Psalm 107–150

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.

The Lord Appoints a King

A psalm of David.

110The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit by me at my right side

until I put your enemies under your control.”

²The Lord will enlarge your kingdom beyond Jerusalem,

and you will rule over your enemies.

³Your people will join you on your day of battle.

You have been dressed in holiness from birth;

you have the freshness of a child.

⁴The Lord has made a promise

and will not change his mind.

He said, “You are a priest forever,

a priest like Melchizedek.”

⁵The Lord is beside you to help you.

When he becomes angry, he will crush kings.

⁶He will judge those nations, filling them with dead bodies;

he will defeat rulers all over the world.

⁷The king will drink from the brook on the way.

Then he will be strengthened.

Praise the Lord’s Goodness

111Praise the Lord!

I will thank the Lord with all my heart

in the meeting of his good people.

²The Lord does great things;

those who enjoy them seek them.

³What he does is glorious and splendid,

and his goodness continues forever.

⁴His miracles are unforgettable.

The Lord is kind and merciful.

⁵He gives food to those who fear him.

He remembers his agreement forever.

⁶He has shown his people his power

when he gave them the lands of other nations.

⁷Everything he does is good and fair;

all his orders can be trusted.

⁸They will continue forever.

They were made true and right.

⁹He sets his people free.

He made his agreement everlasting.

He is holy and wonderful.

¹⁰Wisdom begins with respect for the Lord;

those who obey his orders have good understanding.

He should be praised forever.

Honest People Are Blessed

112Praise the Lord!

Happy are those who respect the Lord,

who want what he commands.

²Their descendants will be powerful in the land;

the children of honest people will be blessed.

³Their houses will be full of wealth and riches,

and their goodness will continue forever.

⁴A light shines in the dark for honest people,

for those who are merciful and kind and good.

⁵It is good to be merciful and generous.

Those who are fair in their business

⁶will never be defeated.

Good people will always be remembered.

⁷They won’t be afraid of bad news;

their hearts are steady because they trust the Lord.

⁸They are confident and will not be afraid;

they will look down on their enemies.

⁹They give freely to the poor.

The things they do are right and will continue forever.

They will be given great honor.

¹⁰The wicked will see this and become angry;

they will grind their teeth in anger and then disappear.

The wishes of the wicked will come to nothing.

Praise for the Lord’s Kindness

113Praise the Lord!

Praise him, you servants of the Lord;

praise the name of the Lord.

²The Lord’s name should be praised

now and forever.

³The Lord’s name should be praised

from where the sun rises to where it sets.

⁴The Lord is supreme over all the nations;

his glory reaches to the skies.

⁵No one is like the Lord our God,

who rules from heaven,

⁶who bends down to look

at the skies and the earth.

⁷The Lord lifts the poor from the dirt

and takes the helpless from the ashes.

⁸He seats…