Psalm 120–134

Psalm 120

Prayer for Deliverance from Slanderers

A Song of Ascents.

¹In my distress I cry to the Lord,

that he may answer me:^*

²“Deliver me, O Lord,

from lying lips,

from a deceitful tongue.”

³What shall be given to you?

And what more shall be done to you,

you deceitful tongue?

⁴A warrior’s sharp arrows,

with glowing coals of the broom tree!^*

⁵Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech,

that I must live among the tents of Kedar.^*

⁶Too long have I had my dwelling

among those who hate peace.

⁷I am for peace,

but when I speak,

they are for war.

Psalm 121

Assurance of God’s Protection

A Song of Ascents.

¹I lift up my eyes to the hills—

from where will my help come?

²My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.^*

³He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.^*

⁴He who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade at your right hand.^*

⁶The sun shall not strike you by day

nor the moon by night.^*

⁷The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.^*

⁸The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time on and forevermore.^*

Psalm 122

Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”^*

²Our feet are standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

³Jerusalem—built as a city

that is bound firmly together.^*

⁴To it the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord,

as was decreed for Israel,

to give thanks to the name of the Lord.^*

⁵For there the thrones for judgment were set up,

the thrones of the house of David.^*

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May they prosper who love you.^*

⁷Peace be within your walls

and security within your towers.”

⁸For the sake of my relatives and friends

I will say, “Peace be within you.”

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your good.^*

Psalm 123

Supplication for Mercy

A Song of Ascents.

¹To you I lift up my eyes,

O you who are enthroned in the heavens!^*

²As the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid

to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,

until he has mercy upon us.^*

³Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,

for we have had more than enough of contempt.^*

⁴Our soul has had more than its fill

of the scorn of those who are at ease,

of the contempt of the proud.^*

Psalm 124

Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹If it had not been the Lord who was on our side

—let Israel now say—^*

²if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,

when our enemies attacked us,

³then they would have swallowed us up alive,

when their anger was kindled against us;^*

⁴then the flood would have swept us away;

the torrent would have gone over us;^*

⁵then over us would have gone

the raging waters.

⁶Blessed be the Lord,

who has not given us

as prey to their teeth.^*

⁷We have escaped like a bird

from the snare of the hunters;

the snare is broken,

and we have escaped.^*

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.^*

Psalm 125

The Security of God’s People

A Song of Ascents.

¹Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved but abides forever.^*

²As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds his people

from this time on and forevermore.^*

³For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest

on the land allotted to the righteous,

so that the righteous might not stretch out

their hands to do wrong.^*

⁴Do good, O Lord, to those who are good

and to those who are upright in their hearts.^*

⁵But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways,

the Lord will lead away with evildoers.

Peace be upon Israel!^*

Psalm 126

A Harvest of Joy

A Song of Ascents.

¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,^r

we were like those who dream.^*

²Then our mouth was filled with laughter

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”^*

³The Lord has done great things for us,

and we rejoiced.^*

⁴Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like the watercourses in the Negeb.^*

⁵May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.^*

⁶Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.

Psalm 127

God’s Blessings in the Home

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

¹Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord guards the city,

the guard keeps watch in vain.^*

²It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil,

for he gives sleep to his beloved.^s*

³Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.^*

⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the sons of one’s youth.

⁵Happy is the man who has

his quiver full of them.

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.^*

Psalm 128

The Happy Home of the Faithful

A Song of Ascents.

¹Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,

who walks in his ways.^*

²You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.^*

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

within your house;

your children will be like olive shoots

around your table.^*

⁴Thus shall the man be blessed

who fears the Lord.

⁵The Lord bless you from Zion.

May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life.^*

⁶May you see your children’s children.

Peace be upon Israel!^*

Psalm 129

Prayer for the Downfall of Israel’s Enemies

A Song of Ascents.

¹Often have they attacked me from my youth

—let Israel now say—^*

²often have they attacked me from my youth,

yet they have not prevailed against me.^*

³The plowers plowed on my back;

they made their furrows long.

⁴The Lord is righteous;

he has cut the cords of the wicked.^*

⁵May all who hate Zion

be put to shame and turned backward.^*

⁶Let them be like the grass on the housetops

that withers before it grows up,^*

⁷with which reapers do not fill their hands

or binders of sheaves their arms,

⁸while those who pass by do not say,

“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!

We bless you in the name of the Lord!”^*

Psalm 130

Waiting for Divine Redemption

A Song of Ascents.

¹Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.^*

²Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my supplications!^*

³If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

Lord, who could stand?^*

⁴But there is forgiveness with you,

so that you may be revered.^*

⁵I wait for the Lord; my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;^*

⁶my soul waits for the Lord

more than those who watch for the morning,

more than those who watch for the morning.^*

⁷O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is great power to redeem.^*

⁸It is he who will redeem Israel

from all its iniquities.^*

Psalm 131

Song of Quiet Trust

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

too great and too marvelous for me.^*

²But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned child with its mother;

my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.^t*

³O Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time on and forevermore.^*

Psalm 132

The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion

A Song of Ascents.

¹O Lord, remember in David’s favor

all the hardships he endured;

²how he swore to the Lord

and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,^*

³“I will not enter my house

or get into my bed;

⁴I will not give sleep to my eyes

or slumber to my eyelids,

⁵until I find a place for the Lord,

a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”^*

⁶We heard of it in Ephrathah;

we found it in the fields of Jaar.^*

⁷“Let us go to his dwelling place;

let us worship at his footstool.”^*

⁸Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting place,

you and the ark of your might.^*

⁹Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,

and let your faithful shout for joy.^*

¹⁰For your servant David’s sake

do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

¹¹The Lord swore to David a sure oath

from which he will not turn back:

“One of the sons of your body

I will set on your throne.^*

¹²If your sons keep my covenant

and my decrees that I shall teach them,

their sons also, forevermore,

shall sit on your throne.”^*

¹³For the Lord has chosen Zion;

he has desired it for his habitation:^*

¹⁴“This is my resting place forever;

here I will reside, for I have desired it.

¹⁵I will abundantly bless its provisions;

I will satisfy its poor with bread.^*

¹⁶Its priests I will clothe with salvation,

and its faithful will shout for joy.

¹⁷There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;

I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.^*

¹⁸His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,

but on him, his crown will gleam.”^*

Psalm 133

The Blessedness of Unity

A Song of Ascents.

¹How very good and pleasant it is

when kindred live together in unity!^*

²It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down upon the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down over the collar of his robes.^*

³It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion.

For there the Lord ordained his blessing,

life forevermore.^*

Psalm 134

Praise in the Night

A Song of Ascents.

¹Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,

who stand by night in the house of the Lord!^*

²Lift up your hands to the holy place,

and bless the Lord.^*

³May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth,

bless you from Zion.