Jul 8 - Psalms 138-143
Psalms
1I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise.2I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.3When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.4May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.5May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.6Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.8The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever- do not abandon the works of your hands.
1O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.2You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.3You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.4Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.5You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.7Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?8If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,10even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.11If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"12even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.15My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,16your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.17How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!18Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.19If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!20They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.21Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?22I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
1Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; protect me from men of violence,2who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.3They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips. Selah4Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet.5Proud men have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. Selah6O LORD, I say to you, "You are my God." Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy.7O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle-8do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah9Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.10Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise.11Let slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down men of violence.12I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.13Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you.
1O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you.2May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.3Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.4Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.5Let a righteous man strike me-it is a kindness; let him rebuke me-it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;6their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.7They will say, "As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave. "8But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge-do not give me over to death.9Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers.10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
1I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.2I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.3When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.4Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.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 in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.7Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.
1O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.2Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.3The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead.4So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.5I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.6I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah7Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.8Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.9Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD, for I hide myself in you.10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.11For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.12In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.