Psalm 138–145

Psalm 138

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, I will praise you with all my heart.

In front of those who think they are gods

I will sing praise to you.

²I will bow down facing your holy temple.

I will praise your name,

because you are loving and faithful.

You have honored your name and your word

more than anything else.

³When I called out to you, you answered me.

You made me strong and brave.

⁴Lord, may all of the kings on earth praise you

when they hear about what you have promised.

⁵Lord, may they sing about what you have done,

because your glory is great.

⁶The Lord is in heaven. But he watches over those who are free of pride.

He knows those who are proud and stays far away from them.

⁷Trouble is all around me,

but you keep me alive.

You reach out your hand to put a stop to the anger of my enemies.

With your powerful right hand you save me.

⁸Lord, you will do everything you have planned for me.

Lord, your faithful love continues forever.

You have done so much for us. Don’t stop now.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Lord, you have seen what is in my heart.

You know all about me.

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

You know what I’m thinking even though you are far away.

³You know when I go out to work and when I come back home.

You know exactly how I live.

⁴Lord, even before I speak a word,

you know all about it.

⁵You are all around me. You are behind me and in front of me.

You hold me in your power.

⁶I’m amazed at how well you know me.

It’s more than I can understand.

⁷How can I get away from your Spirit?

Where can I go to escape from you?

⁸If I go up to the heavens, you are there.

If I lie down in the deepest parts of the earth, you are also there.

⁹Suppose I were to rise with the sun in the east

and then cross over to the west where it sinks into the ocean.

¹⁰Your hand would always be there to guide me.

Your right hand would still be holding me close.

¹¹Suppose I were to say, “I’m sure the darkness will hide me.

The light around me will become as dark as night.”

¹²Even that darkness would not be dark to you.

The night would shine like the day,

because darkness is like light to you.

¹³You created the deepest parts of my being.

You put me together inside my mother’s body.

¹⁴How you made me is amazing and wonderful.

I praise you for that.

What you have done is wonderful.

I know that very well.

¹⁵None of my bones was hidden from you

when you made me inside my mother’s body.

That place was as dark as the deepest parts of the earth.

When you were putting me together there,

¹⁶your eyes saw my body even before it was formed.

You planned how many days I would live.

You wrote down the number of them in your book

before I had lived through even one of them.

¹⁷God, your thoughts about me are priceless.

No one can possibly add them all up.

¹⁸If I could count them,

they would be more than the grains of sand.

If I were to fall asleep counting and then wake up,

you would still be there with me.

¹⁹God, I wish you would kill the people who are evil!

I wish those murderers would get away from me!

²⁰They are your enemies. They misuse your name.

They misuse it for their own evil purposes.

²¹Lord, I really hate those who hate you!

I really hate those who rise up against you!

²²I have nothing but hatred for them.

I consider them to be my enemies.

²³God, see what is in my heart.

Know what is there.

Put me to the test.

Know what I’m thinking.

²⁴See if there’s anything in my life you don’t like.

Help me live in the way that is always right.

Psalm 140

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Lord, save me from sinful men.

Keep me safe from those who want to hurt me.

²They make evil plans in their hearts.

They are always starting fights.

³Their tongues are as deadly as the tongue of a serpent.

The words from their lips are like the poison of a snake. Selah

⁴Lord, keep me out of the hands of sinful people.

Keep me safe from men who want to hurt me.

They plan to trip me up and make me fall.

⁵Proud people have hidden their traps to catch me.

They have spread out their nets.

They have set traps for me along my path. Selah

⁶Lord, I say to you, “You are my God.”

Lord, hear my cry for your favor.

⁷Lord and King, you save me because you are strong.

You are like a shield that keeps me safe in the day of battle.

⁸Lord, don’t give sinners what they want.

Don’t let their plans succeed.

If you do, they will become proud. Selah

⁹Those who are all around me have caused me trouble

by what their lips have said.

Let that trouble fall on their own heads.

¹⁰Let burning coals fall on people like that.

May they be thrown into the fire.

May they be thrown into muddy pits and never get out.

¹¹Don’t let men who tell lies about me settle down in the land.

May trouble hunt down those who want to hurt me.

¹²I know that the Lord makes sure that poor people are treated fairly.

He stands up for those who are in need.

¹³I’m sure that those who do right will praise your name.

Those who are honest will live with you.

Psalm 141

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, I call out to you. Come quickly to help me.

Listen to me when I call out to you.

²May my prayer come to you like the sweet smell of incense.

When I lift up my hands in prayer, may it be like the evening sacrifice.

³Lord, guard my mouth.

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴Don’t let my heart be drawn to what is evil.

Don’t let me join men who do evil.

They don’t do what is right.

Don’t let me join them and eat their fancy food.

⁵If a person who does what is right were to strike me, it would be an act of kindness.

If that person were to correct me, it would be like pouring olive oil on my head.

I wouldn’t say no to it.

But I always pray against the things that sinful people do.

⁶When their rulers are thrown down from the rocky cliffs,

those evil people will realize that my words were true.

⁷They will say, “As clumps of dirt are left from plowing up the ground,

so our bones will be scattered near an open grave.”

⁸But Lord and King, I keep looking to you.

I go to you for safety. Don’t let me die.

⁹Keep me from the traps of those who do evil.

Save me from the traps they have set for me.

¹⁰Let evil people fall into their own nets.

But let me go safely on my way.

Psalm 142

A prayer of David when he was in the cave. A maskil.

¹I call out to the Lord.

I pray to him for his favor.

²I pour out my problem to him.

I tell him about my trouble.

³When I grow weak,

you know what I’m going through.

In the path where I walk,

people have hidden a trap to catch me.

⁴Look around me, and you will see

that no one is concerned about me.

I have no place of safety.

No one cares whether I live or die.

⁵Lord, I cry out to you.

I say, “You are my place of safety.

You are everything I need in this life.”

⁶Listen to my cry.

I am in great need.

Save me from those who are chasing me.

They are too strong for me.

⁷My troubles are like a prison.

Set me free so I can praise your name.

Then those who do what is right will gather around me

because you have been good to me.

Psalm 143

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, hear my prayer.

Listen to my cry for your favor.

You are faithful and right.

Come and help me.

²Don’t take me to court and judge me,

because in your eyes no living person does what is right.

³My enemies chase me.

They crush me down to the ground.

They make me live in darkness

like those who died long ago.

⁴So I grow weak.

Deep down inside me, I’m afraid.

⁵I remember what happened long ago.

I spend time thinking about all of your acts.

I consider what your hands have done.

⁶I spread out my hands to you in prayer.

I’m thirsty for you, just as dry ground is thirsty for rain. Selah

⁷Lord, answer me quickly.

I’m growing weak.

Don’t turn your face away from me,

or I will be like those who go down into the grave.

⁸In the morning let me hear about your faithful love,

because I’ve put my trust in you.

Show me the way I should live,

because I pray to you.

⁹Lord, save me from my enemies,

because I go to you for safety.

¹⁰Teach me to do what you want,

because you are my God.

May your good Spirit

lead me on a level path.

¹¹Lord, be true to your name. Keep me alive.

Because you do what is right, get me out of trouble.

¹²Because your love is faithful, put an end to my enemies.

Destroy all of them, because I serve you.

Psalm 144

A psalm of David.

¹Give praise to the Lord. He is my rock.

He trains my hands for war.

He trains my fingers for battle.

²He is my loving God. He is like a fort to me.

He is my place of safety and the One who saves me.

He is like a shield that keeps me safe. I go to him for safety.

He brings nations under my control.

³Lord, what is a human being that you take care of him?

What is a son of man that you think about him?

⁴His life doesn’t last any longer than a breath.

His days are like a shadow that quickly disappears.

⁵Lord, open up your heavens and come down.

Touch the mountains, and they will pour out smoke.

⁶Send flashes of lightning and scatter my enemies.

Shoot your arrows and chase them away.

⁷My enemies are like a mighty flood.

Reach down from heaven and save me.

Save me from strangers who attack me.

⁸They tell all kinds of lies with their mouths.

Even when they make a promise by raising their right hands, they don’t mean it.

⁹God, I will sing a new song to you.

I will make music to you on a harp that has ten strings.

¹⁰You are the One who helps kings win battles.

You save your servant David from dying by the sword.

¹¹Save me. Set me free

from strangers who attack me.

They tell all kinds of lies with their mouths.

Even when they make a promise by raising their right hands, they don’t mean it.

¹²While our sons are young,

they will be like healthy plants.

Our daughters will be like pillars

that have been made to decorate a palace.

¹³Our storerooms will be filled

with every kind of food.

The sheep in our fields will increase by thousands.

They will increase by tens of thousands.

¹⁴Our oxen will pull heavy loads.

None of our city walls will be broken down.

No one will be carried off as a prisoner.

No cries of pain…