Psalm 4:title–9:20

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments.

¹Answer me when I call to you,

O God who declares me innocent.

Free me from my troubles.

Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

²How long will you people ruin my reputation?

How long will you make groundless accusations?

How long will you continue your lies?

Interlude

³You can be sure of this:

The Lord set apart the godly for himself.

The Lord will answer when I call to him.

⁴Don’t sin by letting anger control you.

Think about it overnight and remain silent.

Interlude

⁵Offer sacrifices in the right spirit,

and trust the Lord.

⁶Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”

Let your face smile on us, Lord.

⁷You have given me greater joy

than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

⁸In peace I will lie down and sleep,

for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.

Psalm 5

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by the flute.

¹O Lord, hear me as I pray;

pay attention to my groaning.

²Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,

for I pray to no one but you.

³Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.

Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

⁴O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;

you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.

⁵Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence,

for you hate all who do evil.

⁶You will destroy those who tell lies.

The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.

⁷Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;

I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.

⁸Lead me in the right path, O Lord,

or my enemies will conquer me.

Make your way plain for me to follow.

⁹My enemies cannot speak a truthful word.

Their deepest desire is to destroy others.

Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.

Their tongues are filled with flattery.

¹⁰O God, declare them guilty.

Let them be caught in their own traps.

Drive them away because of their many sins,

for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;

let them sing joyful praises forever.

Spread your protection over them,

that all who love your name may be filled with joy.

¹²For you bless the godly, O Lord;

you surround them with your shield of love.

Psalm 6

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.

¹O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your rage.

²Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

³I am sick at heart.

How long, O Lord, until you restore me?

⁴Return, O Lord, and rescue me.

Save me because of your unfailing love.

⁵For the dead do not remember you.

Who can praise you from the grave?

⁶I am worn out from sobbing.

All night I flood my bed with weeping,

drenching it with my tears.

⁷My vision is blurred by grief;

my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.

⁸Go away, all you who do evil,

for the Lord has heard my weeping.

⁹The Lord has heard my plea;

the Lord will answer my prayer.

¹⁰May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.

May they suddenly turn back in shame.

Psalm 7

A psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush of the tribe of Benjamin.

¹I come to you for protection, O Lord my God.

Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!

²If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion,

tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

³O Lord my God, if I have done wrong

or am guilty of injustice,

⁴if I have betrayed a friend

or plundered my enemy without cause,

⁵then let my enemies capture me.

Let them trample me into the ground

and drag my honor in the dust.

Interlude

⁶Arise, O Lord, in anger!

Stand up against the fury of my enemies!

Wake up, my God, and bring justice!

⁷Gather the nations before you.

Rule over them from on high.

⁸The Lord judges the nations.

Declare me righteous, O Lord,

for I am innocent, O Most High!

⁹End the evil of those who are wicked,

and defend the righteous.

For you look deep within the mind and heart,

O righteous God.

¹⁰God is my shield,

saving those whose hearts are true and right.

¹¹God is an honest judge.

He is angry with the wicked every day.

¹²If a person does not repent,

God will sharpen his sword;

he will bend and string his bow.

¹³He will prepare his deadly weapons

and shoot his flaming arrows.

¹⁴The wicked conceive evil;

they are pregnant with trouble

and give birth to lies.

¹⁵They dig a deep pit to trap others,

then fall into it themselves.

¹⁶The trouble they make for others backfires on them.

The violence they plan falls on their own heads.

¹⁷I will thank the Lord because he is just;

I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

Psalm 8

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

¹O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Your glory is higher than the heavens.

²You have taught children and infants

to tell of your strength,

silencing your enemies

and all who oppose you.

³When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—

the moon and the stars you set in place—

⁴what are mere mortals that you should think about them,

human beings that you should care for them?

⁵Yet you made them only a little lower than God

and crowned them with glory and honor.

⁶You gave them charge of everything you made,

putting all things under their authority—

⁷the flocks and the herds

and all the wild animals,

⁸the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,

and everything that swims the ocean currents.

⁹O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Psalm 9

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Death of the Son.”

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

I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.

²I will be filled with joy because of you.

I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

³My enemies retreated;

they staggered and died when you appeared.

⁴For you have judged in my favor;

from your throne you have judged with fairness.

⁵You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have erased their names forever.

⁶The enemy is finished, in endless ruins;

the cities you uprooted are now forgotten.

⁷But the Lord reigns forever,

executing judgment from his throne.

⁸He will judge the world with justice

and rule the nations with fairness.

⁹The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed,

a refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁰Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

¹¹Sing praises to the Lord who reigns in Jerusalem.

Tell the world about his unforgettable deeds.

¹²For he who avenges murder cares for the helpless.

He does not ignore the cries of those who suffer.

¹³Lord, have mercy on me.

See how my enemies torment me.

Snatch me back from the jaws of death.

¹⁴Save me so I can praise you publicly at Jerusalem’s gates,

so I can rejoice that you have rescued me.

¹⁵The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.

Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.

¹⁶The Lord is known for his justice.

The wicked are trapped by their own deeds.

Quiet Interlude

¹⁷The wicked will go down to the grave.

This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.

¹⁸But the needy will not be ignored forever;

the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.

¹⁹Arise, O Lord!

Do not let mere mortals defy you!

Judge the nations!

²⁰Make them tremble in fear, O Lord.

Let the nations know they are merely human.

Interlude