Psalm 138–145

Psalm 138

Thanksgiving and Praise

Of David.

¹I give you thanks, O Lord,^z with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;^*

²I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted your name and your word

above everything.^a*

³On the day I called, you answered me;

you increased my strength of soul.^b*

⁴All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth.^*

⁵They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

⁶For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he perceives from far away.^*

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

you stretch out your hand,

and your right hand delivers me.^*

⁸The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of your hands.^*

Psalm 139

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

¹O Lord, you have searched me and known me.^*

²You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.^*

³You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.^*

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,

O Lord, you know it completely.^*

⁵You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.^*

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it.^*

⁷Where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?^*

⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.^*

⁹If I take the wings of the morning

and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

¹⁰even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me fast.^*

¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and night wraps itself around me,”^c*

¹²even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day,

for darkness is as light to you.^*

¹³For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.^*

¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well.^*

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.^*

¹⁶Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

In your book were written

all the days that were formed for me,

when none of them as yet existed.^d

¹⁷How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!^*

¹⁸I try to count them—they are more than the sand;

I come to the end^e—I am still with you.

¹⁹O that you would kill the wicked, O God,

and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—^*

²⁰those who speak of you maliciously

and lift themselves up against you for evil!^f*

²¹Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?^*

²²I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my thoughts.^*

²⁴See if there is any wicked^g way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.^h*

Psalm 140

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

¹Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;

protect me from those who are violent,^*

²who plan evil things in their minds

and stir up wars continually.^*

³They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,

and under their lips is the venom of vipers.   Selah^*

⁴Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

protect me from the violent

who have planned my downfall.^*

⁵The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread a net,ⁱ

along the road they have set snares for me.   Selah^*

⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God;

give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.”^*

⁷O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.^*

⁸Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their evil plot.^j   Selah^*

⁹Those who surround me lift up their heads;^k

let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!^*

¹⁰Let burning coals fall on them!

Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!^*

¹¹Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil speedily hunt down the violent!^*

¹²I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy

and executes justice for the poor.^*

¹³Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall live in your presence.^*

Psalm 141

Prayer for Preservation from Evil

A Psalm of David.

¹I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;

give ear to my voice when I call to you.^*

²Let my prayer be counted as incense before you

and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.^*

³Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴Do not turn my heart to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with those who work iniquity;

do not let me eat of their delicacies.^*

⁵Let the righteous strike me;

let the faithful correct me.

Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,^l

for my prayer is continually^m against their wicked deeds.^*

⁶When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,

then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.

⁷Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,

so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.^n*

⁸But my eyes are turned toward you, O God, my Lord;

in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenseless.^*

⁹Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me

and from the snares of evildoers.^*

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I alone escape.^*

Psalm 142

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors

A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer.

¹With my voice I cry to the Lord;

with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.^*

²I pour out my complaint before him;

I tell my trouble before him.^*

³When my spirit is faint,

you know my way.

In the path where I walk,

they have hidden a trap for me.^*

⁴Look on my right hand and see:

there is no one who takes notice of me;

no refuge remains to me;

no one cares for me.^*

⁵I cry to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my refuge,

my portion in the land of the living.”^*

⁶Listen to my cry,

for I am brought very low.

Save me from my persecutors,

for they are too strong for me.^*

⁷Bring me out of prison,

so that I may give thanks to your name.

The righteous will surround me,

for you will deal bountifully with me.^*

Psalm 143

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

A Psalm of David.

¹Hear my prayer, O Lord;

give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;

answer me in your righteousness.^*

²Do not enter into judgment with your servant,

for no one living is righteous before you.^*

³For the enemy has pursued me,

crushing my life to the ground,

making me sit in darkness like those long dead.

⁴Therefore my spirit faints within me;

my heart within me is appalled.^*

⁵I remember the days of old;

I think about all your deeds;

I meditate on the works of your hands.^*

⁶I stretch out my hands to you;

my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.   Selah^*

⁷Answer me quickly, O Lord;

my spirit fails.

Do not hide your face from me,

or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.^*

⁸Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,

for in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.^*

⁹Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;

I have fled to you for refuge.^o*

¹⁰Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God.

Let your good spirit lead me

on a level path.^*

¹¹For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.

In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.^*

¹²In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,

and destroy all my adversaries,

for I am your servant.^*

Psalm 144

Prayer for National Deliverance and Security

Of David.

¹Blessed be the Lord, my rock,

who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle,^*

²my rock^p and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer,

my shield, in whom I take refuge,

who subdues the peoples^q under me.^*

³O Lord, what are humans that you regard them,

or mortals that you think of them?^*

⁴They are like a breath;

their days are like a passing shadow.^*

⁵Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;

touch the mountains so that they smoke.^*

⁶Make the lightning flash and scatter them;

send out your arrows and rout them.^*

⁷Stretch out your hand from on high;

set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters,

from the hand of foreigners,^*

⁸whose mouths speak lies

and whose right hands are false.^*

⁹I will sing a new song to you, O God;

upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,^*

¹⁰the one who gives victory to kings,

who rescues his servant David.^*

¹¹Rescue me from the cruel sword,

and deliver me from the hand of aliens,

whose mouths speak lies,

and whose right hands are false.^*

¹²May our sons in their youth

be like plants full grown,

our daughters like corner pillars,

cut for the building of a palace.^*

¹³May our barns be filled

with produce of every kind;

may our sheep increase by thousands,

by tens of thousands in our fields,

¹⁴and may our cattle be heavy with young.

May there be no breach in the walls,^r no exile,

and no cry of distress in our streets.

¹⁵Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;

happy are the people whose God is the Lord.^*

Psalm 145

The Greatness and the Goodness of God

Praise. Of David.

¹I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

²Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.^*

³Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.^*

⁴One generation shall extol your works to another

and shall declare your mighty acts.^*

⁵They will recount the glorious^s splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works I will meditate.^*

⁶They will proclaim the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.^*

⁷They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.^*

⁸The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.^*

⁹The Lord is good to all,

and his compassion is over all that he has made.^*

¹⁰All your works shall…