Psalm 113–115

Psalm 113

God the Helper of the Needy

¹Praise the Lord!

Praise, O servants of the Lord;

praise the name of the Lord.^*

²Blessed be the name of the Lord

from this time on and forevermore.^*

³From the rising of the sun to its setting,

the name of the Lord is to be praised.^*

⁴The Lord is high above all nations

and his glory above the heavens.^*

⁵Who is like the Lord our God,

who is seated on high,^*

⁶who looks far down

on the heavens and the earth?^*

⁷He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

⁸to make them sit with princes,

with the princes of his people.

⁹He gives the barren woman a home,

making her the joyous mother of children.

Praise the Lord!^*

Psalm 114

God’s Wonders at the Exodus

^1bWhen Israel went out from Egypt,

the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,^*

²Judah became God’s^c sanctuary,

Israel his dominion.^*

³The sea looked and fled;

Jordan turned back.^*

⁴The mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs.^*

⁵Why is it, O sea, that you flee?

O Jordan, that you turn back?

⁶O mountains, that you skip like rams?

O hills, like lambs?

⁷Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,

at the presence of the God of Jacob,^*

⁸who turns the rock into a pool of water,

the flint into a spring of water.^*

Psalm 115

The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God

^1dNot to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.^*

²Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”^*

³Our God is in the heavens;

he does whatever he pleases.^*

⁴Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.^*

⁵They have mouths, but they do not speak;

they have eyes, but they do not see.

⁶They have ears, but they do not hear;

they have noses, but they do not smell.

⁷They have hands, but they do not feel;

they have feet, but they do not walk;

they make no sound in their throats.

⁸Those who make them are like them;

so are all who trust in them.^*

⁹O Israel, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.^*

¹⁰O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.

¹¹You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.^*

¹²The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;

he will bless the house of Israel;

he will bless the house of Aaron;

¹³he will bless those who fear the Lord,

both small and great.

¹⁴May the Lord give you increase,

both you and your children.^*

¹⁵May you be blessed by the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.^*

¹⁶The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,

but the earth he has given to human beings.^*

¹⁷The dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any who go down into silence.^*

¹⁸But we will bless the Lord

from this time on and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!^*