Sermon Central
Psalm 138-145
Psalm 138 1Of David. I will praise you, 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 unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame.
3When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me.
4May all the kings of the earth praise you, LORD, when they hear what you have decreed.
5May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.
6Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them 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 vindicate me; your love, LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 139 1For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. You have searched me, LORD, 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, LORD, know it completely.
5You hem me in behind and before, and you lay 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,
18Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
19If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23Search me, 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.
Psalm 140
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.
4Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet.
5The arrogant have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path.
6I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, LORD, my cry for mercy.
7Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, you shield my head in the day of battle.
8Do not grant the wicked their desires, LORD ; do not let their plans succeed.
9Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
10May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise.
11May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent.
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 in your presence.
Psalm 141 1A psalm of David. I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me; hear me 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, LORD ; keep watch over the door of my lips.
4Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.
5Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be 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, Sovereign LORD ; in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
9Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me. 10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
Psalm 142
2I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.
3When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me.
4Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
5I cry to you, 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.
Psalm 143 1A psalm of David. 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 the 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; I thirst for you like a parched land.
7Answer me quickly, 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 entrust my life.
9Rescue me from my enemies, 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, 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.
Psalm 144 1Of David. Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
2He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples
3LORD, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them?
4They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.
5Part your heavens, LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
6Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them.
7Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners
8whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.
9I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
10to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David. From the deadly sword
11deliver me; rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.
12Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
13Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields;
14our oxen will draw heavy loads.
Psalm 145
2Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.
3Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
4One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.
5They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6They tell of the power of your awesome works— and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
10All your works praise you, LORD ; your faithful people extol you.
11They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
12so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.
14The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
16You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
18The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
19He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
20The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD . Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.