Sermon Central
Psalm 51-100
2Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
7Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
10Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
18May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
2You who practice deceit, your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor.
3You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
4You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue!
5Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.
6The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying,
7“Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” 9For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.
Psalm 53
4Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on God. 6Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!
3Arrogant foes are attacking me; ruthless people are trying to kill me— people without regard for God.
4Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
6I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good. 7You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
Psalm 55
4My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.
11Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.
12If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide.
13But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,
14with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.
15Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.
16As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
17Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.
18He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.
19God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.
21His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.
22Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Psalm 56
3When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
5All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are for my ruin.
7Because of their wickedness do not
8Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll
9Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.
10In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise—
11in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?
12I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you.
Psalm 57
2I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me.
3He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me—
6They spread a net for my feet— I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path— but they have fallen into it themselves.
7My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
8Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
9I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
2No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
5that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.
6Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!
7Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
8May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.
10The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked. 11Then people will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
Psalm 59
4I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Arise to help me; look on my plight!
5You, LORD God Almighty, you who are the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors.
6They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.
8But you laugh at them, LORD ; you scoff at all those nations.
9You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress,
10my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
12For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter,
14They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.
Psalm 60
2You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
5Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
7Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah is my scepter.
9Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
11Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. 12With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
Psalm 61
2From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
7May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever; appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.
2Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
3How long will you assault me? Would all of you throw me down— this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
5Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.
9Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath. 12and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.”
Psalm 63
3Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
10They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.
Psalm 64
2Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the plots of evildoers.
3They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
4They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear.
5They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, “Who will see it
7But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly be struck down.
8He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9All people will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. 10The righteous will rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!
Psalm 65
2You who answer prayer, to you all people will come.
4Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.
7who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
8The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.
9You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.
11You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.
12The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. 13The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.
Psalm 66 1For the director of music. A song. A psalm. Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
2Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.
3Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
5Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!
6He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot— come, let us rejoice in him.
8Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;
9he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
11You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
13I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you—
15I will sacrifice fat animals to you and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats.
16Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.
Psalm 67
2so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
4May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.
5May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. 7May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 68
2May you blow them away like smoke— as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.
3But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
6God sets the lonely in families,
8the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
9You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.
11The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:
12“Kings and armies flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder.
14When the Almighty
15Mount Bashan, majestic mountain, Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,
16why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the LORD himself will dwell forever?
17The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.
18When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from
19Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.
22The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan; I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
23that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes, while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”
24Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
25In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels.
27There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them, there the great throng of Judah’s princes, and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28Summon your power, God
30Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
33to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.
34Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens. 35You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!
Psalm 69
2I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
4Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.
5You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you.
7For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face.
9for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
10When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;
12Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
13But I pray to you, LORD, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.
14Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.
16Answer me, LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.
20Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.
25May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
26For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
28May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.
29But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me.
30I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
31This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.
32The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!
33The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.
34Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them,
35for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; 36the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.
Psalm 70
2May those who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
3May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” turn back because of their shame.
4But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The LORD is great!”
Psalm 71 1In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.
5For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.
6From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.
7I have become a sign to many; you are my strong refuge.
8My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.
10For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together.
14As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
15My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long— though I know not how to relate them all.
16I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD ; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
18Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.
19Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, you who have done great things. Who is like you, God?
20Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
21You will increase my honor and comfort me once more. 24My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion.
5May he endure
6May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.
8May he rule from sea to sea and from the River
13He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
14He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
17May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him,
18Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. 20This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.
BOOK III Psalm 73 1A psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.
3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.
5They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.
8They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.
11They say, “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?”
12This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
13Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence.
14All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.
15If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children.
16When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply
18Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
19How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
21When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
22I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
23Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
25Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
6They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets.
11Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!
12But God is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth.
13It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
17It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.
18Remember how the enemy has mocked you, LORD, how foolish people have reviled your name.
21Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise your name.
22Rise up, O God, and defend your cause; remember how fools mock you all day long. 23Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries, the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.
3When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.
7It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. 10who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
Psalm 76
3There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
5The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands.
7It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry?
8From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet—
9when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.
10Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
11Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared. 12He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth.
2When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted.
3I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
5I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
6I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
7“Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?
8Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?
9Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
12I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
13Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?
15With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
16The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed.
17The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth.
19Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. 20You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 78
1A maskil
5He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
7Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
8They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
10they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.
11They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
12He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall.
16he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
18They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.
19They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?
20True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?”
21When the LORD heard them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel,
22for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.
23Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens;
24he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.
25Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
26He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow.
27He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.
28He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents.
30But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food was still in their mouths,
31God’s anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.
32In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
33So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.
34Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.
35They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.
37their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.
38Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.
40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland!
41Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
43the day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44He turned their river into blood; they could not drink from their streams.
45He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
46He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust.
52But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
55He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
59When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.
60He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans.
62He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.
63Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;
65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame.
68but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.
69He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.
70He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens;
71from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. 72And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
Psalm 79 1A psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
3They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.
4We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us.
5How long, LORD ? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
7for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.
8Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.
10Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die. 13Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.
2before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us.
3Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
4How long, LORD God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
5You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6You have made us an object of derision
7Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
9You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
11Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
13Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.
15the root your right hand has planted, the son
17Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.
2Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.
3Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
6“I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.
7In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
10I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
15Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
Psalm 82 1A psalm of Asaph. God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”:
5“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
7But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”
2See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.
3With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish.
4“Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you—
6the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,
9Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12who said, “Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.”
14As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.
16Cover their faces with shame, LORD, so that they will seek your name.
17May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. 18Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD — that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
2My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD ; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
7They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
9Look on our shield,
11For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Psalm 85
3You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.
4Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.
5Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
7Show us your unfailing love, LORD, and grant us your salvation.
8I will listen to what God the LORD says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants— but let them not turn to folly.
10Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
12The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
Psalm 86 1A prayer of David. Hear me, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
5You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
6Hear my prayer, LORD ; listen to my cry for mercy.
7When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.
9All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.
12I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 17Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
2The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.
4“I will record Rahab
6The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.”
Psalm 88
2May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
4I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.
5I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
6You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
10Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
14Why, LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
17All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. 18You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.
Psalm 89
2I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant,
7In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.
10You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.
13Your arm is endowed with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.
15Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD .
16They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness.
18Indeed, our shield
20I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
23I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries.
24My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn
26He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’
30“If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes,
32I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;
34I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.
37it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”
38But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one.
39You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust.
40You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
43Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle.
44You have put an end to his splendor and cast his throne to the ground.
45You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
46How long, LORD ? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all humanity!
48Who can live and not see death, or who can escape the power of the grave?
51the taunts with which your enemies, LORD, have mocked, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one. 52Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.
BOOK IV Psalm 90 1A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
3You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
5Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:
6In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.
7We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.
9All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.
12Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.
Psalm 91
1Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
3Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
5You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
10no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
13You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14“Because he
15He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
2proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,
3to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.
4For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD ; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
5How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts!
7that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
9For surely your enemies, LORD, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.
10You have exalted my horn
11My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
12The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
2Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.
4Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea— the LORD on high is mighty. 5Your statutes, LORD, stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days.
Psalm 94 1The LORD is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth.
2Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve.
5They crush your people, LORD ; they oppress your inheritance.
7They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice.”
8Take notice, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?
10Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?
11The LORD knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile.
12Blessed is the one you discipline, LORD, the one you teach from your law;
15Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
17Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.
19When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.
22But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
Psalm 95 1Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
3For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
6Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice,
9where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. 11So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
Psalm 96 1Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
4For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
5For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
6Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
7Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.
10Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.
11Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. 13Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalm 97 1The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.
2Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.
5The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
7All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols— worship him, all you gods!
9For you, LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11Light shines
Psalm 98 1A psalm. Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
2The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
4Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
7Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
8Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;
2Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.
5Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
6Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the LORD and he answered them.
7He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
8LORD our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.
Psalm 100 1A psalm. For giving grateful praise. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his