Psalm 120–134

Psalm 120

A song for going up to worship. 

¹When I was in trouble, I cried out to the Lord, 

and he answered me. 

²O Lord, rescue me from lying lips 

and from a deceitful tongue. 

³You deceitful tongue, what can the Lord give you? 

What more can he do for you? 

⁴He will give you a warrior’s sharpened arrows and red-hot coals. 

⁵How horrible it is to live as a foreigner in Meshech 

or to stay in the tents of Kedar. 

⁶I have lived too long with those who hate peace. 

⁷I am for peace, but when I talk about it, 

they only talk about war. 

Psalm 121

A song for going up to worship. 

¹I look up toward the mountains. 

Where can I find help? 

²My help comes from the Lord, 

the maker of heaven and earth. 

³He will not let you fall. 

Your guardian will not fall asleep. 

⁴Indeed, the Guardian of Israel never rests or sleeps. 

⁵The Lord is your guardian. 

The Lord is the shade over your right hand. 

⁶The sun will not beat down on you during the day, 

nor will the moon at night. 

⁷The Lord guards you from every evil. 

He guards your life. 

⁸The Lord guards you as you come and go, 

now and forever. 

Psalm 122

A song by David for going up to worship. 

¹I was glad when they said to me, 

“Let’s go to the house of the Lord.” 

²Our feet are standing inside your gates, Jerusalem. 

³Jerusalem is built to be a city 

where the people are united. 

⁴All of the Lord’s tribes go to that city 

because it is a law in Israel 

to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 

⁵The court of justice sits there. 

It consists of ⸤princes who are⸥ David’s descendants. 

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 

“May those who love you prosper. 

⁷May there be peace inside your walls 

and prosperity in your palaces.” 

⁸For the sake of my relatives and friends, let me say, 

“May it go well for you!” 

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, 

I will seek what is good for you. 

Psalm 123

A song for going up to worship. 

¹I look up to you, 

to the one who sits enthroned in heaven. 

²As servants depend on their masters, 

as a maid depends on her mistress, 

so we depend on the Lord our God 

until he has pity on us. 

³Have pity on us, O Lord. 

Have pity on us 

because we have suffered more than our share of contempt. 

⁴We have suffered more than our share of ridicule 

from those who are carefree. 

We have suffered more than our share of contempt 

from those who are arrogant. 

Psalm 124

A song by David for going up to worship. 

¹“If the Lord had not been on our side …” 

(Israel should repeat this.) 

²“If the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us, 

³then they would have swallowed us alive 

when their anger exploded against us. 

⁴Then the floodwaters would have swept us away. 

An ⸤overflowing⸥ stream would have washed us away. 

⁵Then raging water would have washed us away.” 

⁶Thank the Lord, who did not let them sink their teeth into us. 

⁷We escaped like a bird caught in a hunter’s trap. 

The trap was broken, and we escaped. 

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. 

Psalm 125

A song for going up to worship. 

¹Those who trust the Lord are like Mount Zion, 

which can never be shaken. 

It remains firm forever. 

²⸤As⸥ the mountains surround Jerusalem, 

so the Lord surrounds his people now and forever. 

³A wicked ruler will not be allowed to govern 

the land set aside for righteous people. 

That is why righteous people do not use their power to do wrong. 

⁴Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, 

to those whose motives are decent. 

⁵But when people become crooked, 

the Lord will lead them away with troublemakers. 

Let there be peace in Israel! 

Psalm 126

A song for going up to worship. 

¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, 

it was as if we were dreaming. 

²Then our mouths were filled with laughter 

and our tongues with joyful songs. 

Then the nations said, 

“The Lord has done spectacular things for them.” 

³The Lord has done spectacular things for us. 

We are overjoyed. 

⁴Restore our fortunes, O Lord, 

as you restore streams ⸤to dry riverbeds⸥ in the Negev. 

⁵Those who cry while they plant 

will joyfully sing while they harvest. 

⁶The person who goes out weeping, carrying his bag of seed, 

will come home singing, carrying his bundles of grain. 

Psalm 127

A song by Solomon for going up to worship. 

¹If the Lord does not build the house, 

it is useless for the builders to work on it. 

If the Lord does not protect a city, 

it is useless for the guard to stay alert. 

²It is useless to work hard for the food you eat 

by getting up early and going to bed late. 

The Lord gives ⸤food⸥ to those he loves while they sleep. 

³Children are an inheritance from the Lord. 

They are a reward from him. 

⁴The children born to a man when he is young 

are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. 

⁵Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them. 

He will not be put to shame 

when he speaks with his enemies in the city gate. 

Psalm 128

A song for going up to worship. 

¹Blessed are all who fear the Lord 

and live his way. 

²You will certainly eat what your own hands have provided. 

Blessings to you! 

May things go well for you! 

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine inside your home. 

Your children will be like young olive trees around your table. 

⁴This is how the Lord will bless the person who fears him. 

⁵May the Lord bless you from Zion 

so that you may see Jerusalem prospering 

all the days of your life. 

⁶May you live to see your children’s children. 

Let there be peace in Israel! 

Psalm 129

A song for going up to worship. 

¹“From the time I was young, people have attacked me …” 

(Israel should repeat this.) 

²“From the time I was young, people have attacked me, 

but they have never overpowered me. 

³They have plowed my back ⸤like farmers plow fields⸥. 

They made long slashes ⸤like furrows⸥.” 

⁴The Lord is righteous. 

He has cut me loose 

from the ropes that wicked people tied around me. 

⁵Put to shame all those who hate Zion. 

Force them to retreat. 

⁶Make them be like grass on a roof, 

like grass that dries up before it produces a stalk. 

⁷It will never fill the barns of those who harvest 

or the arms of those who gather bundles. 

⁸Those who pass by will never say ⸤to them⸥, 

“May you be blessed by the Lord” 

or “We bless you in the name of the Lord.” 

Psalm 130

A song for going up to worship. 

¹O Lord, out of the depths I call to you. 

²O Lord, hear my voice. 

Let your ears be open to my pleas for mercy. 

³O Lord, who would be able to stand 

if you kept a record of sins? 

⁴But with you there is forgiveness 

so that you can be feared. 

⁵I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, 

and with hope I wait for his word. 

⁶My soul waits for the Lord 

more than those who watch for the morning, 

more than those who watch for the morning. 

⁷O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, 

because with the Lord there is mercy 

and with him there is unlimited forgiveness. 

⁸He will rescue Israel from all its sins. 

Psalm 131

A song by David for going up to worship. 

¹O Lord, my heart is not conceited. 

My eyes do not look down on others. 

I am not involved in things too big or too difficult for me. 

²Instead, I have kept my soul calm and quiet. 

My soul is content as a weaned child is content in its mother’s arms. 

³Israel, put your hope in the Lord now and forever. 

Psalm 132

A song for going up to worship. 

¹O Lord, remember David and all the hardships he endured. 

²Remember how he swore an oath to the Lord 

and made this vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: 

³“I will not step inside my house, 

⁴get into my bed, shut my eyes, or close my eyelids 

⁵until I find a place for the Lord, 

a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 

⁶Now, we have heard about the ark ⸤of the promise⸥ being in Ephrathah. 

We have found it in Jaar. 

⁷Let’s go to his dwelling place. 

Let’s worship at his footstool. 

⁸O Lord, arise, and come to your resting place 

with the ark of your power. 

⁹Clothe your priests with righteousness. 

Let your godly ones sing with joy. 

¹⁰For the sake of your servant David, 

do not reject your anointed one. 

¹¹The Lord swore an oath to David. 

This is a truth he will not take back: 

“I will set one of your own descendants on your throne. 

¹²If your sons are faithful to my promise^a

and my written instructions that I will teach them, 

then their descendants will also sit on your throne forever.” 

¹³The Lord has chosen Zion. 

He wants it for his home. 

¹⁴“This will be my resting place forever. 

Here I will sit enthroned because I want Zion. 

¹⁵I will certainly bless all that Zion needs. 

I will satisfy its needy people with food. 

¹⁶I will clothe its priests with salvation. 

Then its godly ones will sing joyfully. 

¹⁷There I will make a horn sprout up for David. 

I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one. 

¹⁸I will clothe his enemies with shame, 

but the crown on my anointed one will shine.” 

Psalm 133

A song by David for going up to worship. 

¹See how good and pleasant it is 

when brothers and sisters live together in harmony! 

²It is like fine, scented oil on the head, 

running down the beard—down Aaron’s beard— 

running over the collar of his robes. 

³It is like dew on ⸤Mount⸥ Hermon, 

dew which comes down on Zion’s mountains. 

That is where the Lord promised 

the blessing of eternal life. 

Psalm 134

A song for going up to worship. 

¹Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, 

all who stand in the house of the Lord night after night. 

²Lift your hands toward the holy place, and praise the Lord. 

³May the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.