Psalm 138:1–145:21

^1bI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before ^cthe gods I sing your praise;

²I bow down ^dtoward your ^eholy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.¹

³On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.²

^4fAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

⁵and they shall sing of ^gthe ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

^6hFor though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

⁷ⁱThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you ^jpreserve my life;

you ^kstretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your ^lright hand delivers me.

⁸The Lord will ^mfulfill his purpose for me;

ⁿyour steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake ^othe work of your hands.

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

139To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, you have ^psearched me and known me!

²You ^qknow when I sit down and when I rise up;

you ^rdiscern my thoughts from afar.

³You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, ^syou know it altogether.

⁵You ^them me in, behind and before,

and ^ulay your hand upon me.

^6vSuch knowledge is ^wtoo wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

^7xWhere shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where ^yshall I flee from your presence?

^8zIf I ascend to heaven, you are there!

^aIf I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

⁹If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰even there your hand shall ^blead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

¹¹If I say, ^c“Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

^12deven the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

¹³For you ^eformed my inward parts;

you ^fknitted me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.¹

^gWonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

^15hMy frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in ⁱthe depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your ^jbook were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷How precious to me are your ^kthoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

^18lIf I would count them, they are more than ^mthe sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

¹⁹Oh that you would ⁿslay the wicked, O God!

O ^omen of blood, ^pdepart from me!

²⁰They ^qspeak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies ^rtake your name in vain.²

^21sDo I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not ^tloathe those who ^urise up against you?

²²I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart!

^vTry me and know my thoughts!³

²⁴And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and ^wlead me in ^xthe way everlasting!⁴

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

140To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

^1yDeliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

preserve me from ^zviolent men,

²who plan evil things in their heart

and ^astir up wars continually.

³They make ^btheir tongue sharp as ^ca serpent’s,

and ^dunder their lips is the ^evenom of asps. Selah

⁴Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from ^zviolent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet.

⁵The arrogant have ^fhidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread ^ga net;¹

beside the way they have set ^hsnares for me. Selah

⁶ⁱI say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to ^jthe voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!

⁷O Lord, my Lord, ^kthe strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

^8lGrant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their² evil plot, or ^mthey will be exalted! Selah

⁹As for the head of those who surround me,

let ⁿthe mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

¹⁰Let ^oburning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits, no more to rise!

¹¹Let not the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

¹²I know that the Lord will ^pmaintain the cause of the afflicted,

and ^qwill execute justice for the needy.

¹³Surely ^rthe righteous shall give thanks to your name;

^sthe upright shall dwell in your presence.

Give Ear to My Voice

141A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, I call upon you; ^thasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to you!

²Let ^umy prayer be counted as incense before you,

and ^vthe lifting up of my hands as ^wthe evening sacrifice!

^3xSet a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

^ykeep watch over the door of my lips!

^4zDo not let my heart incline to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with men who ^awork iniquity,

and ^blet me not eat of their delicacies!

^5cLet a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;

let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;

let my head not refuse it.

Yet ^dmy prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

⁶When their judges are ^ethrown over the cliff,¹

then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.

⁷As when one plows and breaks up the earth,

so shall our bones ^fbe scattered at the mouth of Sheol.²

⁸But ^gmy eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;

^hin you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!³

⁹Keep me from ⁱthe trap that they have laid for me

and from the snares of evildoers!

¹⁰Let the wicked ^jfall into their own nets,

while I pass by safely.

You Are My Refuge

142A Maskil¹ of David, when he was in ^kthe cave. A Prayer.

¹With my voice I ^lcry out to the Lord;

with my voice I ^mplead for mercy to the Lord.

²I ⁿpour out my complaint before him;

I tell my trouble before him.

³When my spirit ^ofaints within me,

you know my way!

In the path where I walk

they have ^phidden a trap for me.

^4qLook to the ^rright and see:

^sthere is none who takes notice of me;

^tno refuge remains to me;

no one cares for my soul.

⁵I cry to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my ^urefuge,

my ^vportion in ^wthe land of the living.”

^6xAttend to my cry,

for ^yI am brought very low!

Deliver me from my persecutors,

^zfor they are too strong for me!

^7aBring me out of prison,

that I may give thanks to your name!

The righteous will surround me,

for you will ^bdeal bountifully with me.

My Soul Thirsts for You

143A Psalm of David.

¹Hear my prayer, O Lord;

^cgive ear to my pleas for mercy!

In your ^dfaithfulness answer me, in your ^drighteousness!

^2eEnter not into judgment with your servant,

for no one living is righteous ^fbefore you.

³For the enemy has pursued my soul;

^ghe has crushed my life to the ground;

^hhe has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

⁴Therefore my spirit ⁱfaints within me;

my heart within me is appalled.

^5jI remember the days of old;

^kI meditate on all that you have done;

I ponder the work of your hands.

^6lI stretch out my hands to you;

^mmy soul thirsts for you like ⁿa parched land. Selah

^7oAnswer me quickly, O Lord!

^pMy spirit fails!

^qHide not your face from me,

^rlest I be like those who go down to the pit.

^8sLet me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I ^ttrust.

^uMake me know the way I should go,

^vfor to you I lift up my soul.

^9wDeliver me from my enemies, O Lord!

I have fled to you for refuge.¹

^10xTeach me to do your will,

for you are my God!

^yLet your good Spirit ^zlead me

on ^alevel ground!

^11bFor your name’s sake, O Lord, ^cpreserve my life!

In your righteousness ^dbring my soul out of trouble!

¹²And in your steadfast love you will ^ecut off my enemies,

and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,

for I am your ^fservant.

My Rock and My Fortress

144Of David.

¹Blessed be the Lord, my ^grock,

^hwho trains my hands for war,

and my fingers for battle;

²he is my ⁱsteadfast love and my ^jfortress,

my ^kstronghold and my deliverer,

my ^lshield and he in whom I take refuge,

who ^msubdues peoples¹ under me.

³O Lord, ⁿwhat is man that you ^oregard him,

or the son of man that you think of him?

^4pMan is like a breath;

his days are like ^qa passing ^rshadow.

^5sBow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!

^tTouch the mountains so that they smoke!

^6uFlash forth the lightning and scatter them;

^usend out your arrows and rout them!

^7vStretch out your hand from on high;

^wrescue me and deliver me from the many waters,

from the hand ^xof foreigners,

⁸whose mouths speak ^ylies

and whose right hand is ^za right hand of falsehood.

⁹I will sing ^aa new song to you, O God;

upon ^aa ten-stringed harp I will play to you,

¹⁰who gives victory to kings,

who ^brescues David his servant from the cruel sword.

¹¹Rescue me and deliver me

from the hand ^xof foreigners,

whose mouths speak ^ylies

and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

¹²May our sons in their youth

be like ^cplants full grown,

our daughters like ^dcorner pillars

cut for the structure of a palace;

^13emay our granaries be full,

^fproviding all kinds of produce;

may our sheep bring forth thousands

and ten thousands in our fields;

¹⁴may our cattle be heavy with young,

suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;²

may there be no ^gcry of distress in our streets!

^15hBlessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!

ⁱBlessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Great Is the Lord

145¹ A Song of Praise. Of David.

^1jI will extol you, my God and ^kKing,

and bless your name forever and ever.

²Every day I will bless you

^land praise your name forever and ever.

^3mGreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and his ⁿgreatness is unsearchable.

^4oOne generation shall commend your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

⁵On ^pthe glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

⁶They shall speak of ^qthe might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

⁷They shall pour forth the fame of your ^rabundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸The Lord is ^sgracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

^9 …