Jun 24 - Psalms 71-73
Psalms
1In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!2In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me!3Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.4Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.5For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.6Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.7I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.8My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day.9Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.10For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together11and say, "God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him."12O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!13May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.14But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.15My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.16With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.17O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.18So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.19Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?20You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.21You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.22I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.23My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.24And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.
1Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!2May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!3Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!4May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!5May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!6May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!7In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!8May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!9May desert tribes bow down before him and his enemies lick the dust!10May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!11May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!12For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.13He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.14From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.15Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day!16May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!17May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!18Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.19Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!20The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
1Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.3For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.4For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.5They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.6Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.7Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.8They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.9They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.10Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.11And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?"12Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.13All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.14For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.15If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed the generation of your children.16But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,17until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.18Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.19How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!20Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.21When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,22I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.23Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.24You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.25Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.26My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.27For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.28But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.