Psalm 138–145

Psalm 138

By David. 

¹I will give thanks to you with all my heart. 

I will make music to praise you in front of the false gods. 

²I will bow toward your holy temple. 

I will give thanks to your name because of your mercy and truth. 

You have made your name and your promise greater than everything. 

³When I called, you answered me. 

You made me bold by strengthening my soul. 

⁴All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord, 

because they have heard the promises you spoke. 

⁵They will sing this about the ways of the Lord: 

“The Lord’s honor is great!” 

⁶Even though the Lord is high above, he sees humble people ⸤close up⸥, 

and he recognizes arrogant people from a distance. 

⁷Even though I walk into the middle of trouble, 

you guard my life against the anger of my enemies. 

You stretch out your hand, 

and your right hand saves me. 

⁸The Lord will do everything for me. 

O Lord, your mercy endures forever. 

Do not let go of what your hands have made. 

Psalm 139

For the choir director; a psalm by David. 

¹O Lord, you have examined me, and you know me. 

²You alone know when I sit down and when I get up. 

You read my thoughts from far away. 

³You watch me when I travel and when I rest. 

You are familiar with all my ways. 

⁴Even before there is a ⸤single⸥ word on my tongue, 

you know all about it, Lord. 

⁵You are all around me—in front of me and in back of me. 

You lay your hand on me. 

⁶Such knowledge is beyond my grasp. 

It is so high I cannot reach it. 

⁷Where can I go ⸤to get away⸥ from your Spirit? 

Where can I run ⸤to get away⸥ from you? 

⁸If I go up to heaven, you are there. 

If I make my bed in hell, you are there. 

⁹If I climb upward on the rays of the morning sun 

⸤or⸥ land on the most distant shore of the sea where the sun sets, 

¹⁰even there your hand would guide me 

and your right hand would hold on to me. 

¹¹If I say, “Let the darkness hide me 

and let the light around me turn into night,” 

¹²even the darkness is not too dark for you. 

Night is as bright as day. 

Darkness and light are the same ⸤to you⸥. 

¹³You alone created my inner being. 

You knitted me together inside my mother. 

¹⁴I will give thanks to you 

because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. 

Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this. 

¹⁵My bones were not hidden from you 

when I was being made in secret, 

when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop. 

¹⁶Your eyes saw me when I was still an unborn child. 

Every day ⸤of my life⸥ was recorded in your book 

before one of them had taken place. 

¹⁷How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God! 

How vast in number they are! 

¹⁸If I try to count them, 

there would be more of them than there are grains of sand. 

When I wake up, I am still with you. 

¹⁹I wish that you would kill wicked people, O God, 

and that bloodthirsty people would leave me alone. 

²⁰They say wicked things about you. 

Your enemies misuse your name. 

²¹Shouldn’t I hate those who hate you, O Lord? 

Shouldn’t I be disgusted with those who attack you? 

²²I hate them with all my heart. 

They have become my enemies. 

²³Examine me, O God, and know my mind. 

Test me, and know my thoughts. 

²⁴See whether I am on an evil path. 

Then lead me on the everlasting path. 

Psalm 140

For the choir leader; a psalm by David. 

¹Rescue me from evil people, O Lord. 

Keep me safe from violent people. 

²They plan evil things in their hearts. 

They start fights every day. 

³They make their tongues as sharp as a snake’s ⸤fang⸥. 

Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes. 

Selah 

⁴Protect me from the hands of wicked people, O Lord. 

Keep me safe from violent people. 

They try to trip me. 

⁵Arrogant people have laid a trap for me. 

They have spread out a net with ropes. 

They have set traps for me along the road. 

Selah 

⁶I said to the Lord, “You are my God.” 

O Lord, open your ears to hear my plea for pity. 

⁷O Lord Almighty, the strong one who saves me, 

you have covered my head in the day of battle. 

⁸O Lord, do not give wicked people what they want. 

Do not let their evil plans succeed, 

⸤or⸥ they will become arrogant. 

Selah 

⁹Let the heads of those who surround me 

be covered with their own threats. 

¹⁰Let burning coals fall on them. 

Let them be thrown into a pit, never to rise again. 

¹¹Do not let slanderers prosper on earth. 

Let evil hunt down violent people with one blow after another. 

¹²I know that the Lord will defend the rights of those who are oppressed 

and the cause of those who are needy. 

¹³Indeed, righteous people will give thanks to your name. 

Decent people will live in your presence. 

Psalm 141

A psalm by David. 

¹O Lord, I cry out to you, “Come quickly.” 

Open your ears to me when I cry out to you. 

²Let my prayer be accepted 

as sweet-smelling incense in your presence. 

Let the lifting up of my hands in prayer be accepted 

as an evening sacrifice. 

³O Lord, set a guard at my mouth. 

Keep watch over the door of my lips. 

⁴Do not let me be persuaded to do anything evil 

or to become involved with wickedness, 

with people who are troublemakers. 

Do not let me taste their delicacies. 

⁵A righteous person may strike me or correct me out of kindness. 

It is like lotion for my head. 

My head will not refuse it, 

because my prayer is directed against evil deeds. 

⁶When their judges are thrown off a cliff, 

they will listen to what I have to say. 

It will sound pleasant ⸤to them⸥. 

⁷As someone plows and breaks up the ground, 

so our bones will be planted at the mouth of the grave. 

⁸My eyes look to you, Lord Almighty. 

I have taken refuge in you. 

Do not leave me defenseless. 

⁹Keep me away from the trap they set for me 

and from the traps set by troublemakers. 

¹⁰Let wicked people fall into their own nets, 

while I escape unharmed. 

Psalm 142

A maskil^aby David when he was in the cave; a prayer. 

¹Loudly, I cry to the Lord. 

Loudly, I plead with the Lord for mercy. 

²I pour out my complaints in his presence 

and tell him my troubles. 

³When I begin to lose hope, 

you ⸤already⸥ know what I am experiencing. 

⸤My enemies⸥ have hidden a trap for me on the path where I walk. 

⁴Look to my right and see that no one notices me. 

Escape is impossible for me. 

No one cares about me. 

⁵I call out to you, O Lord. 

I say, “You are my refuge, 

my own inheritance in this world of the living.” 

⁶Pay attention to my cry for help 

because I am very weak. 

Rescue me from those who pursue me 

because they are too strong for me. 

⁷Release my soul from prison 

so that I may give thanks to your name. 

Righteous people will surround me 

because you are good to me. 

Psalm 143

A psalm by David. 

¹O Lord, listen to my prayer. 

Open your ears to hear my urgent requests. 

Answer me because you are faithful and righteous. 

²Do not take me to court for judgment, 

because there is no one alive 

who is righteous in your presence. 

³The enemy has pursued me. 

He has ground my life into the dirt. 

He has made me live in dark places 

like those who have died long ago. 

⁴That is why I begin to lose hope 

and my heart is in a state of shock. 

⁵I remember the days long ago. 

I reflect on all that you have done. 

I carefully consider what your hands have made. 

⁶I stretch out my hands to you in prayer. 

Like parched land, my soul thirsts for you. 

Selah 

⁷Answer me quickly, O Lord. 

My spirit is worn out. 

Do not hide your face from me, 

or I will be like those who go into the pit. 

⁸Let me hear about your mercy in the morning, 

because I trust you. 

Let me know the way that I should go, 

because I long for you. 

⁹Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord. 

I come to you for protection. 

¹⁰Teach me to do your will, because you are my God. 

May your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 

¹¹O Lord, keep me alive for the sake of your name. 

Because you are righteous, lead me out of trouble. 

¹²In keeping with your mercy, wipe out my enemies 

and destroy all who torment me, 

because I am your servant. 

Psalm 144

By David. 

¹Thank the Lord, my rock, 

who trained my hands to fight 

and my fingers to do battle, 

²my merciful one, my fortress, 

my stronghold, and my savior, 

my shield, the one in whom I take refuge, 

and the one who brings people under my authority. 

³O Lord, what are humans that you should care about them? 

What are mere mortals that you should think about them? 

⁴Humans are like a breath of air. 

Their life span is like a fleeting shadow. 

⁵O Lord, bend your heaven low, and come down. 

Touch the mountains, and they will smoke. 

⁶Hurl bolts of lightning, and scatter them. 

Shoot your arrows, and throw them into confusion. 

⁷Stretch out your hands from above. 

Snatch me, and rescue me from raging waters 

and from foreigners’ hands. 

⁸Their mouths speak lies. 

Their right hands take false pledges. 

⁹O God, I will sing a new song to you. 

I will sing a psalm to you on a ten-stringed harp. 

¹⁰You are the one who gives victory to kings. 

You are the one who snatches your servant David 

away from a deadly sword. 

¹¹Snatch me, and rescue me from foreigners’ hands. 

Their mouths speak lies. 

Their right hands take false pledges. 

¹²May our sons be like full-grown, young plants. 

May our daughters be like stately columns 

that adorn the corners of a palace. 

¹³May our barns be filled with all kinds of crops. 

May our sheep give birth to thousands of lambs, 

tens of thousands in our fields. 

¹⁴May our cattle have many calves. 

May no one break in, and may no one be dragged out. 

May there be no cries of distress in our streets. 

¹⁵Blessed are the people who have these blessings! 

Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! 

Psalm 145^a

A song of praise by David.

¹I will highly praise you, my God, the king. 

I will bless your name forever and ever. 

²I will bless you every day. 

I will praise your name forever and ever. 

³The Lord is great, and he should be highly praised. 

His greatness is unsearchable. 

⁴One generation will praise your deeds to the next. 

Each generation will talk about your mighty acts. 

⁵I will think about the glorious honor of your majesty 

and the miraculous things you have done. 

⁶People will talk about the power of your terrifying deeds, 

and I will…