Online Bible in Modern English The Book of Psalms Book 2 (Chapters 42-72)

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Psalms 42

Longing for God in Desperate Times  ^*Outline Headers are added as a study aid only, and should not be considered as part of the actual Biblical text

As the deer pants for the water brooks,

so my soul longs after you, God The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “Elohim”.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night,

while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me,

how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to the house of God,

with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.

Why are you in despair, my soul?

Why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God!

For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.

My God, my soul is in despair within me.

Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan,

the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.

Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls.

All your waves and your billows have swept over me.

Yahweh Yahweh is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD”will command his loving kindness in the daytime.

In the night his song shall be with me:

a prayer to the God of my life.

I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me,

while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

Why are you in despair, my soul?

Why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God! For I shall still praise him,

the saving help of my countenance, and my God.

Psalms 43

Prayer for Deliverance from Wicked Men

Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation.

Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.

For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Oh, send out your light and your truth.

Let them lead me.

Let them bring me to your holy hill,

To your tents.

Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God, my exceeding joy.

I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.

Why are you in despair, my soul?

Why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God!

For I shall still praise him:

my Savior, my helper, and my God.

Psalms 44

Prayer for the Nation of Israel

We have heard with our ears, God;

our fathers have told us,

what work you did in their days,

in the days of old.

You drove out the nations with your hand,

but you planted them.

You afflicted the peoples,

but you spread them abroad.

For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword,

neither did their own arm save them;

but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face,

because you were favorable to them.

You are my King, God.

Command victories for Jacob!

Through you, will we push down our adversaries.

Through your name, will we tread them under who rise up against us.

For I will not trust in my bow,

neither shall my sword save me.

But you have saved us from our adversaries,

and have shamed those who hate us.

In God we have made our boast all day long,

we will give thanks to your name forever.

SelahMeaning of Hebrew word “Selah” is uncertain. Probably a musical term for an Interlude or Pause (from Hebrew verb “salah”), or a Crescendo (from Hebrew verb “salal” meaning “to lift up”).

But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor,

and don’t go out with our armies.

You make us turn back from the adversary.

Those who hate us take spoil for themselves.

You have made us like sheep for food,

and have scattered us among the nations.

You sell your people for nothing,

and have gained nothing from their sale.

You make us a reproach to our neighbors,

a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.

You make us a byword among the nations,

a shaking of the head among the peoples.

All day long my dishonor is before me,

and shame covers my face,

At the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses,

because of the enemy and the avenger.

All this has come on us,

yet have we not forgotten you,

Neither have we been false to your covenant.

Our heart has not turned back,

neither have our steps strayed from your path,

Though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals,

and covered us with the shadow of death.

If we have forgotten the name of our God,

or spread forth our hands to a strange god;

won’t God search this out?

For he knows the secrets of the heart.

Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.

We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.

Wake up!

Why do you sleep, Lord The Hebrew word translated “Lord” is “Adonai”.?

Arise!

Don’t reject us forever.

Why do you hide your face,

and forget our affliction and our oppression?

For our soul is bowed down to the dust.

Our body clings to the earth.

Rise up to help us.

Redeem us for your loving kindness’ sake.

Psalms 45

Song for a Royal Wedding

My heart overflows with a noble theme.

I recite my verses for the king.

My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.

You are the most excellent of the sons of men.

Grace has anointed your lips,

therefore God has blessed you forever.

Strap your sword on your thigh, mighty one:

your splendor and your majesty.

In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness.

Let your right hand display awesome deeds.

Your arrows are sharp.

The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.

Your throne, God, is forever and ever.

A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.

Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women.

At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.

Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear.

Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.

So the king will desire your beauty,

honor him, for he is your lord.

The daughter of Tyre comes with a gift.

The rich among the people entreat your favor.

The princess inside is all glorious.

Her clothing is interwoven with gold.

She shall be led to the king in embroidered work.

The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.

With gladness and rejoicing they shall be led.

They shall enter into the king’s palace.

Your sons will take the place of your fathers.

You shall make them princes in all the earth.

I will make your name to be remembered in all generations.

Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.

Psalms 46

God Defends His People

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes,

though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;

though its waters roar and are troubled,

though the mountains tremble with their swelling.

Selah.

There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad,

the holy place of the tents of the Most High.

God is in her midst. She shall not be moved.

God will help her at dawn.

The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved.

He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.

Yahweh of Armies is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah.

Come, see Yahweh’s works,

what desolations he has made in the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.

He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear.

He burns the chariots in the fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.”

Yahweh of Armies is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Psalms 47

God is King over All the Earth

Oh clap your hands, all you nations.

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

For Yahweh Most High is awesome.

He is a great King over all the earth.

He subdues nations under us,

and peoples under our feet.

He chooses our inheritance for us,

the glory of Jacob whom he loved.

Selah.

God has gone up with a shout,

Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praise to God, sing praises.

Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth.

Sing praises with understanding.

God reigns over the nations.

God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples are gathered together,

the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God.

He is greatly exalted!

Psalms 48

Zion Exalted as the City Of God

Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised,

in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.

Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,

is Mount Zion, on the north sides,

the city of the great King.

God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.

For, behold, the kings assembled themselves,

they passed by together.

They saw it, then they were amazed.

They were dismayed.

They hurried away.

Trembling took hold of them there,

pain, as of a woman in travail.

With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.

As we have heard, so we have seen,

in the city of Yahweh of Armies, in the city of our God.

God will establish it forever.

Selah.

We have thought about your loving kindness, God,

in the midst of your temple.

As is your name, God,

so is your praise to the ends of the earth.

Your right hand is full of righteousness.

Let Mount Zion be glad!

Let the daughters of Judah rejoice,

Because of your judgments.

Walk about Zion, and go around her.

Number its towers.

Mark well her bulwarks.

Consider her palaces,

that you may tell it to the next generation.

For this God is our God forever and ever.

He will be our guide even to death.

Psalms 49

Foolish Mistrust in Earthly Riches

Hear this, all you peoples.

Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,

both low and high,

rich and poor together.

My mouth will speak words of wisdom.

My heart shall utter understanding.

I will incline my ear to a proverb.

I will open my riddle on the harp.

Why should I fear in the days of evil,

when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

Those who trust in their wealth,

and boast in the multitude of their riches—

none of them can by any means redeem his brother,

nor give God a ransom for him.

For the redemption of their life is costly,

no payment is ever enough,

That he should live on forever,

that he should not see corruption.

For he sees that wise men die;

likewise the fool and the senseless perish,

and leave their wealth to others.

Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever,

and their dwelling places to all generations.

They name their lands after themselves.

But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure.

He is like the animals that perish.

This is the destiny of those who are foolish,

and of those who approve their sayings.

Selah.

They are appointed as a flock for SheolSheol is the place of the dead.

Death shall be their shepherd.

The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.

Their beauty shall decay in Sheol,

far from their mansion.

But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will receive me.

Selah.

Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich,

when the glory of his house is increased.

For when he dies he shall carry nothing away.

His glory shall not descend after him.

Though while he lived he blessed his soul—

and men praise you when you do well for yourself—

he shall go to the generation of his fathers.

They shall never see the light.

A man who has riches without understanding,

is like the animals that perish.

Psalms 50

God as Judge of the Righteous and Wicked

The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks,

and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God shines forth.

Our God comes, and does not keep silent.

A fire devours before him.

It is very stormy around him.

He calls to the heavens above,

to the earth, that he may judge his people:

“Gather my saints together to me,

those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

The heavens shall declare his righteousness,

for God himself is judge.

Selah.

“Hear, my people, and I will speak;

Israel, and I will testify against you.

I am God, your God.

I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices.

Your burnt offerings are continually before me.

I have no need for a bull from your stall,

nor male goats from your pens.

For every animal of the forest is mine,

and the livestock on a thousand hills.

I know all the birds of the mountains.

The wild animals of the field are mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

Will I eat the flesh of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Pay your vows to the Most High.

Call on me in the day of trouble.

I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

But to the wicked God says,

“What right do you have to declare my statutes,

that you have taken my covenant on your lips,

since you hate instruction,

and throw my words behind you?

When you saw a thief, you consented with him,

and have participated with adulterers.

“You give your mouth to evil.

Your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother.

You slander your own mother’s son.

You have done these things, and I kept silent.

You thought that I was just like you.

I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.

“Now consider this, you who forget God,

lest I tear you into pieces, and there be none to deliver.

Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,

and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”

Psalms 51

David’s Prayer for Restoration

Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.

According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.

Cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions.

My sin is constantly before me.

Against you, and you only, have I sinned,

and done that which is evil in your sight;

that you may be proved right when you speak,

and justified when you judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity.

In sin my mother conceived me.

Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.

You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.

Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness,

That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all of my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a right spirit within me.

Don’t throw me from your presence,

and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation.

Uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways.

Sinners shall be converted to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation.

My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Lord, open my lips.

My mouth shall declare your praise.

For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.

You have no pleasure in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do well in your good pleasure to Zion.

Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,

in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings.

Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

Psalms 52

God Judges the Boastful and Lovers of Evil

Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man?

God’s loving kindness endures continually.

Your tongue plots destruction,

like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

You love evil more than good,

lying rather than speaking the truth.

Selah.

You love all devouring words,

you deceitful tongue.

God will likewise destroy you forever.

He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent,

and root you out of the land of the living.

Selah.

The righteous also will see it, and fear,

and laugh at him, saying,

“Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength,

but trusted in the abundance of his riches,

and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house.

I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.

I will give you thanks forever, because you have done it.

I will hope in your name, for it is good,

in the presence of your saints.

Psalms 53

Foolishness of the Atheist

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity.

There is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven on the children of men,

to see if there are any who understood,

who seek after God.

Every one of them has gone back.

They have become filthy together.

There is no one who does good, no, not one.

Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and don’t call on God?

There they were in great fear, where no fear was,

for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.

You have put them to shame,

because God has rejected them.

Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God brings back his people from captivity,

then Jacob shall rejoice,

and Israel shall be glad.

Psalms 54

Prayer for Vindication

Save me, God, by your name.

Vindicate me in your might.

Hear my prayer, God.

Listen to the words of my mouth.

For strangers have risen up against me.

Violent men have sought after my soul.

They haven’t set God before them.

Selah.

Behold, God is my helper.

The Lord is the one who sustains my soul.

He will repay the evil to my enemies.

Destroy them in your truth.

With a free will offering, I will sacrifice to you.

I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good.

For he has delivered me out of all trouble.

My eye has seen triumph over my enemies.

Psalms 55

A Complaint Psalm Concerning Betrayal by a Friend

Listen to my prayer, God.

Don’t hide yourself from my supplication.

Attend to me, and answer me.

I am restless in my complaint, and moan,

Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they bring suffering on me.

In anger they hold a grudge against me.

My heart is severely pained within me.

The terrors of death have fallen on me.

Fearfulness and trembling have come on me.

Horror has overwhelmed me.

I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove!

Then I would fly away, and be at rest.

Behold, then I would wander far off.

I would lodge in the wilderness.”

Selah.

“I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.”

Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language,

for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

Day and night they prowl around on its walls.

Malice and abuse are also within her.

Destructive forces are within her.

Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.

For it was not an enemy who insulted me,

then I could have endured it.

Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me,

then I would have hidden myself from him.

But it was you, a man like me,

my companion, and my familiar friend.

We took sweet fellowship together.

We walked in God’s house with company.

Let death come suddenly on them.

Let them go down alive into Sheol.

For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

As for me, I will call on God.

Yahweh will save me.

Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress.

He will hear my voice.

He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,

although there are many who oppose me.

God, who is enthroned forever,

will hear, and answer them.

Selah.

They never change,

who don’t fear God.

He raises his hands against his friends.

He has violated his covenant.

His mouth was smooth as butter,

but his heart was war.

His words were softer than oil,

yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you.

He will never allow the righteous to be moved.

But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction.

Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,

but I will trust in you.

Psalms 56

Trust in God for Protection and Deliverance

Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up.

All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.

My enemies want to swallow me up all day long,

for they are many who fight proudly against me.

When I am afraid,

I will put my trust in you.

In God, I praise his word.

In God, I put my trust.

I will not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

All day long they twist my words.

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

They conspire and lurk,

watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.

Shall they escape by iniquity?

In anger cast down the peoples, God.

You number my wanderings.

You put my tears into your bottle.

Aren’t they in your book?

Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call.

I know this, that God is for me.

In God, I will praise his word.

In Yahweh, I will praise his word.

I have put my trust in God.

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

Your vows are on me, God.

I will give thank offerings to you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,

and prevented my feet from falling,

that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

Psalms 57

Plea for Mercy and Praise for Rescue from Enemies

Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me,

for my soul takes refuge in you.

Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge,

until disaster has passed.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who accomplishes my requests for me.

He will send from heaven, and save me,

he rebukes the one who is pursuing me.

Selah.

God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.

My soul is among lions.

I lie among those who are set on fire,

even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,

and their tongue a sharp sword.

Be exalted, God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be above all the earth!

They have prepared a net for my steps.

My soul is bowed down.

They dig a pit before me.

They fall into its midst themselves.

Selah.

My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast.

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.

Wake up, my glory! Wake up, psaltery and harp!

I will wake up the dawn.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples.

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens,

and your truth to the skies.

Be exalted, God, above the heavens.

Let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalms 58

Prayer for God to Judge the Wicked

Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones?

Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?

No, in your heart you plot injustice.

You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.

The wicked go astray from the womb.

They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

Their poison is like the poison of a snake;

like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,

which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers,

no matter how skillful the charmer may be.

Break their teeth, God, in their mouth.

Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.

Let them vanish as water that flows away.

When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.

Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away,

like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns,

he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.

He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;

so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous.

Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

Psalms 59

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Deliver me from my enemies, my God.

Set me on high from those who rise up against me.

Deliver me from the workers of iniquity.

Save me from the bloodthirsty men.

For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul.

The mighty gather themselves together against me,

not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Yahweh.

I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.

Rise up, behold, and help me!

You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel,

rouse yourself to punish the nations.

Show no mercy to the wicked traitors.

Selah.

They return at evening, howling like dogs,

and prowl around the city.

Behold, they spew with their mouth.

Swords are in their lips,

“For,” they say, “who hears us?”

But you, Yahweh, laugh at them.

You scoff at all the nations.

Oh, my Strength, I watch for you,

for God is my high tower.

My God will go before me with his loving kindness.

God will let me look at my enemies in triumph.

Don’t kill them, or my people may forget.

Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.

For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,

let them be caught in their pride,

for the curses and lies which they utter.

Consume them in wrath.

Consume them, and they will be no more.

Let them know that God rules in Jacob,

to the ends of the earth.

Selah.

At evening let them return.

Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city.

They shall wander up and down for food,

and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied.

But I will sing of your strength.

Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning.

For you have been my high tower,

a refuge in the day of my distress.

To you, my strength, I will sing praises.

For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

Psalms 60

Prayer for Help after Suffering Defeat in Battle

God, you have rejected us.

You have broken us down.

You have been angry.

Restore us, again.

You have made the land tremble.

You have torn it.

Mend its fractures,

for it quakes.

You have shown your people hard things.

You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger.

You have given a banner to those who fear you,

that it may be displayed because of the truth.

Selah.

So that your beloved may be delivered,

save with your right hand, and answer us.

God has spoken from his sanctuary:

“I will triumph.

I will divide Shechem,

and measure out the valley of Succoth.

Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine.

Ephraim also is the defense of my head.

Judah is my scepter.

Moab is my wash basin.

I will throw my shoe on Edom.

I shout in triumph over Philistia.”

Who will bring me into the strong city?

Who has led me to Edom?

Haven’t you, God, rejected us?

You don’t go out with our armies, God.

Give us help against the adversary,

for the help of man is vain.

Through God we shall do valiantly,

for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.

Psalms 61

Prayer of Trust in God for Protection

Hear my cry, God.

Listen to my prayer.

From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

For you have been a refuge for me,

a strong tower from the enemy.

I will dwell in your tent forever.

I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Selah.

For you, God, have heard my vows.

You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

You will prolong the king’s life;

his years shall be for generations.

He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever.

Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.

So I will sing praise to your name forever,

that I may fulfill my vows daily.

Psalms 62

Song of Trust in God Alone

My soul rests in God alone.

My salvation is from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress—

I will never be greatly shaken.

How long will you assault a man,

would all of you throw him down,

Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?

They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place.

They delight in lies.

They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly.

Selah.

My soul, wait in silence for God alone,

for my expectation is from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

I will not be shaken.

With God is my salvation and my honor.

The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Trust in him at all times, you people.

Pour out your heart before him.

God is a refuge for us.

Selah.

Surely men of low degree are just a breath,

and men of high degree are a lie.

In the balances they will go up.

They are together lighter than a breath.

Don’t trust in oppression.

Don’t become vain in robbery.

If riches increase,

don’t set your heart on them.

God has spoken once;

twice I have heard this,

that power belongs to God.

Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness,

for you reward every man according to his work.

Psalms 63

Seeking and Resting in God’s Presence

God, you are my God.

I will earnestly seek you.

My soul thirsts for you.

My flesh longs for you,

in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.

So I have seen you in the sanctuary,

watching your power and your glory.

Because your loving kindness is better than life,

my lips shall praise you.

So I will bless you while I live.

I will lift up my hands in your name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food.

My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

when I remember you on my bed,

and think about you in the night watches.

For you have been my help.

I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

My soul stays close to you.

Your right hand holds me up.

But those who seek my soul, to destroy it,

shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

They shall be given over to the power of the sword.

They shall be jackal food.

But the king shall rejoice in God.

Everyone who swears by him will praise him,

for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.

Psalms 64

Prayer for Protection from Enemies

Hear my voice, God, in my complaint.

Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,

from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;

who sharpen their tongue like a sword,

and aim their arrows, deadly words,

to shoot innocent men from ambushes.

They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.

They encourage themselves in evil plans.

They talk about laying snares secretly.

They say, “Who will see them?”

They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!”

Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.

But God will shoot at them.

They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.

Their own tongues shall ruin them.

All who see them will shake their heads.

All mankind shall be afraid.

They shall declare the work of God,

and shall wisely ponder what he has done.

The righteous shall be glad in Yahweh,

and shall take refuge in him.

All the upright in heart shall praise him!

Psalms 65

God’s Care for the Earth

Praise waits for you, God, in Zion.

To you shall vows be performed.

You who hear prayer,

to you all men will come.

Sins overwhelmed me,

but you atoned for our transgressions.

Blessed is one whom you choose, and cause to come near,

that he may live in your courts.

We will be filled with the goodness of your house,

your holy temple.

By awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us,

God of our salvation.

You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth,

of those who are far away on the sea;

Who by his power forms the mountains,

having armed yourself with strength;

who stills the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

and the turmoil of the nations.

They also who dwell in faraway places are afraid at your wonders.

You call the morning’s dawn and the evening with songs of joy.

You visit the earth, and water it.

You greatly enrich it.

The river of God is full of water.

You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it.

You drench its furrows.

You level its ridges.

You soften it with showers.

You bless it with a crop.

You crown the year with your bounty.

Your carts overflow with abundance.

The wilderness grasslands overflow.

The hills are clothed with gladness.

The pastures are covered with flocks.

The valleys also are clothed with grain.

They shout for joy!

They also sing.

Psalms 66

Praise for God’s Mighty Works

Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!

Sing to the glory of his name!

Offer glory and praise!

Tell God, “How awesome are your deeds!

Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.

All the earth will worship you,

and will sing to you;

they will sing to your name.”

Selah.

Come, and see God’s deeds—

awesome work on behalf of the children of men.

He turned the sea into dry land.

They went through the river on foot.

There, we rejoiced in him.

He rules by his might forever.

His eyes watch the nations.

Don’t let the rebellious rise up against him.

Selah.

Praise our God, you peoples!

Make the sound of his praise heard,

who preserves our life among the living,

and doesn’t allow our feet to be moved.

For you, God, have tested us.

You have refined us, as silver is refined.

You brought us into prison.

You laid a burden on our backs.

You allowed men to ride over our heads.

We went through fire and through water,

but you brought us to the place of abundance.

I will come into your temple with burnt offerings.

I will pay my vows to you, which my lips promised,

and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress.

I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat animals,

with the offering of rams,

I will offer bulls with goats.

Selah.

Come, and hear, all you who fear God.

I will declare what he has done for my soul.

I cried to him with my mouth.

He was extolled with my tongue.

If I cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord wouldn’t have listened.

But most certainly, God has listened.

He has heard the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer,

nor his loving kindness from me.

Psalms 67

Let all the Nation Praise God

May God be merciful to us, bless us,

and cause his face to shine on us.

Selah.

That your way may be known on earth,

and your salvation among all nations,

let the peoples praise you, God.

Let all the peoples praise you.

Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you will judge the peoples with equity,

and govern the nations on earth.

Selah.

Let the peoples praise you, God.

Let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its increase.

God, even our own God, will bless us.

God will bless us.

All the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Psalms 68

The Power and Majesty of God

Let God arise!

Let his enemies be scattered!

Let them who hate him also flee before him.

As smoke is driven away,

so drive them away.

As wax melts before the fire,

so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

But let the righteous be glad.

Let them rejoice before God.

Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.

Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!

Extol him who rides on the clouds:

to Yah, his name!

Rejoice before him!

A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows,

is God in his holy habitation.

God sets the lonely in families.

He brings out the prisoners with singing,

but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

God, when you went forth before your people,

when you marched through the wilderness...

Selah.

The earth trembled.

The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai—

at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

You, God, sent a plentiful rain.

You confirmed your inheritance, when it was weary.

Your congregation lived therein.

You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.

The Lord announced the word.

The ones who proclaim it are a great company.

“Kings of armies flee! They flee!”

She who waits at home divides the spoil,

while you sleep among the campfires,

the wings of a dove sheathed with silver,

her feathers with shining gold.

When the Almighty scattered kings in her,

it snowed on Zalmon.

The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains.

The mountains of Bashan are rugged.

Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign?

Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever.

The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands.

The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.

You have ascended on high.

You have led away captives.

You have received gifts among men,

yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens,

even the God who is our salvation.

Selah.

God is to us a God of deliverance.

To Yahweh, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

But God will strike through the head of his enemies,

the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.

The Lord said, “I will bring you again from Bashan,

I will bring you again from the depths of the sea;

That you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood,

that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”

They have seen your processions, God,

even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.

The singers went before, the minstrels followed after,

in the midst of the ladies playing with tambourines,

“Bless God in the congregations,

even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!”

There is little Benjamin, their ruler,

the princes of Judah, their council,

the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

Your God has commanded your strength.

Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.

Because of your temple at Jerusalem,

kings shall bring presents to you.

Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds,

the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples.

Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver.

Scatter the nations that delight in war.

Princes shall come out of Egypt.

Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.

Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth!

Sing praises to the Lord!

Selah.

To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old;

behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.

Ascribe strength to God!

His excellency is over Israel,

his strength is in the skies.

You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries.

The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people.

Praise be to God!

Psalms 69

A Desparate Plea to God for Rescue

Save me, God,

for the waters have come up to my neck!

I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold.

I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

I am weary with my crying.

My throat is dry.

My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head.

Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty.

I have to restore what I didn’t take away.

God, you know my foolishness.

My sins aren’t hidden from you.

Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord Yahweh of Armies.

Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.

Because for your sake, I have borne reproach.

Shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my mother’s children.

For the zeal of your house consumes me.

The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

When I wept and I fasted,

that was to my reproach.

When I made sackcloth my clothing,

I became a byword to them.

Those who sit in the gate talk about me.

I am the song of the drunkards.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in an acceptable time.

God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.

Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink.

Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me,

neither let the deep swallow me up.

Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.

Answer me, Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good.

According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.

Don’t hide your face from your servant,

for I am in distress.

Answer me speedily!

Draw near to my soul, and redeem it.

Ransom me because of my enemies.

You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor.

My adversaries are all before you.

Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness.

I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;

for comforters, but I found none.

They also gave me gall for my food.

In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.

Let their table before them become a snare.

May it become a retribution and a trap.

Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see.

Let their backs be continually bent.

Pour out your indignation on them.

Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

Let their habitation be desolate.

Let no one dwell in their tents.

For they persecute him whom you have wounded.

They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.

Charge them with crime upon crime.

Don’t let them come into your righteousness.

Let them be blotted out of the book of life,

and not be written with the righteous.

But I am in pain and distress.

Let your salvation, God, protect me.

I will praise the name of God with a song,

and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

It will please Yahweh better than an ox,

or a bull that has horns and hoofs.

The humble have seen it, and are glad.

You who seek after God, let your heart live.

For Yahweh hears the needy,

and doesn’t despise his captive people.

Let heaven and earth praise him;

the seas, and everything that moves therein!

For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah.

They shall settle there, and own it.

The children also of his servants shall inherit it.

Those who love his name shall dwell therein.

Psalms 70

Prayer for Speedy Deliverance

Hurry, God, to deliver me.

Come quickly to help me, Yahweh.

Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul.

Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.

Let them be turned because of their shame

Who say, “Aha! Aha!”

Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

Let those who love your salvation continually say,

“Let God be exalted!”

But I am poor and needy.

Come to me quickly, God.

You are my help and my deliverer.

Yahweh, don’t delay.

Psalms 71

Prayer and Praise for God’s Help in Old Age

In you, Yahweh, I take refuge.

Never let me be disappointed.

Deliver me in your righteousness, and rescue me.

Turn your ear to me, and save me.

Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go.

Give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh;

my confidence from my youth.

I have relied on you from the womb.

You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb.

I will always praise you.

I am a marvel to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

My mouth shall be filled with your praise,

with your honor all the day.

Don’t reject me in my old age.

Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.

For my enemies talk about me.

Those who watch for my soul conspire together,

saying, “God has forsaken him.

Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him.”

God, don’t be far from me.

My God, hurry to help me.

Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed.

Let them be covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me.

But I will always hope,

and will add to all of your praise.

My mouth will tell about your righteousness,

and of your salvation all day,

though I don’t know its full measure.

I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Yahweh.

I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone.

God, you have taught me from my youth.

Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.

Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me,

until I have declared your strength to the next generation,

your might to everyone who is to come.

Your righteousness also, God, reaches to the heavens;

you have done great things.

God, who is like you?

You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles,

you will let me live.

You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.

Increase my honor,

and comfort me again.

I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God.

I sing praises to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

My lips shall shout for joy!

My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you!

My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long,

for they are disappointed, and they are confounded,

who want to harm me.

Psalms 72

Prayer for Israel’s King

God, give the king your justice;

your righteousness to the royal son.

He will judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people.

The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.

He will judge the poor of the people.

He will save the children of the needy,

and will break the oppressor in pieces.

They shall fear you while the sun endures;

and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

He will come down like rain on the mown grass,

as showers that water the earth.

In his days, the righteous shall flourish,

and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,

from the River to the ends of the earth.

Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him.

His enemies shall lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute.

The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

Yes, all kings shall fall down before him.

All nations shall serve him.

For he will deliver the needy when he cries;

the poor, who has no helper.

He will have pity on the poor and needy.

He will save the souls of the needy.

He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence.

Their blood will be precious in his sight.

They shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba.

Men shall pray for him continually.

They shall bless him all day long.

Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land.

Its fruit sways like Lebanon.

Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

His name endures forever.

His name continues as long as the sun.

Men shall be blessed by him.

All nations will call him blessed.

Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvelous deeds.

Blessed be his glorious name forever!

Let the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and amen.

This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.

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