Psalm 138–145

PSALM 138

I Will Give Thanks to Your Name

Of David.

^1aI will give You thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to You before the ^bgods.

²I will worship ^atoward Your holy temple

And ^bgive thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your ¹truth;

For You have ^cmagnified Your ²word ³according to all Your name.

³On the day I ^acalled, You answered me;

You made me bold with ^bstrength in my soul.

^4aAll the kings of the earth, O Yahweh, will give You thanks,

When they hear the words of Your mouth.

⁵And they will ^asing of the ways of Yahweh,

For ^bgreat is the glory of Yahweh.

⁶For ^aYahweh is high,

Yet He ^bsees the lowly,

But the ^cone who exalts himself He knows from afar.

⁷Though I ^awalk in the midst of ¹distress, You will ^2brevive me;

You will ^cstretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will ^dsave me.

⁸Yahweh will ^aaccomplish what concerns me;

O Yahweh, Your ^blovingkindness endures forever;

^cDo not fail the ^dworks of Your hands.

PSALM 139

Where Can I Go from Your Spirit?

For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.

¹O Yahweh, You have ^asearched me and known me.

²You ^aknow ¹when I sit down and ²when I rise up;

You ^bunderstand my thought from afar.

³You ^1ascrutinize my ²path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

⁴¹Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O Yahweh, You ^aknow it all.

⁵You have ^aenclosed me behind and before,

And You have ^bput Your hand upon me.

⁶Such ^aknowledge is ^btoo wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

^7aWhere can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

^8aIf I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, ^bYou are there.

⁹If I lift up the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

¹⁰Even there Your hand will ^alead me,

And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

¹¹If I say, “Surely the ^adarkness will ^bbruise me,

And the light around me will be night,”

¹²Even the ^adarkness is not too dark for You,

And the night is as bright as the day.

^bDarkness and light are alike to You.

¹³For You ^aformed my ¹inward parts;

You ^bwove me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I will give thanks to You, for ¹I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

^aWonderful are Your works,

And my soul knows it very well.

¹⁵My ^1aframe was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And ^bintricately woven in the ^cdepths of the earth;

¹⁶Your ^aeyes have seen my unshaped substance;

And in ^bYour book all of them were written

The ^cdays that were formed for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

¹⁷How precious are Your ^athoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I should count them, they would ^aoutnumber the sand.

When ^bI awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹Oh that You would ^aslay the wicked, O God!

^bO ^cmen of bloodshed, depart from me.

²⁰For they ^aspeak ¹against You wickedly,

And Your enemies ^2btake Your name in vain.

²¹Do I not ^ahate those who hate You, O Yahweh?

And do I not ^brevile those who rise up against You?

²²I hate them with the utmost hatred;

They have become my enemies.

^23aSearch me, O God, and know my heart;

^bTry me and know my anxious thoughts;

²⁴And see if there be any ^1ahurtful way in me,

And ^blead me in the ^ceverlasting way.

PSALM 140

Rescue Me, O Yahweh, from Evil Men

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

^1aRescue me, O Yahweh, from evil men;

Guard me from ^bviolent men

²Who ^athink up evil things in their hearts;

They ^bcontinually stir up wars.

³They ^asharpen their tongues as a serpent;

^bPoison of an asp is under their lips. ¹Selah.

^4aKeep me, O Yahweh, from the hands of the wicked;

^bGuard me from violent men

Who ¹give thought to ^2ctrip up my steps.

⁵The proud have ^ahidden a trap for me, and cords;

They have spread a ^bnet by the ¹wayside;

They have set ^csnares for me. Selah.

⁶I ^asaid to Yahweh, “You are my God;

^bGive ear, O Yahweh, to the ^cvoice of my supplications.

⁷“O Yahweh, O Lord, ^athe strength of my salvation,

You have ^bcovered my head in the day of ¹battle.

⁸“Do not grant, O Yahweh, the ^adesires of the wicked;

Do not promote ^bhis evil ¹scheme, that they not be exalted. Selah.

⁹“As for the head of those who surround me,

May the ^atrouble from their lips cover them.

¹⁰“May ^aburning coals be shaken out upon them;

May He ^bcause them to fall into the fire,

Into ¹bottomless pits from which they ^ccan never rise.

¹¹“May a ¹slanderer not be established in the earth;

^aMay evil hunt the violent man ²speedily.”

¹²I know that Yahweh will ^amaintain the cause for the afflicted

And ^bjudgment for the needy.

¹³Surely the ^arighteous will give thanks to Your name;

The ^bupright will abide in Your presence.

PSALM 141

My Prayer as Incense Before You

A Psalm of David.

¹O Yahweh, I call upon You; ^ahasten to me!

^bGive ear to my voice when I call to You!

²May my prayer be established as ^aincense before You;

The ^blifting up of my hands as the ^cevening offering.

³Set a ^aguard, O Yahweh, ¹over my mouth;

Keep watch over the ^bdoor of my lips.

^4aDo not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice deeds in wickedness

With men who are ^bworkers of iniquity;

And ^cdo not let me eat of their delicacies.

⁵Let the ^arighteous smite me in lovingkindness and reprove me;

It is ^boil upon the head;

Let not my head refuse it,

¹For still my prayer ^cis ²against their evil deeds.

⁶Their judges are ^athrown down by the sides of the cliff,

And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

⁷As when one ^aplows and splits open the earth,

Our ^bbones have been scattered at the ^cmouth of Sheol.

⁸For my ^aeyes are toward You, O Yahweh, O Lord;

In You I ^btake refuge; ^cdo not pour out my soul to death.

⁹Keep me from the ^1ajaws of the trap which they have set for me,

And from the ^bsnares of workers of iniquity.

¹⁰Let the wicked ^afall into their own nets,

As for myself—meanwhile, ^bI am passing by.

PSALM 142

Give Heed to My Cry

A ^†Maskil of David. When he was ^•in the cave. A Prayer.

¹With my voice to Yahweh, I ^acry aloud;

With my voice to Yahweh, I ^bmake supplication.

²I ^apour out my complaint before Him;

I declare my ^bdistress before Him.

³When ^amy spirit ¹was faint within me,

You knew my path.

In the way where I walk

They have ^bhidden a trap for me.

⁴Look to the right and see;

That there is ^ano one who regards me;

^bA way of escape has been destroyed from me;

^cNo one cares for my soul.

⁵I cried out to You, O Yahweh;

I said, “You are ^amy refuge,

My ^bportion in the ^cland of the living.

⁶“^aGive heed to my cry of lamentation,

For I am ^bbrought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are too ^cstrong for me.

⁷“^aBring my soul out of prison,

To give thanks to Your name;

The righteous will encircle me,

For You will ^bdeal bountifully with me.”

PSALM 143

My Soul Reaches for You

A Psalm of David.

¹O Yahweh, hear my prayer,

^aGive ear to my supplications!

Answer me in Your ^bfaithfulness, in Your ^crighteousness!

²And ^ado not enter into judgment with Your slave,

For ^bno one living is righteous in Your sight.

³For the enemy has pursued my soul;

He has crushed my life ^ato the ground;

He ^bhas made me inhabit dark places, like those who have long been dead.

⁴Therefore ^amy spirit was faint within me;

My heart was ^1bappalled within me.

⁵I ^aremember the days of old;

I ^bmeditate on all You have done;

I ^cmuse on the work of Your hands.

⁶I ^astretch out my hands to You;

My ^bsoul reaches for You like a weary land. ¹Selah.

^7aAnswer me quickly, O Yahweh, my ^bspirit wastes away;

^cDo not hide Your face from me,

Or I will become like ^dthose who go down to the pit.

⁸Cause me to hear Your ^alovingkindness ^bin the morning;

For I trust ^cin You;

Cause me to know the ^dway in which I should walk;

For to You I ^elift up my soul.

^9aDeliver me from my enemies, O Yahweh,

I have concealed myself in You.

^10aTeach me to do Your will,

For You are my God;

Let ^bYour good Spirit ^clead me on level ¹ground.

^11aFor the sake of Your name, O Yahweh, ^brevive me.

^cIn Your righteousness bring my soul out of distress.

¹²And in Your lovingkindness, ^1acut off my enemies

And cause all those who assail my soul to ^bperish,

For ^cI am Your slave.

PSALM 144

Blessed Be Yahweh, My Rock

Of David.

¹Blessed be Yahweh, ^amy rock,

Who ^btrains my hands for war,

My fingers for battle;

²My lovingkindness and ^amy fortress,

My ^bstronghold and my deliverer,

My ^cshield and He in whom I take refuge,

Who ^dsubdues ¹my people under me.

³O Yahweh, ^awhat is man, that You know him?

Or the son of man, that You think of him?

^4aMan is like a breath;

His ^bdays are like a passing shadow.

⁵O Yahweh, ^abow Your heavens, and ^bcome down;

^cTouch the mountains, that they may smoke.

⁶Flash forth ^alightning and scatter them;

Send out Your ^barrows and confuse them.

⁷Send forth Your hand ^afrom on high;

Set me free and ^bdeliver me out of many waters,

Out of the hand of ^cforeigners

⁸Whose mouth ^aspeaks worthlessness,

And whose ^bright hand is a right hand of lying.

⁹O God, I will sing a ^anew song to You;

Upon a ^bharp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

¹⁰Who ^agives salvation to kings,

Who ^bsets David His servant free from the evil sword.

¹¹Set me free and deliver me out of the hand of the sons of a ^aforeigner,

Whose mouth ^bspeaks worthlessness

And whose ^cright hand is a right hand of lying.

¹²That our sons would be as ^agrown-up plants in their youth,

And our daughters as ^bcorner pillars ¹fashioned as for a palace;

¹³That our ^agranaries would be full, furnishing every kind of produce,

And our flocks would bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields outside;

¹⁴That our ^acattle would ¹bear

Without ^2bmishap and without ^3closs,

And without ^doutcry in our streets!

¹⁵How blessed are the people for whom this is so;

How ^ablessed are the people for whom God is Yahweh!

PSALM 145

Yahweh’s Greatness Is Unsearchable

A Praise of David.

Aleph

¹I will ^aexalt You, ^bmy God, O King,

And I will ^cbless Your name forever and ever.

Beth

²Every day I will bless You,

And I will ^apraise Your name forever and ever.

Gimel

^3aGreat is Yahweh, and highly to be praised,

And His ^bgreatness is unsearchable.

Daleth

⁴One ^ageneration shall laud Your works to another,…