Psalm 100:1–102:28

¹Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.^*

²Serve the Lord with gladness;

come into his presence with singing.

³Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;^o

we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.^*

⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him; bless his name.^*

⁵For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever

and his faithfulness to all generations.^*

Psalm 101

A Sovereign’s Pledge of Integrity and Justice

Of David. A Psalm.

¹I will sing of loyalty and of justice;

to you, O Lord, I will sing.^*

²I will study the way that is blameless.

When shall I attain it?

I will walk with integrity of heart

within my house;^*

³I will not set before my eyes

anything that is base.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me.^*

⁴Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil.^*

⁵One who secretly slanders a neighbor

I will destroy.

A haughty look and an arrogant heart

I will not tolerate.^*

⁶I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

so that they may live with me;

whoever walks in the way that is blameless

shall minister to me.^*

⁷No one who practices deceit

shall remain in my house;

no one who utters lies

shall continue in my presence.

⁸Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

cutting off all evildoers

from the city of the Lord.^*

Psalm 102

Prayer to the Eternal King for Help

A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the Lord.

¹Hear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry come to you.^*

²Do not hide your face from me

in the day of my distress.

Incline your ear to me;

answer me speedily in the day when I call.^*

³For my days pass away like smoke,

and my bones burn like a furnace.^*

⁴My heart is stricken and withered like grass;

I am too wasted to eat my bread.^*

⁵Because of my loud groaning,

my bones cling to my skin.^*

⁶I am like a desert owl^p of the wilderness,

like a little owl of the waste places.^*

⁷I lie awake;

I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.^*

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me;

those who deride me use my name for a curse.^*

⁹Indeed, I eat ashes like bread

and mingle tears with my drink,^*

¹⁰because of your indignation and anger,

for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.

¹¹My days are like a lengthening shadow;

I wither away like grass.^*

¹²But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;

your name endures to all generations.^*

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to favor it;

the appointed time has come.^*

¹⁴For your servants hold its stones dear

and have pity on its dust.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the Lord

and all the kings of the earth your glory.^*

¹⁶For the Lord will build up Zion;

he will appear in his glory.^*

¹⁷He will regard the prayer of the destitute

and will not despise their prayer.^*

¹⁸Let this be recorded for a generation to come,

so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:^*

¹⁹that he looked down from his holy height,

from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,^*

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners,

to set free those who were doomed to die,^*

²¹so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion

and his praise in Jerusalem,^*

²²when peoples gather together,

and kingdoms, to serve the Lord.^*

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse;

he has shortened my days.^*

²⁴“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away

at the midpoint of my life,

you whose years endure

throughout all generations.”^*

²⁵Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.^*

²⁶They will perish, but you endure;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You change them like clothing, and they pass away,^*

²⁷but you are the same, and your years have no end.^*

²⁸The children of your servants shall live secure;

their offspring shall be established in your presence.^*