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Psalm 137

Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem


1 By the rivers of Babylon—
   there we sat down and there we wept
   when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows* there
   we hung up our harps.
3 For there our captors
   asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
   ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’


4 How could we sing the Lord’s song
   in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
   let my right hand wither!
6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
   if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
   above my highest joy.


7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
   the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it down!
   Down to its foundations!’
8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator!*
   Happy shall they be who pay you back
   what you have done to us!
9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones
   and dash them against the rock!

Psalm 138

Thanksgiving and Praise

Of David.
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
   before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down towards your holy temple
   and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
   for you have exalted your name and your word
   above everything.*
3 On the day I called, you answered me,
   you increased my strength of soul.*


4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
   for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
   for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
   but the haughty he perceives from far away.


7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
   you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
   your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
   Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 139

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it.


7 Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’,
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.


13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15   My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
   intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
   all the days that were formed for me,
   when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
   I come to the end*—I am still with you.


19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
   and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
20 those who speak of you maliciously,
   and lift themselves up against you for evil!*
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
   And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
   I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is any wicked* way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.*

Psalm 140

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
   protect me from those who are violent,
2 who plan evil things in their minds
   and stir up wars continually.
3 They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,
   and under their lips is the venom of vipers.
          Selah


4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
   protect me from the violent
   who have planned my downfall.
5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
   and with cords they have spread a net;*
   along the road they have set snares for me.
          Selah


6 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God;
   give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.’
7Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
   you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
   do not further their evil plot.*
          Selah


9 Those who surround me lift up their heads;*
   let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10 Let burning coals fall on them!
   Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!
11 Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;
   let evil speedily hunt down the violent!


12 I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy,
   and executes justice for the poor.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
   the upright shall live in your presence.

Psalm 141

Prayer for Preservation from Evil

A Psalm of David.
1 I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
   give ear to my voice when I call to you.
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
   and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.


3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
   keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not turn my heart to any evil,
   to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
   do not let me eat of their delicacies.


5 Let the righteous strike me;
   let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,*
   for my prayer is continually* against their wicked deeds.
6 When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
   then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
7 Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
   so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.*


8 But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless.
9 Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me,
   and from the snares of evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
   while I alone escape.

Psalm 142

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors

A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I cry to the Lord;
   with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
   I tell my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit is faint,
   you know my way.


In the path where I walk
   they have hidden a trap for me.
4 Look on my right hand and see—
   there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
   no one cares for me.


5 I cry to you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my refuge,
   my portion in the land of the living.’
6 Give heed to my cry,
   for I am brought very low.


Save me from my persecutors,
   for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison,
   so that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will surround me,
   for you will deal bountifully with me.

Psalm 143

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
   give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
   answer me in your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgement with your servant,
   for no one living is righteous before you.


3 For the enemy has pursued me,
   crushing my life to the ground,
   making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
   my heart within me is appalled.


5 I remember the days of old,
   I think about all your deeds,
   I meditate on the works of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
   my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
          Selah


7 Answer me quickly, O Lord;
   my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
   or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
   for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
   for to you I lift up my soul.


9 Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
   I have fled to you for refuge.*
10 Teach me to do your will,
   for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
   on a level path.


11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.
   In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
   and destroy all my adversaries,
   for I am your servant.

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30 June 2021

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.