis 14:17–24; Hebrews 5:1–10)


 * The LORD said to my Lord:
 * “Sit at My right hand
 * until I make Your enemies
 * a footstool for Your feet.”


 * The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion:
 * “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
 * Your people shall be willing
 * on Your day of battle.
 * Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn,
 * to You belongs the dew of Your youth.


 * The LORD has sworn
 * and will not change His mind:
 * “You are a priest forever
 * in the order of Melchizedek.”


 * The Lord is at Your right hand;
 * He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.
 * He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead;
 * He will crush the leaders far and wide.
 * He will drink from the brook by the road;
 * therefore He will lift up His head.

Majestic Is His Work


 * Hallelujah!


 * I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
 * in the council of the upright and in the assembly.


 * Great are the works of the LORD;
 * they are pondered by all who delight in them.
 * Splendid and majestic is His work;
 * His righteousness endures forever.
 * He has caused His wonders to be remembered;
 * the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
 * He provides food for those who fear Him;
 * He remembers His covenant forever.


 * He has shown His people the power of His works
 * by giving them the inheritance of the nations.
 * The works of His hands are truth and justice;
 * all His precepts are trustworthy.
 * They are upheld forever and ever,
 * enacted in truth and uprightness.
 * He has sent redemption to His people;
 * He has ordained His covenant forever;
 * holy and awesome is His name.


 * The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
 * all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding.


 * His praise endures forever!

The Blessed Fear of the LORD

(Psalm 128:1–6)


 * Hallelujah!


 * Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
 * who greatly delights in His commandments.
 * His descendants will be mighty in the land;
 * the generation of the upright will be blessed.
 * Wealth and riches are in his house,
 * and his righteousness endures forever.
 * Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—
 * for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.


 * It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely,
 * whose affairs are guided by justice.
 * Surely he will never be shaken;
 * the righteous man will be remembered forever.
 * He does not fear bad news;
 * his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
 * His heart is assured; he does not fear,
 * until he looks in triumph on his foes.
 * He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
 * his righteousness endures forever;
 * his horn will be lifted high in honor.


 * The wicked man will see and be grieved;
 * he will gnash his teeth and waste away;
 * the desires of the wicked will perish.

The LORD Exalts the Humble

(1 Samuel 1:1–8)


 * Hallelujah!


 * Give praise, O servants of the LORD;
 * praise the name of the LORD.
 * Blessed be the name of the LORD
 * both now and forevermore.
 * From where the sun rises to where it sets,
 * the name of the LORD is praised.


 * The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
 * His glory above the heavens.
 * Who is like the LORD our God,
 * the One enthroned on high?
 * He humbles Himself to behold
 * the heavens and the earth.


 * He raises the poor from the dust
 * and lifts the needy from the dump
 * to seat them with nobles,
 * with the princes of His people.
 * He settles the barren woman in her home
 * as a joyful mother to her children.


 * Hallelujah!

A Psalm of Exodus


 * When Israel departed from Egypt,
 * the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
 * Judah became God’s sanctuary,
 * and Israel His dominion.


 * The sea observed and fled;
 * the Jordan turned back;
 * the mountains skipped like rams,
 * the hills like lambs.
 * Why was it, O sea, that you fled,
 * O Jordan, that you turned back,
 * O mountains, that you skipped like rams,
 * O hills, like lambs?


 * Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
 * at the presence of the God of Jacob,
 * who turned the rock into a pool,
 * the flint into a fountain of water!

To Your Name Be the Glory

(Psalm 135:1–21)


 * Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
 * but to Your name be the glory,
 * because of Your loving devotion,
 * because of Your faithfulness.


 * Why should the nations say,
 * “Where is their God?”


 * Our God is in heaven;
 * He does as He pleases.


 * Their idols are silver and gold,
 * made by the hands of men.
 * They have mouths, but cannot speak;
 * they have eyes, but cannot see;
 * they have ears, but cannot hear;
 * they have noses, but cannot smell;
 * they have hands, but cannot feel;
 * they have feet, but cannot walk;
 * they cannot even clear their throats.
 * Those who make them become like them,
 * as do all who trust in them.


 * O Israel, trust in the LORD!
 * He is their help and shield.
 * O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
 * He is their help and shield.
 * You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
 * He is their help and shield.
 * The LORD is mindful of us;
 * He will bless us.
 * He will bless the house of Israel;
 * He will bless the house of Aaron;
 * He will bless those who fear the LORD—
 * small and great alike.


 * May the LORD give you increase,
 * both you and your children.
 * May you be blessed by the LORD,
 * the Maker of heaven and earth.


 * The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
 * but the earth He has given to mankind.
 * It is not the dead who praise the LORD,
 * nor any who descend into silence.
 * But it is we who will bless the LORD,
 * both now and forevermore.


 * Hallelujah!

The LORD Has Heard My Voice


 * I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—
 * my appeal for mercy.
 * Because He has inclined His ear to me,
 * I will call on Him as long as I live.


 * The ropes of death entangled me;
 * the anguish of Sheol overcame me;
 * I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
 * Then I called on the name of the LORD:
 * “O LORD, deliver my soul!”


 * The LORD is gracious and righteous;
 * our God is full of compassion.
 * The LORD preserves the simplehearted;
 * I was helpless, and He saved me.
 * Return to your rest, O my soul,
 * for the LORD has been good to you.
 * For You have delivered my soul from death,
 * my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.


 * I will walk before the LORD
 * in the land of the living.
 * I believed, therefore I said,
 * “I am greatly afflicted.”
 * In my alarm I said,
 * “All men are liars!”


 * How can I repay the LORD
 * for all His goodness to me?
 * I will lift the cup of salvation
 * and call on the name of the LORD.
 * I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
 * in the presence of all His people.


 * Precious in the sight of the LORD
 * is the death of His saints.
 * Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant;
 * I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
 * You have broken my bonds.


 * I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving
 * and call on the name of the LORD.
 * I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
 * in the presence of all His people,
 * in the courts of the LORD’s house,
 * in your midst, O Jerusalem.


 * Hallelujah!

Extol Him, All You Peoples


 * Praise the LORD, all you nations!
 * Extol Him, all you peoples!
 * For great is His loving devotion toward us,
 * and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.


 * Hallelujah!

The LORD Is on My Side


 * Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
 * His loving devotion endures forever.
 * Let Israel say,
 * “His loving devotion endures forever.”
 * Let the house of Aaron say,
 * “His loving devotion endures forever.”
 * Let those who fear the LORD say,
 * “His loving devotion endures forever.”


 * In my distress I called to the LORD,
 * and He answered and set me free.
 * The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid.
 * What can man do to me?
 * The LORD is on my side; He is my helper.
 * Therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
 * It is better to take refuge in the LORD
 * than to trust in man.
 * It is better to take refuge in the LORD
 * than to trust in princes.


 * All the nations surrounded me,
 * but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 * They surrounded me on every side,
 * but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 * They swarmed around me like bees,
 * but they were extinguished like burning thorns;
 * in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
 * I was pushed so hard I was falling,
 * but the LORD helped me.
 * The LORD is my strength and my song,
 * and He has become my salvation.


 * Shouts of joy and salvation resound in the tents of the righteous:
 * “The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!
 * The right hand of the LORD is exalted!
 * The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!”
 * I will not die, but I will live
 * and proclaim what the LORD has done.
 * The LORD disciplined me severely,
 * but He has not given me over to death.


 * Open to me the gates of righteousness,
 * that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.
 * This is the gate of the LORD;
 * the righteous shall enter through it.
 * I will give You thanks, for You have answered me,
 * and You have become my salvation.
 * The stone the builders rejected
 * has become the cornerstone.
 * This is from the LORD,
 * and it is marvelous in our eyes.
 * This is the day that the LORD has made;
 * we will rejoice and be glad in it.


 * O LORD, save us, we pray.
 * We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!


 * Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
 * From the house of the LORD we bless you.
 * The LORD is God;
 * He has made His light to shine upon us.
 * Bind the festal sacrifice with cords
 * to the horns of the altar.
 * You are my God, and I will give You thanks.
 * You are my God, and I will exalt You.
 * Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
 * His loving devotion endures forever.

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet


 * Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
 * who walk in the Law of the LORD.
 * Blessed are those who keep His testimonies
 * and seek Him with all their heart.
 * They do no iniquity;
 * they walk in His ways.
 * You have ordained Your precepts,
 * that we should keep them diligently.
 * Oh, that my ways were committed
 * to keeping Your statutes!
 * Then I would not be ashamed
 * when I consider all Your commandments.
 * I will praise You with an upright heart
 * when I learn Your righteous judgments.
 * I will keep Your statutes;
 * do not utterly forsake me.


 * How can a young man keep his way pure?
 * By guarding it according to Your word.
 * With all my heart I have sought You;
 * do not let me stray from Your commandments.
 * I have hidden Your word in my heart
 * that I might not sin against You.
 * Blessed are You, O LORD;
 * teach me Your statutes.
 * With my lips I proclaim
 * all the judgments of Your mouth.
 * I rejoice in the way of Your testimonies
 * as much as in all riches.
 * I will meditate on Your precepts
 * and regard Your ways.
 * I will delight in Your statutes;
 * I will not forget Your word.


 * Deal bountifully with Your servant,
 * that I may live and keep Your word.
 * Open my eyes that I may see
 * wondrous things from Your law.
 * I am a stranger on the earth;
 * do not hide Your commandments from me.
 * My soul is consumed with longing
 * for Your judgments at all times.
 * You rebuke the arrogant—
 * the cursed who stray from Your commandments.
 * Remove my scorn and contempt,
 * for I have kept Your testimonies.
 * Though rulers sit and slander me,
 * Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
 * Your testimonies are indeed my delight;
 * they are my counselors.


 * My soul cleaves to the dust;
 * revive me according to Your word.
 * I recounted my ways, and You answered me;
 * teach me Your statutes.
 * Make clear to me the way of Your precepts;
 * then I will meditate on Your wonders.
 * My soul melts with sorrow;
 * strengthen me according to Your word.
 * Remove me from the path of deceit
 * and graciously grant me Your law.
 * I have chosen the way of truth;
 * I have set Your ordinances before me.
 * I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD;
 * let me not be put to shame.
 * I run in the path of Your commandments,
 * for You will enlarge my heart.


 * Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,
 * and I will keep them to the end.
 * Give me understanding that I may obey Your law,
 * and follow it with all my heart.
 * Direct me in the path of Your commandments,
 * for there I find delight.
 * Turn my heart to Your testimonies
 * and not to covetous gain.
 * Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
 * revive me with Your word.
 * Establish Your word to Your servant,
 * to produce reverence for You.
 * Turn away the disgrace I dread,
 * for Your judgments are good.
 * How I long for Your precepts!
 * Revive me in Your righteousness.


 * May Your loving devotion come to me, O LORD,
 * Your salvation, according to Your promise.
 * Then I can answer him who taunts,
 * for I trust in Your word.
 * Never take Your word of truth from my mouth,
 * for I hope in Your judgments.
 * I will always obey Your law,
 * forever and ever.
 * And I will walk in freedom,
 * for I have sought Your precepts.
 * I will speak of Your testimonies before kings,
 * and I will not be ashamed.
 * I delight in Your commandments
 * because I love them.
 * I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love,
 * and I meditate on Your statutes.


 * Remember Your word to Your servant,
 * upon which You have given me hope.
 * This is my comfort in affliction,
 * that Your promise has given me life.
 * The arrogant utterly deride me,
 * but I do not turn from Your law.
 * I remember Your judgments of old, O LORD,
 * and in them I find comfort.
 * Rage has taken hold of me
 * because of the wicked who reject Your law.
 * Your statutes are songs to me
 * in the house of my pilgrimage.
 * In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name,
 * that I may keep Your law.
 * This is my practice,
 * for I obey Your precepts.


 * The LORD is my portion;
 * I have promised to keep Your words.
 * I have sought Your face with all my heart;
 * be gracious to me according to Your promise.
 * I considered my ways
 * and turned my steps to Your testimonies.
 * I hurried without hesitating
 * to keep Your commandments.
 * Though the ropes of the wicked bind me,
 * I do not forget Your law.
 * At midnight I rise to give You thanks
 * for Your righteous judgments.
 * I am a friend to all who fear You,
 * and to those who keep Your precepts.
 * The earth is filled with Your loving devotion, O LORD;
 * teach me Your statutes.


 * You are good to Your servant, O LORD,
 * according to Your word.
 * Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
 * for I believe in Your commandments.
 * Before I was afflicted, I went astray;
 * but now I keep Your word.
 * You are good, and You do what is good;
 * teach me Your statutes.
 * Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,
 * I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
 * Their hearts are hard and callous,
 * but I delight in Your law.
 * It was good for me to be afflicted,
 * that I might learn Your statutes.
 * The law from Your mouth is more precious to me
 * than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.


 * Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
 * give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
 * May those who fear You see me and rejoice,
 * for I have hoped in Your word.
 * I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,
 * and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
 * May Your loving devotion comfort me, I pray,
 * according to Your promise to Your servant.
 * May Your compassion come to me, that I may live,
 * for Your law is my delight.
 * May the arrogant be put to shame for subverting me with a lie;
 * I will meditate on Your precepts.
 * May those who fear You turn to me,
 * those who know Your testimonies.
 * May my heart be blameless in Your statutes,
 * that I may not be put to shame.


 * My soul faints for Your salvation;
 * I wait for Your word.
 * My eyes fail, looking for Your promise;
 * I ask, “When will You comfort me?”
 * Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke,
 * I do not forget Your statutes.
 * How many days must Your servant wait?
 * When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?
 * The arrogant have dug pits for me
 * in violation of Your law.
 * All Your commandments are faithful;
 * I am persecuted without cause—help me!
 * They almost wiped me from the earth,
 * but I have not forsaken Your precepts.
 * Revive me according to Your loving devotion,
 * that I may obey the testimony of Your mouth.


 * Your word, O LORD, is everlasting;
 * it is firmly fixed in the heavens.
 * Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
 * You established the earth, and it endures.
 * Your ordinances stand to this day,
 * for all things are servants to You.
 * If Your law had not been my delight,
 * then I would have perished in my affliction.
 * I will never forget Your precepts,
 * for by them You have revived me.
 * I am Yours; save me,
 * for I have sought Your precepts.
 * The wicked wait to destroy me,
 * but I will ponder Your testimonies.
 * I have seen a limit to all perfection,
 * but Your commandment is without limit.


 * Oh, how I love Your law!
 * All day long it is my meditation.
 * Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
 * for they are always with me.
 * I have more insight than all my teachers,
 * for Your testimonies are my meditation.
 * I discern more than the elders,
 * for I obey Your precepts.
 * I have kept my feet from every evil path,
 * that I may keep Your word.
 * I have not departed from Your ordinances,
 * for You Yourself have taught me.
 * How sweet are Your words to my taste—
 * sweeter than honey in my mouth!
 * I gain understanding from Your precepts;
 * therefore I hate every false way.


 * Your word is a lamp to my feet
 * and a light to my path.
 * I have sworn and confirmed
 * that I will keep Your righteous judgments.
 * I am severely afflicted, O LORD;
 * revive me through Your word.
 * Accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD,
 * and teach me Your judgments.
 * I constantly take my life in my hands,
 * yet I do not forget Your law.
 * The wicked have set a snare for me,
 * but I have not strayed from Your precepts.
 * Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
 * for they are the joy of my heart.
 * I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes,
 * even to the very end.


 * The double-minded I despise,
 * but Your law I love.
 * You are my hiding place and my shield;
 * I put my hope in Your word.
 * Depart from me, you evildoers,
 * that I may obey the commandments of my God.
 * Sustain me as You promised, that I may live;
 * let me not be ashamed of my hope.
 * Uphold me, and I will be saved,
 * that I may always regard Your statutes.
 * You reject all who stray from Your statutes,
 * for their deceitfulness is in vain.
 * All the wicked on earth You discard like dross;
 * therefore I love Your testimonies.
 * My flesh trembles in awe of You;
 * I stand in fear of Your judgments.


 * I have done what is just and right;
 * do not leave me to my oppressors.
 * Ensure Your servant’s well-being;
 * do not let the arrogant oppress me.
 * My eyes fail, looking for Your salvation,
 * and for Your righteous promise.
 * Deal with Your servant according to Your loving devotion,
 * and teach me Your statutes.
 * I am Your servant; give me understanding,
 * that I may know Your testimonies.
 * It is time for the LORD to act,
 * for they have broken Your law.
 * Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold,
 * even the purest gold.
 * Therefore I admire all Your precepts
 * and hate every false way.


 * Wonderful are Your testimonies;
 * therefore I obey them.
 * The unfolding of Your words gives light;
 * it informs the simple.
 * I open my mouth and pant,
 * longing for Your commandments.
 * Turn to me and show me mercy,
 * as You do to those who love Your name.
 * Order my steps in Your word;
 * let no sin rule over me.
 * Redeem me from the oppression of man,
 * that I may keep Your precepts.
 * Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
 * and teach me Your statutes.
 * My eyes shed streams of tears
 * because Your law is not obeyed.


 * Righteous are You, O LORD,
 * and upright are Your judgments.
 * The testimonies You have laid down are righteous
 * and altogether faithful.
 * My zeal has consumed me
 * because my foes forget Your words.
 * Your promise is completely pure;
 * therefore Your servant loves it.
 * I am lowly and despised,
 * but I do not forget Your precepts.
 * Your righteousness is everlasting
 * and Your law is true.
 * Trouble and distress have found me,
 * but Your commandments are my delight.
 * Your testimonies are righteous forever.
 * Give me understanding, that I may live.


 * I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD!
 * I will obey Your statutes.
 * I call to You; save me,
 * that I may keep Your testimonies.
 * I rise before dawn and cry for help;
 * in Your word I have put my hope.
 * My eyes anticipate the watches of night,
 * that I may meditate on Your word.
 * Hear my voice, O LORD, according to Your loving devotion;
 * give me life according to Your justice.
 * Those who follow after wickedness draw near;
 * they are far from Your law.
 * You are near, O LORD,
 * and all Your commandments are true.
 * Long ago I learned from Your testimonies
 * that You have established them forever.


 * Look upon my affliction and rescue me,
 * for I have not forgotten Your law.
 * Defend my cause and redeem me;
 * revive me according to Your word.
 * Salvation is far from the wicked
 * because they do not seek Your statutes.
 * Great are Your mercies, O LORD;
 * revive me according to Your ordinances.
 * Though my persecutors and foes are many,
 * I have not turned from Your testimonies.
 * I look on the faithless with loathing
 * because they do not keep Your word.
 * Consider how I love Your precepts, O LORD;
 * give me life according to Your loving devotion.
 * The entirety of Your word is truth,
 * and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.


 * Rulers persecute me without cause,
 * but my heart fears only Your word.
 * I rejoice in Your promise
 * like one who finds great spoil.
 * I hate and abhor falsehood,
 * but Your law I love.
 * Seven times a day I praise You
 * for Your righteous judgments.
 * Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your instruction;
 * nothing can make them stumble.
 * I wait for Your salvation, O LORD,
 * and I carry out Your commandments.
 * I obey Your testimonies
 * and love them greatly.
 * I obey Your precepts and Your testimonies,
 * for all my ways are before You.


 * May my cry come before You, O LORD;
 * give me understanding according to Your word.
 * May my plea come before You;
 * rescue me according to Your promise.
 * My lips pour forth praise,
 * for You teach me Your statutes.
 * My tongue sings of Your word,
 * for all Your commandments are righteous.
 * May Your hand be ready to help me,
 * for I have chosen Your precepts.
 * I long for Your salvation, O LORD,
 * and Your law is my delight.
 * Let me live to praise You;
 * may Your judgments sustain me.
 * I have strayed like a lost sheep;
 * seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.

In My Distress I Cried to the LORD


 * In my distress I cried to the LORD,
 * and He answered me.
 * Deliver my soul, O LORD,
 * from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.


 * What will He do to you,
 * and what will be added to you,
 * O deceitful tongue?
 * Sharp arrows will come from the warrior,
 * with burning coals of the broom tree!


 * Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,
 * that I live among the tents of Kedar!
 * Too long have I dwelt
 * among those who hate peace.
 * I am in favor of peace;
 * but when I speak, they want war.

I Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills


 * I lift up my eyes to the hills.
 * From where does my help come?
 * My help comes from the LORD,
 * the Maker of heaven and earth.


 * He will not allow your foot to slip;
 * your Protector will not slumber.
 * Behold, the Protector of Israel
 * will neither slumber nor sleep.


 * The LORD is your keeper;
 * the LORD is the shade on your right hand.
 * The sun will not strike you by day,
 * nor the moon by night.


 * The LORD will guard you from all evil;
 * He will preserve your soul.
 * The LORD will watch over your coming and going,
 * both now and forevermore.

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem


 * I was glad when they said to me,
 * “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
 * Our feet are standing in your gates,
 * O Jerusalem.


 * Jerusalem is built up
 * as a city united together,
 * where the tribes go up,
 * the tribes of the LORD,
 * as a testimony for Israel,
 * to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
 * For there the thrones of judgment stand,
 * the thrones of the house of David.


 * Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
 * “May those who love you prosper.
 * May there be peace within your walls,
 * and prosperity inside your fortresses.”
 * For the sake of my brothers and friends,
 * I will say, “Peace be within you.”
 * For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
 * I will seek your prosperity.

I Lift Up My Eyes to You


 * I lift up my eyes to You,
 * the One enthroned in heaven.
 * As the eyes of servants
 * look to the hand of their master,
 * as the eyes of a maidservant
 * look to the hand of her mistress,
 * so our eyes are on the LORD our God
 * until He shows us mercy.


 * Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy,
 * for we have endured much contempt.
 * We have endured much scorn from the arrogant,
 * much contempt from the proud.

Our Help Is in the Name of the LORD


 * If the LORD had not been on our side—
 * let Israel now declare—
 * if the LORD had not been on our side
 * when men attacked us,
 * when their anger flared against us,
 * then they would have swallowed us alive,
 * then the floods would have engulfed us,
 * then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,
 * then the raging waters
 * would have swept us away.


 * Blessed be the LORD,
 * who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
 * We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler;
 * the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
 * Our help is in the name of the LORD,
 * the Maker of heaven and earth.

The LORD Surrounds His People


 * Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion.
 * It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
 * As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
 * so the LORD surrounds His people,
 * both now and forevermore.


 * For the scepter of the wicked will not rest
 * upon the land allotted to the righteous,
 * so that the righteous will not put forth
 * their hands to injustice.


 * Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
 * and to the upright in heart.
 * But those who turn to crooked ways
 * the LORD will banish with the evildoers.


 * Peace be upon Israel.

Zion’s Captives Restored


 * When the LORD restored the captives of Zion,
 * we were like dreamers.
 * Then our mouths were filled with laughter,
 * our tongues with shouts of joy.
 * Then it was said among the nations,
 * “The LORD has done great things for them.”
 * The LORD has done great things for us;
 * we are filled with joy.


 * Restore our captives, O LORD,
 * like streams in the Negev.
 * Those who sow in tears
 * will reap with shouts of joy.
 * He who goes out weeping,
 * bearing a trail of seed,
 * will surely return with shouts of joy,
 * carrying sheaves of grain.

Children Are a Heritage from the LORD


 * Unless the LORD builds the house,
 * its builders labor in vain;
 * unless the LORD protects the city,
 * its watchmen stand guard in vain.
 * In vain you rise early
 * and stay up late,
 * toiling for bread to eat—
 * for He gives sleep to His beloved.


 * Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD,
 * and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
 * Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
 * so are children born in one’s youth.
 * Blessed is the man
 * whose quiver is full of them.
 * He will not be put to shame
 * when he confronts the enemies at the gate.

The Blessed Fear of the LORD

(Psalm 112:1–10)


 * Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
 * who walk in His ways!
 * For when you eat the fruit of your labor,
 * blessings and prosperity will be yours.
 * Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
 * flourishing within your house,
 * your sons like olive shoots
 * sitting around your table.
 * In this way indeed shall blessing come
 * to the man who fears the LORD.


 * May the LORD bless you from Zion,
 * that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem
 * all the days of your life,
 * that you may see
 * your children’s children.


 * Peace be upon Israel!

The Cords of the Wicked


 * Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth—
 * let Israel now declare—
 * many a time they have persecuted me from my youth,
 * but they have not prevailed against me.
 * The plowmen plowed over my back;
 * they made their furrows long.
 * The LORD is righteous;
 * He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.


 * May all who hate Zion
 * be turned back in shame.
 * May they be like grass on the rooftops,
 * which withers before it can grow,
 * unable to fill the hands of the reaper,
 * or the arms of the binder of sheaves.
 * May none who pass by say to them,
 * “The blessing of the LORD be on you;
 * we bless you in the name of the LORD.”

Out of the Depths


 * Out of the depths
 * I cry to You, O LORD!
 * O Lord, hear my voice;
 * let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.


 * If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities,
 * then who, O Lord, could stand?
 * But with You there is forgiveness,
 * so that You may be feared.


 * I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait,
 * and in His word I put my hope.
 * My soul waits for the Lord
 * more than watchmen wait for the morning—
 * more than watchmen wait for the morning.


 * O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
 * for with the LORD is loving devotion,
 * and with Him is redemption in abundance.
 * And He will redeem Israel
 * from all iniquity.

I Have Stilled My Soul


 * My heart is not proud, O LORD,
 * my eyes are not haughty.
 * I do not aspire to great things
 * or matters too lofty for me.
 * Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul;
 * like a weaned child with his mother,
 * like a weaned child is my soul within me.


 * O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
 * both now and forevermore.

The LORD Has Chosen Zion


 * O LORD, remember on behalf of David
 * all the hardships he endured,
 * how he swore an oath to the LORD,
 * and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
 * “I will not enter my house
 * or get into my bed,
 * I will not give sleep to my eyes
 * or slumber to my eyelids,
 * until I find a place for the LORD,
 * a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob. ”


 * We heard that the ark was in Ephrathah;
 * we found it in the fields of Jaar.
 * Let us go to His dwelling place;
 * let us worship at His footstool.
 * Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place,
 * You and the ark of Your strength.
 * May Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
 * and Your saints shout for joy.
 * For the sake of Your servant David,
 * do not reject Your anointed one.


 * The LORD swore an oath to David,
 * a promise He will not revoke:
 * “One of your descendants
 * I will place on your throne.
 * If your sons keep My covenant
 * and the testimony I will teach them,
 * then their sons will also sit on your throne
 * forever and ever.”


 * For the LORD has chosen Zion;
 * He has desired it for His home:
 * “This is My resting place forever and ever;
 * here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.
 * I will bless her with abundant provisions;
 * I will satisfy her poor with bread.
 * I will clothe her priests with salvation,
 * and her saints will sing out in joy.
 * There I will make a horn grow for David;
 * I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.
 * I will clothe his enemies with shame,
 * but the crown upon him will gleam.”

How Pleasant to Live in Harmony!

(1 Corinthians 1:10–17; Ephesians 4:1–16)


 * Behold, how good and pleasant it is
 * when brothers live together in harmony!
 * It is like fine oil on the head,
 * running down on the beard,
 * running down Aaron’s beard
 * over the collar of his robes.
 * It is like the dew of Hermon
 * falling on the mountains of Zion.
 * For there the LORD has bestowed the blessing
 * of life forevermore.

Bless the LORD, All You Servants


 * Come, bless the LORD,
 * all you servants of the LORD
 * who serve by night
 * in the house of the LORD!
 * Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
 * and bless the LORD!


 * May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,
 * bless you from Zion.

Give Praise, O Servants of the LORD

(Psalm 115:1–18)


 * Hallelujah!


 * Praise the name of the LORD.
 * Give praise, O servants of the LORD,
 * who stand in the house of the LORD,
 * in the courts of the house of our God.
 * Hallelujah, for the LORD is good;
 * sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.
 * For the LORD has chosen Jacob as His own,
 * Israel as His treasured possession.


 * For I know that the LORD is great;
 * our Lord is above all gods.
 * The LORD does all that pleases Him
 * in the heavens and on the earth,
 * in the seas and in all their depths.
 * He causes the clouds to rise
 * from the ends of the earth.
 * He generates the lightning with the rain
 * and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.


 * He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
 * of both man and beast.
 * He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
 * against Pharaoh and all his servants.
 * He struck down many nations
 * and slaughtered mighty kings:
 * Sihon king of the Amorites,
 * Og king of Bashan,
 * and all the kings of Canaan.
 * He gave their land as an inheritance,
 * as a heritage to His people Israel.


 * Your name, O LORD, endures forever,
 * Your renown, O LORD, through all generations.
 * For the LORD will vindicate His people
 * and will have compassion on His servants.


 * The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
 * made by the hands of men.
 * They have mouths, but cannot speak;
 * they have eyes, but cannot see;
 * they have ears, but cannot hear;
 * nor is there breath in their mouths.
 * Those who make them become like them,
 * as do all who trust in them.


 * O house of Israel, bless the LORD;
 * O house of Aaron, bless the LORD;
 * O house of Levi, bless the LORD;
 * you who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!
 * Blessed be the LORD from Zion—
 * He who dwells in Jerusalem.


 * Hallelujah!

His Loving Devotion Endures Forever

(2 Chronicles 7:1–3)


 * Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * Give thanks to the God of gods.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * Give thanks to the Lord of lords.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He alone does great wonders.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * By His insight He made the heavens.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He spread out the earth upon the waters.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He made the great lights—

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * the sun to rule the day,

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * the moon and stars to govern the night.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He struck down the firstborn of Egypt

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * and brought Israel out from among them

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He divided the Red Sea in two

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * and led Israel through the midst,

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He led His people through the wilderness.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He struck down great kings

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * and slaughtered mighty kings—

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * Sihon king of the Amorites

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * and Og king of Bashan—

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * and He gave their land as an inheritance,

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * a heritage to His servant Israel.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He remembered us in our low estate

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * and freed us from our enemies.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * He gives food to every creature.

His loving devotion endures forever.
 * Give thanks to the God of heaven!

His loving devotion endures forever.

By the Rivers of Babylon

(Ezekiel 1:1–3)


 * By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
 * when we remembered Zion.
 * There on the willows
 * we hung our harps,
 * for there our captors requested a song;
 * our tormentors demanded songs of joy:


 * “Sing us a song of Zion.”


 * How can we sing a song of the LORD
 * in a foreign land?
 * If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
 * may my right hand cease to function.
 * May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
 * if I do not remember you,
 * if I do not exalt Jerusalem
 * as my greatest joy!


 * Remember, O LORD,
 * the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell:
 * “Destroy it,” they said,
 * “tear it down to its foundations!”


 * O Daughter of Babylon,
 * doomed to destruction,
 * blessed is he who repays you
 * as you have done to us.
 * Blessed is he who seizes your infants
 * and dashes them against the rocks.

A Thankful Heart


 * I give You thanks with all my heart;
 * before the gods I sing Your praises.
 * I bow down toward Your holy temple
 * and give thanks to Your name
 * for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness;
 * You have exalted Your name
 * and Your word above all else.
 * On the day I called, You answered me;
 * You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.


 * All the kings of the earth will give You thanks, O LORD,
 * when they hear the words of Your mouth.
 * They will sing of the ways of the LORD,
 * for the glory of the LORD is great.
 * Though the LORD is on high,
 * He attends to the lowly;
 * but the proud He knows from afar.


 * If I walk in the midst of trouble,
 * You preserve me from the anger of my foes;
 * You extend Your hand,
 * and Your right hand saves me.
 * The LORD will fulfill
 * His purpose for me.


 * O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever—
 * do not abandon the works of Your hands.

You Have Searched Me and Known Me


 * O LORD, You have searched me
 * and known me.
 * You know when I sit and when I rise;
 * You understand my thoughts from afar.
 * You search out my path and my lying down;
 * You are aware of all my ways.
 * Even before a word is on my tongue,
 * You know all about it, O LORD.
 * You hem me in behind and before;
 * You have laid Your hand upon me.
 * Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
 * too lofty for me to attain.


 * Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
 * Where can I flee from Your presence?
 * If I ascend to the heavens, You are there;
 * if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
 * If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
 * if I settle by the farthest sea,
 * even there Your hand will guide me;
 * Your right hand will hold me fast.
 * If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
 * and the light become night around me”—
 * even the darkness is not dark to You,
 * but the night shines like the day,
 * for darkness is as light to You.


 * For You formed my inmost being;
 * You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 * I praise You,
 * for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
 * Marvelous are Your works,
 * and I know this very well.
 * My frame was not hidden from You
 * when I was made in secret,
 * when I was woven together
 * in the depths of the earth.
 * Your eyes saw my unformed body;
 * all my days were written in Your book
 * and ordained for me
 * before one of them came to be.


 * How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God,
 * how vast is their sum!
 * If I were to count them,
 * they would outnumber the grains of sand;
 * and when I awake,
 * I am still with You.


 * O God, that You would slay the wicked—
 * away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
 * who speak of You deceitfully;
 * Your enemies take Your name in vain.
 * Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD,
 * and detest those who rise against You?
 * I hate them with perfect hatred;
 * I count them as my enemies.


 * Search me, O God, and know my heart;
 * test me and know my concerns.
 * See if there is any offensive way in me;
 * lead me in the way everlasting.

Rescue Me from Evil Men


 * Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men.
 * Protect me from men of violence,
 * who devise evil in their hearts
 * and stir up war all day long.
 * They sharpen their tongues like snakes;
 * the venom of vipers is on their lips.

Selah
 * Guard me, O LORD,
 * from the hands of the wicked.
 * Keep me safe from men of violence
 * who scheme to make me stumble.
 * The proud hide a snare for me;
 * the cords of their net are spread along the path,
 * and lures are set out for me.

Selah
 * I say to the LORD, “You are my God.”
 * Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.
 * O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
 * You shield my head in the day of battle.
 * Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
 * do not promote their evil plans,
 * lest they be exalted.

Selah
 * May the heads of those who surround me
 * be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
 * May burning coals fall on them;
 * may they be thrown into the fire,
 * into the miry pits, never to rise again.
 * May no slanderer be established in the land;
 * may calamity hunt down the man of violence.


 * I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor
 * and defends the cause of the needy.
 * Surely the righteous will praise Your name;
 * the upright will dwell in Your presence.

Come Quickly to Me

(Psalm 70:1–5)


 * I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me.
 * Hear my voice when I call to You.
 * May my prayer be set before You like incense,
 * my uplifted hands like the evening offering.


 * Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
 * keep watch at the door of my lips.
 * Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing
 * or take part in works of wickedness
 * with men who do iniquity;
 * let me not feast on their delicacies.


 * Let the righteous man strike me;
 * let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion.
 * It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it.
 * For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.
 * When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs,
 * the people will listen to my words,
 * for they are pleasant.
 * As when one plows and breaks up the soil,
 * so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.


 * But my eyes are fixed on You,
 * O GOD the Lord.
 * In You I seek refuge;
 * do not leave my soul defenseless.
 * Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,
 * and from the lures of evildoers.
 * Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
 * while I pass by in safety.

I Lift My Voice to the LORD

(1 Samuel 22:1–5; Psalm 57:1–11)


 * I cry aloud to the LORD;
 * I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.
 * I pour out my complaint before Him;
 * I reveal my trouble to Him.


 * Although my spirit grows faint within me,
 * You know my way.
 * Along the path I travel
 * they have hidden a snare for me.
 * Look to my right and see;
 * no one attends to me.
 * There is no refuge for me;
 * no one cares for my soul.


 * I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge,
 * my portion in the land of the living.”


 * Listen to my cry,
 * for I am brought quite low.
 * Rescue me from my pursuers,
 * for they are too strong for me.
 * Free my soul from prison,
 * that I may praise Your name.
 * The righteous will gather around me
 * because of Your goodness to me.

I Stretch Out My Hands to You


 * O LORD, hear my prayer.
 * In Your faithfulness, give ear to my plea;
 * in Your righteousness, answer me.
 * Do not bring Your servant into judgment,
 * for no one alive is righteous before You.


 * For the enemy has pursued my soul,
 * crushing my life to the ground,
 * making me dwell in darkness
 * like those long since dead.
 * My spirit grows faint within me;
 * my heart is dismayed inside me.


 * I remember the days of old;
 * I meditate on all Your works;
 * I consider the work of Your hands.
 * I stretch out my hands to You;
 * my soul thirsts for You like a parched land.

Selah
 * Answer me quickly, O LORD;
 * my spirit fails.
 * Do not hide Your face from me,
 * or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
 * Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning,
 * for I have put my trust in You.
 * Teach me the way I should walk,
 * for to You I lift up my soul.
 * Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD;
 * I flee to You for refuge.
 * Teach me to do Your will,
 * for You are my God.
 * May Your good Spirit lead me
 * on level ground.


 * For the sake of Your name, O LORD,
 * revive me.
 * In Your righteousness,
 * bring my soul out of trouble.
 * And in Your loving devotion,
 * cut off my enemies.
 * Destroy all who afflict me,
 * for I am Your servant.

Blessed Be the LORD, My Rock


 * Blessed be the LORD, my Rock,
 * who trains my hands for war,
 * my fingers for battle.
 * He is my steadfast love and my fortress,
 * my stronghold and my deliverer.
 * He is my shield, in whom I take refuge,
 * who subdues peoples under me.


 * O LORD, what is man, that You regard him,
 * the son of man that You think of him?
 * Man is like a breath;
 * his days are like a passing shadow.


 * Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down;
 * touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
 * Flash forth Your lightning and scatter them;
 * shoot Your arrows and rout them.
 * Reach down from on high;
 * set me free and rescue me
 * from the deep waters,
 * from the grasp of foreigners,
 * whose mouths speak falsehood,
 * whose right hands are deceitful.


 * I will sing to You a new song, O God;
 * on a harp of ten strings I will make music to You—
 * to Him who gives victory to kings,
 * who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.
 * Set me free and rescue me
 * from the grasp of foreigners,
 * whose mouths speak falsehood,
 * whose right hands are deceitful.


 * Then our sons will be like plants
 * nurtured in their youth,
 * our daughters like corner pillars
 * carved to adorn a palace.
 * Our storehouses will be full,
 * supplying all manner of produce;
 * our flocks will bring forth thousands,
 * tens of thousands in our fields.
 * Our oxen will bear great loads.
 * There will be no breach in the walls,
 * no going into captivity,
 * and no cry of lament in our streets.


 * Blessed are the people of whom this is so;
 * blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

I Will Exalt You, My God and King


 * I will exalt You, my God and King;
 * I will bless Your name forever and ever.
 * Every day I will bless You,
 * and I will praise Your name forever and ever.


 * Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;
 * His greatness is unsearchable.
 * One generation will commend Your works to the next,
 * and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
 * the glorious splendor of Your majesty.
 * And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.
 * They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds,
 * and I will declare Your greatness.
 * They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness
 * and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.


 * The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
 * slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
 * The LORD is good to all;
 * His compassion rests on all He has made.
 * All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD,
 * and Your saints will bless You.
 * They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom
 * and speak of Your might,
 * to make known to men Your mighty acts
 * and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
 * Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
 * and Your dominion endures through all generations.
 * The LORD is faithful in all His words
 * and kind in all His actions.


 * The LORD upholds all who fall
 * and lifts up all who are bowed down.
 * The eyes of all look to You,
 * and You give them their food in season.
 * You open Your hand
 * and satisfy the desire of every living thing.


 * The LORD is righteous in all His ways
 * and kind in all His deeds.
 * The LORD is near to all who call on Him,
 * to all who call out to Him in truth.
 * He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
 * He hears their cry and saves them.
 * The LORD preserves all who love Him,
 * but all the wicked He will destroy.
 * My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD;
 * let every creature bless His holy name
 * forever and ever.

Praise the LORD, O My Soul


 * Hallelujah!


 * Praise the LORD, O my soul.


 * I will praise the LORD all my life;
 * I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.


 * Put not your trust in princes,
 * in mortal man, who cannot save.
 * When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground;
 * on that very day his plans perish.


 * Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
 * whose hope is in the LORD his God,
 * the Maker of heaven and earth,
 * the sea, and everything in them.
 * He remains faithful forever.
 * He executes justice for the oppressed
 * and gives food to the hungry.
 * The LORD sets the prisoners free,
 * the LORD opens the eyes of the blind,
 * the LORD lifts those who are weighed down,
 * the LORD loves the righteous.
 * The LORD protects foreigners;
 * He sustains the fatherless and the widow,
 * but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.


 * The LORD reigns forever,
 * your God, O Zion, for all generations.


 * Hallelujah!

It Is Good to Sing Praises


 * Hallelujah!


 * How good it is to sing praises to our God,
 * how pleasant and lovely to praise Him!


 * The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
 * He gathers the exiles of Israel.
 * He heals the brokenhearted
 * and binds up their wounds.
 * He determines the number of the stars;
 * He calls them each by name.
 * Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
 * His understanding has no limit.
 * The LORD sustains the humble,
 * but casts the wicked to the ground.


 * Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
 * make music on the harp to our God,
 * who covers the sky with clouds,
 * who prepares rain for the earth,
 * who makes grass to grow on the hills.
 * He provides food for the animals,
 * and for the young ravens when they call.


 * He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
 * He takes no pleasure in the legpower of the man.
 * The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him,
 * who hope in His loving devotion.


 * Exalt the LORD, O Jerusalem;
 * praise your God, O Zion!
 * For He strengthens the bars of your gates
 * and blesses the children within you.
 * He makes peace at your borders;
 * He fills you with the finest wheat.


 * He sends forth His command to the earth;
 * His word runs swiftly.
 * He spreads the snow like wool;
 * He scatters the frost like ashes;
 * He casts forth His hail like pebbles.
 * Who can withstand His icy blast?
 * He sends forth His word and melts them;
 * He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow.


 * He declares His word to Jacob,
 * His statutes and judgments to Israel.
 * He has done this for no other nation;
 * they do not know His judgments.


 * Hallelujah!

Praise the LORD from the Heavens

(Psalm 33:1–22)


 * Hallelujah!


 * Praise the LORD from the heavens;
 * praise Him in the highest places.
 * Praise Him, all His angels;
 * praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.
 * Praise Him, O sun and moon;
 * praise Him, all you shining stars.
 * Praise Him, O highest heavens,
 * and you waters above the skies.
 * Let them praise the name of the LORD,
 * for He gave the command and they were created.
 * He established them forever and ever;
 * He issued a decree that will never pass away.


 * Praise the LORD from the earth,
 * all great sea creatures and ocean depths,
 * lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
 * powerful wind fulfilling His word,
 * mountains and all hills,
 * fruit trees and all cedars,
 * wild animals and all cattle,
 * crawling creatures and flying birds,
 * kings of the earth and all peoples,
 * princes and all rulers of the earth,
 * young men and maidens,
 * old and young together.


 * Let them praise the name of the LORD,
 * for His name alone is exalted;
 * His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
 * He has raised up a horn for His people,
 * the praise of all His saints,
 * of Israel, a people near to Him.


 * Hallelujah!

Sing to the LORD a New Song

(Psalm 98:1–9; Isaiah 42:10–17)


 * Hallelujah!


 * Sing to the LORD a new song—
 * His praise in the assembly of the godly.
 * Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
 * let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
 * Let them praise His name with dancing,
 * and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.
 * For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;
 * He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
 * Let the saints exult in glory;
 * let them shout for joy upon their beds.


 * May the high praises of God be in their mouths,
 * and a double-edged sword in their hands,
 * to inflict vengeance on the nations
 * and punishment on the peoples,
 * to bind their kings with chains
 * and their nobles with shackles of iron,
 * to execute the judgment written against them.
 * This honor is for all His saints.


 * Hallelujah!

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the LORD


 * Hallelujah!


 * Praise God in His sanctuary.
 * Praise Him in His mighty heavens.
 * Praise Him for His mighty acts;
 * praise Him for His excellent greatness.


 * Praise Him with the sound of the horn;
 * praise Him with the harp and lyre.
 * Praise Him with tambourine and dancing;
 * praise Him with strings and flute.
 * Praise Him with clashing cymbals;
 * praise Him with resounding cymbals.


 * Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!


 * Hallelujah!