Psalm 107–109

God Saves from Many Dangers

107Thank the Lord because he is good.

His love continues forever.

²That is what those whom the Lord has saved should say.

He has saved them from the enemy

³and has gathered them from other lands,

from east and west, north and south.

⁴Some people had wandered in the desert lands.

They found no city in which to live.

⁵They were hungry and thirsty,

and they were discouraged.

⁶In their misery they cried out to the Lord,

and he saved them from their troubles.

⁷He led them on a straight road

to a city where they could live.

⁸Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love

and for the miracles he does for people.

⁹He satisfies the thirsty

and fills up the hungry.

¹⁰Some sat in gloom and darkness;

they were prisoners suffering in chains.

¹¹They had turned against the words of God

and had refused the advice of God Most High.

¹²So he broke their pride by hard work.

They stumbled, and no one helped.

¹³In their misery they cried out to the Lord,

and he saved them from their troubles.

¹⁴He brought them out of their gloom and darkness

and broke their chains.

¹⁵Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love

and for the miracles he does for people.

¹⁶He breaks down bronze gates

and cuts apart iron bars.

¹⁷Some fools turned against God

and suffered for the evil they did.

¹⁸They refused to eat anything,

so they almost died.

¹⁹In their misery they cried out to the Lord,

and he saved them from their troubles.

²⁰God gave the command and healed them,

so they were saved from dying.

²¹Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love

and for the miracles he does for people.

²²Let them offer sacrifices to thank him.

With joy they should tell what he has done.

²³Others went out to sea in ships

and did business on the great oceans.

²⁴They saw what the Lord could do,

the miracles he did in the deep oceans.

²⁵He spoke, and a storm came up,

which blew up high waves.

²⁶The ships were tossed as high as the sky and fell low to the depths.

The storm was so bad that they lost their courage.

²⁷They stumbled and fell like people who were drunk.

They did not know what to do.

²⁸In their misery they cried out to the Lord,

and he saved them from their troubles.

²⁹He stilled the storm

and calmed the waves.

³⁰They were happy that it was quiet,

and God guided them to the port they wanted.

³¹Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love

and for the miracles he does for people.

³²Let them praise his greatness in the meeting of the people;

let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.

³³He changed rivers into a desert

and springs of water into dry ground.

³⁴He made fertile land salty,

because the people there did evil.

³⁵He changed the desert into pools of water

and dry ground into springs of water.

³⁶He had the hungry settle there

so they could build a city in which to live.

³⁷They planted seeds in the fields and vineyards,

and they had a good harvest.

³⁸God blessed them, and they grew in number.

Their cattle did not become fewer.

³⁹Because of disaster, troubles, and sadness,

their families grew smaller and weaker.

⁴⁰He showed he was displeased with their leaders

and made them wander in a pathless desert.

⁴¹But he lifted the poor out of their suffering

and made their families grow like flocks of sheep.

⁴²Good people see this and are happy,

but the wicked say nothing.

⁴³Whoever is wise will remember these things

and will think about the love of the Lord.

A Prayer for Victory

A song. A psalm of David.

108God, my heart is steady.

I will sing and praise you with all my being.

²Wake up, harp and lyre!

I will wake up the dawn.

³Lord, I will praise you among the nations;

I will sing songs of praise about you to all the nations.

⁴Your great love reaches to the skies,

your truth to the heavens.

⁵God, you are supreme above the skies.

Let your glory be over all the earth.

⁶Answer us and save us by your power

so the people you love will be rescued.

⁷God has said from his Temple,

“When I win, I will divide Shechem

and measure off the Valley of Succoth.

⁸Gilead and Manasseh are mine.

Ephraim is like my helmet.

Judah holds my royal scepter.

⁹Moab is like my washbowl.

I throw my sandals at Edom.

I shout at Philistia.”

¹⁰Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

¹¹God, surely you have rejected us;

you do not go out with our armies.

¹²Help us fight the enemy.

Human help is useless,

¹³but we can win with God’s help.

He will defeat our enemies.

A Prayer Against an Enemy

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

109God, I praise you.

Do not be silent.

²Wicked people and liars have spoken against me;

they have told lies about me.

³They have said hateful things about me

and attack me for no reason.

⁴They attacked me, even though I loved them

and prayed for them.

⁵I was good to them, but they repay me with evil.

I loved them, but they hate me in return.

⁶They say about me, “Have an evil person work against him,

and let an accuser stand against him.

⁷When he is judged, let him be found guilty,

and let even his prayers show his guilt.

⁸Let his life be cut short,

and let another man replace him as leader.

⁹Let his children become orphans

and his wife a widow.

¹⁰Make his children wander around, begging for food.

Let them be forced out of the ruins in which they live.

¹¹Let the people to whom he owes money take everything he owns,

and let strangers steal everything he has worked for.

¹²Let no one show him love

or have mercy on his orphaned children.

¹³Let all his descendants die

and be forgotten by those who live after him.

¹⁴Lord, remember how wicked his ancestors were,

and don’t let the sins of his mother be wiped out.

¹⁵Lord, always remember their sins.

Then make people forget about them completely.

¹⁶“He did not remember to be loving.

He hurt the poor, the needy, and those who were sad

until they were nearly dead.

¹⁷He loved to put curses on others,

so let those same curses fall on him.

He did not like to bless others,

so do not let good things happen to him.

¹⁸He cursed others as often as he wore clothes.

Cursing others filled his body and his life,

like drinking water and using olive oil.

¹⁹So let curses cover him like clothes

and wrap around him like a belt.”

²⁰May the Lord do these things to those who accuse me,

to those who speak evil against me.

²¹But you, Lord God,

be kind to me so others will know you are good.

Because your love is good, save me.

²²I am poor and helpless

and very sad.

²³I am dying like an evening shadow;

I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees are weak from fasting,

and I have grown thin.

²⁵My enemies insult me;

they look at me and shake their heads.

²⁶Lord my God, help me;

because you are loving, save me.

²⁷Then they will know that your power has done this;

they will know that you have done it, Lord.

²⁸They may curse me, but you bless me.

They may attack me, but they will be disgraced.

Then I, your servant, will be glad.

²⁹Let those who accuse me be disgraced

and covered with shame like a coat.

³⁰I will thank the Lord very much;

I will praise him in front of many people.

³¹He defends the helpless

and saves them from those who accuse them.