Psalm 101–150

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.^*

Psalm 103

Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness

Of David.

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name.^*

²Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and do not forget all his benefits—

³who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,^*

⁴who redeems your life from the Pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,^*

⁵who satisfies you with good as long as you live^q

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The Lord works vindication

and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways to Moses,

his acts to the people of Israel.

⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.^*

⁹He will not always accuse,

nor will he keep his anger forever.^*

¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins

nor repay us according to our iniquities.^*

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;^*

¹²as far as the east is from the west,

so far he removes our transgressions from us.^*

¹³As a father has compassion for his children,

so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.^*

¹⁴For he knows how we were made;

he remembers that we are dust.^*

¹⁵As for mortals, their days are like grass;

they flourish like a flower of the field;^*

¹⁶for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

¹⁷But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children’s children,

¹⁸to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.^*

¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.^*

²⁰Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

obedient to his spoken word.^*

²¹Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers who do his will.^*

²²Bless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 104

God the Creator and Provider

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul.

O Lord my God, you are very great.

You are clothed with honor and majesty,^*

²wrapped in light as with a garment.

You stretch out the heavens like a tent;^*

³you set the beams of your^r chambers on the waters;

you make the clouds your^s chariot;

you ride on the wings of the wind;^*

⁴you make the winds your^t messengers,

fire and flame your^u ministers.^*

⁵You set the earth on its foundations,

so that it shall never be shaken.^*

⁶You cover it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.^*

⁷At your rebuke they flee;

at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

⁸They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys,

to the place that you appointed for them.^*

⁹You set a boundary that they may not pass,

so that they might not again cover the earth.^*

¹⁰You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

they flow between the hills,^*

¹¹giving drink to every wild animal;

the wild asses quench their thirst.^*

¹²By the streams^v the birds of the air have their habitation;

they sing among the branches.^*

¹³From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.^*

¹⁴You cause the grass to grow for the cattle

and plants for people to cultivate,

to bring forth food from the earth^*

¹⁵and wine to gladden the human heart,

oil to make the face shine

and bread to strengthen the human heart.^*

¹⁶The trees of the field^w are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has its home in the fir trees.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.^*

¹⁹You have made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.^*

²⁰You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.^*

²¹The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.^*

²²When the sun rises, they withdraw

and lie down in their dens.

²³People go out to their work

and to their labor until the evening.^*

²⁴O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.^*

²⁵There is the sea, great and wide;

creeping things innumerable are there,

living things both small and great.

²⁶There go the ships

and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.^*

²⁷These all look to you

to give them their food in due season;^*

²⁸when you give to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

²⁹When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.^*

³⁰When you send forth your spirit,^x they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.^*

³¹May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works—^*

³²who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke.^*

³³I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.^*

³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Praise the Lord!^*

Psalm 105

God’s Faithfulness to Israel

¹O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples.^*

²Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wonderful works.^*

³Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.^*

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually.^*

⁵Remember the wonderful works he has done,

his miracles and the judgments he has uttered,^*

⁶O offspring of his servant Abraham,^y

children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.^*

⁸He is mindful of his covenant forever,

of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant that he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,^*

¹⁰which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,^*

¹¹saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as your portion for an inheritance.”^*

¹²When they were few in number,

of little account and strangers in it,^*

¹³wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their account,^*

¹⁵saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;

do my prophets no harm.”

¹⁶When he summoned famine against the land

and cut off every supply of bread,^z*

¹⁷he had sent a man ahead of them,

Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.^*

¹⁸His feet were hurt with fetters;

his neck was put in a collar of iron;^*

¹⁹until what he had said came to pass,

the word of the Lord…