Psalm 138–145

Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Goodness

138Of David.^a

¹I give you thanks with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise.

²I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name,

because of your loyal love and faithfulness,

for you have magnified your word^b according to all your name.^c

³When^d I called and you answered me,

you emboldened me in my soul with strength.

⁴All the kings of the earth

will praise you, O Yahweh,

when they have heard the words^e of your mouth,

⁵and they will sing of the ways of Yahweh,

because Yahweh’s glory is great.

⁶Though Yahweh is high, yet he sees the lowly,

but the proud he perceives^f at a distance.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve me alive.

You stretch out your hand against the anger of my enemies,

and you save me with your right hand.

⁸Yahweh accomplishes things for my benefit.

O Yahweh, your loyal love endures forever;

do not abandon the works of your hands.

The Knowledge of God

139For the music director. Of David. A psalm.^a

¹O Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.

²You know my sitting down and my rising up.

You understand my thought from afar.

³You search out^b my wandering and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴For there is not a word yet on my tongue,

but behold, O Yahweh, you know it completely.

⁵You barricade me behind and in front,

and set your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It is set high; I cannot prevail against it.

⁷Where can I go from your Spirit,

or where can I flee from your presence?

⁸If I ascend to heaven, there you are,

and if I make my bed in Sheol, look! There you are.

⁹If I lift up the wings of the dawn,

and I alight on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰even there your hand would lead me,

and your right hand would hold me fast.

¹¹And if I should say, “Surely darkness will cover me,

and the light around me will be as night,”

¹²even the darkness is not too dark for you,^c

and the night shines as the day—

the darkness and the light are alike for you.

¹³Indeed you created my inward parts;^d

you wove me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise you, because I am fearfully

and wonderfully made.^e

Wonderful are your works,

and my soul knows it well.

¹⁵My frame^f was not hidden from you,

when I was created secretly,^g

and intricately woven

in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my embryo,^h

and in your book they all were written—

days fashioned for me when there was not one of them.

¹⁷And to me, how preciousⁱ are your thoughts, O God;

how vast is their sum.

¹⁸If I should count them,

they would outnumber the sand.

I awaken, and I am still with you.

¹⁹If only you would kill the wicked, O God—

so get away from me, you bloodthirsty men—^j

²⁰who speak against you deceitfully.

Your enemies take your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate you, O Yahweh?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

²²I hate them with a complete hatred;

they have become my enemies.

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

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴And see if there is in me the worship of false gods,^k

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Prayer for Help in the Face of Enemies

140For the music director. A psalm of David.^a

¹Rescue me, O Yahweh, from evil men.^b

Preserve me from violent men,

²who plan evil things in their heart.

They stir up wars continually.

³They sharpen their tongue as sharp as a snake’s;

the venom of a viper is under their lips. Selah

⁴Protect me, O Yahweh, from the hands of the wicked.

Preserve me from violent men,

who have planned to make me stumble.^c

⁵The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords.

They have spread out a net along the side^d of the path.

They have set snares for me. Selah

⁶I say to Yahweh, “You are my God.”

Listen, O Yahweh, to the voice of my supplications.

⁷O Yahweh, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

⁸Do not grant, O Yahweh, the desires of the wicked.

Do not allow them to attain their^e plan, lest they be exalted. Selah

⁹With respect to the head of those who surround me,

may the harm of their lips cover them.

¹⁰Let burning coals fall on them;

let them be dropped into the fire,

into bottomless pits from which they cannot rise.

¹¹Do not let a slanderer^f be established in the land;

as for the man of violence, let evil hunt him quickly.

¹²I know^g that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

and justice for the needy.

¹³Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name;

the upright will dwell in your presence.

Prayer for God’s Help in Maintaining Integrity

141A psalm of David.^a

¹I call on you, O Yahweh; hasten to me.

Listen to my voice when I call to you.

²Let my prayer be set before you as incense,

the lifting up of my palms as the evening offering.

³Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

to practice wicked deeds

with men who do iniquity;

and do not let me eat of their delicacies.

⁵Let a righteous one strike me in kindness,

and let him chasten me.

It is oil for my head;^b let not my head refuse.

For still my prayer is against their evil deeds.

⁶When their judges are thrown down the sides of a cliff,^c

then they will understand that my words were pleasant.

⁷As when one plows and breaks up the earth,

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

⁸But^d my eyes are toward you, O Yahweh, my Lord;

I have taken refuge in you. Do not lay bare my soul.^e

⁹Protect me from the grasp^f of the trap they have laid for me,

and from the snares of evildoers.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their^g nets,

while I escape altogether.

A Prayer for Deliverance from Pursuers

142A maskil of David.

When he was in the cave. A prayer.^a

¹I cry out with my voice to Yahweh;

I implore favor with my voice to Yahweh.

²I pour out my complaint before him;

I declare my trouble before him.

³When my spirit faints within me,

you know my way.

On the path where I walk,

they have hidden a trap for me;

⁴look to my right and see.

There is no one looking out for me;

there is no escape for me;^b

no one cares for my soul.^c

⁵I cry out to you, O Yahweh.

I say, “You are my refuge,

my portion in the land of the living.”

⁶Attend to my cry,

for I am brought very low.

Deliver me from my pursuers,

for they are stronger than I.

⁷Bring me^d out of prison,

that I may give thanks to your name.

The righteous will encircle me,

because you will deal bountifully with me.

A Prayer for Rescue from Enemies

143A psalm of David.^a

¹O Yahweh, hear my prayer;

listen to my supplications.

In your faithfulness answer me,

and in your righteousness.

²And do not enter into judgment with your servant,

because no one alive is righteous before you.

³For the enemy has pursued my soul;

he has crushed my life to the ground.

He has made me dwell in dark places

like those long dead.

⁴And so my spirit grows faint within me;

my heart within^b me is desolate.

⁵I remember the days of long ago;

I meditate on all your doings.^c

I muse on the labor of your hands.

⁶I stretch out my hands to you;

my soul longs for you like a dry land. Selah

⁷Quickly answer me, O Yahweh;

my spirit fails.

Do not hide your face from me,

or I will become

like those descending to the pit.

⁸Cause me to hear your loyal love in the morning,

for I trust you.

Cause me to know the way that I should go,

for I lift up my soul to you.

⁹Deliver me from my enemies, O Yahweh.

I take refuge in you.^d

¹⁰Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;

your Spirit is good.

Lead me onto level ground.

¹¹For your name’s sake, O Yahweh, preserve my life;

in your righteousness bring me^e out of trouble.

¹²And in your loyal love destroy my enemies,

and exterminate all the adversaries of my soul,

for I am your servant.

A Prayer for National Safety

144Of David.^a

¹Blessed be Yahweh, my rock,

the one who trains my hands for battle,

my fingers for war—

²my loyal love and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer,

my shield, and one in whom I take refuge,

the one who subdues peoples^b under me.

³O Yahweh, what is humankind that you take knowledge of him,

or the son of man that you take thought of him?

⁴Humankind is like a breath,

his days like a passing shadow.

⁵O Yahweh, bow the heavens and come down;

touch the mountains so that they smoke.

⁶Flash forth lightning and scatter them;

dispatch your arrows and rout them.

⁷Stretch out your hands from on high;

Rescue me and deliver me from many waters,

from the hand of foreigners,

⁸whose mouth speaks falsely,

and their right hand is a false right hand.

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

With a lyre of ten strings I will sing praise to you,

¹⁰who gives victory to kings,

who rescues David his servant

from the evil sword.

¹¹Rescue me and deliver me

from the hand of foreigners,

whose mouth speaks falsely,

and whose right hand is a false right hand,

¹²that our sons may be like plants,

full grown in their youth,

our daughters like corner pillars,

carved in the style of a palace,

¹³that our granaries may be full,

providing produce of all kinds,^c

that our sheep may produce by the thousands,

by the tens of thousands in our open fields,

¹⁴that our cattle may be pregnant;

that there be no breach in our walls,

and no going out in exile,

and no outcry in our plazas.

¹⁵Blessed are the people who have it thus.

Blessed are the people whose God is Yahweh.

A Song of God’s Majesty and Love

145A praise of David.^a

¹I will exalt you, my God, O king,

and I will bless^b your name forever and ever.

²Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

³Great is Yahweh, and very worthy of praise,

and his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴One generation will laud your works to another,

and will declare your mighty deeds.

⁵On the splendor of the glory of your majesty,

and on your wonderful deeds, I will meditate.

⁶And they will speak of the power of your awesome deeds,^c

and I will tell of your greatness.^d

⁷They will utter ^e the renown of your abundant goodness,

and they…