Sermon Central
Psalm 88-110
Psalm 88
2May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
3I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.
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.
7Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
8You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;
9my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
10Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction
12Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13But I cry to you for help, LORD ; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14Why, LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
15From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed 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,
4‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’ ”
5The heavens praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
7In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
9You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.
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.
12You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13Your arm is endowed with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.
14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
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.
17For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn.
18Indeed, our shield
19Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: “I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have raised up a young man from among the people.
20I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
21My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him.
22The enemy will not get the better of him; the wicked will not oppress 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
25I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers.
26He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’
27And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.
29I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.
30“If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes,
31if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands,
32I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;
33but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.
35Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness— and I will not lie to David—
36that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;
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.
41All who pass by have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice.
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?
49Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
50Remember, Lord, how your servant has
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.
2Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
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.
8You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.
10Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13Relent, LORD ! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.
14Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.
17May the favor
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.
4He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
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.
9If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,
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;
12they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
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.”
Psalm 92
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!
6Senseless people do not know, fools do not understand,
7that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
8But you, LORD, are forever exalted.
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.
14They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
Psalm 93 1The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
2Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.
3The seas have lifted up, LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
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.
3How long, LORD, will the wicked, how long will the wicked be jubilant?
4They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting.
5They crush your people, LORD ; they oppress your inheritance.
6They slay the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless.
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?
9Does he who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see?
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;
13you grant them relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.
15Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
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.
20Can a corrupt throne be allied with you— a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
21The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
22But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. 23He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the LORD our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95 1Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD ; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
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.
5The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
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,
8“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
9where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 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.
3Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
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.
9Worship the LORD in the splendor of his
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.
12Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. 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.
4His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
6The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory.
7All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols— worship him, all you gods!
8Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, LORD .
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.
3He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
5make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,
6with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
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; 9let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 99 1The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.
2Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.
3Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy.
4The King is mighty, he loves justice— you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right.
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
4Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 101 1Of David. A psalm. I will sing of your love and justice; to you, LORD, I will sing praise.
2I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.
3I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.
4The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.
5Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.
6My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.
7No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. 8Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD .
Psalm 102
2Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.
3For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.
4My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food.
5In my distress I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and bones.
6I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.
7I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.
8All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears
10because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
12But you, LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.
13You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.
14For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.
15The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.
17He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.
18Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD :
19“The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth,
20to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.”
21So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem
22when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD .
23In the course of my life
24So I said: “Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.
25In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.
27But you remain the same, and your years will never end. 28The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.”
Psalm 103 1Of David. Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
15The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
16the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
17But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD ’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
19The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
20Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
21Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, my soul.
Psalm 104 1Praise the LORD, my soul. LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.
4He makes winds his messengers,
5He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.
6You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.
9You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.
10He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains.
11They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
13He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth:
15wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.
16The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers.
18The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
19He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.
20You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
22The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens.
23Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening.
24How many are your works, LORD ! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.
26There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
28When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
29When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
30When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
31May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
32he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD .
35But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD .
Psalm 105 1Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
2Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
3Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
5Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
10He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
11“To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”
12When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it,
13they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.
14He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings:
15“Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
16He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17and he sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.
18They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,
19till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.
20The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.
21He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed,
22to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.
23Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24The LORD made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes,
25whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
26He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27They performed his signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.
28He sent darkness and made the land dark— for had they not rebelled against his words?
29He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die.
30Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
32He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;
33he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.
34He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number;
35they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.
36Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
39He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.
40They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
42For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.
43He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
45that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws. Praise the LORD .
Psalm 106
1Praise the LORD .
2Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise?
3Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.
4Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
5that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
6We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
8Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.
9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
12Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
14In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test.
15So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them.
16In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD .
17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
18Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
19At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
22miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.
24Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.
25They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD .
26So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
28They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29they aroused the LORD ’s anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
30But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
31This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
32By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.
34They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
35but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
36They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
37They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to false gods.
38They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
40Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance.
41He gave them into the hands of the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
42Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
43Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
44Yet he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;
45for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
46He caused all who held them captive to show them mercy.
47Save us, LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. 48Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD .
BOOK V Psalm 107 1Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
4Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
6Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
7He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
8Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
10Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
12So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
14He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
15Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
17Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.
19Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
20He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
21Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
23Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.
26They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.
27They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.
28Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
29He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea
30They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
31Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.
33He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.
37They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
39Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.
41But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.
42The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths. 43Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD .
Psalm 108
2Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
3I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
4For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
6Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
7God has spoken from his sanctuary: “In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
8Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah is my scepter.
9Moab is my washbasin, on Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
11Is it not you, God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?
12Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. 13With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
Psalm 109 1For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent,
2for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
3With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.
4In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
5They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.
6Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him.
8May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.
9May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
10May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven
11May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
12May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children.
13May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation.
14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD ; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may blot out their name from the earth.
16For he never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted.
17He loved to pronounce a curse— may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing— may it be far from him.
18He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil.
19May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.
20May this be the LORD ’s payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me.
21But you, Sovereign LORD, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
23I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
24My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt.
25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
26Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love.
27Let them know that it is your hand, that you, LORD, have done it.
28While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice.
29May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
30With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD ; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him. 31For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.
Psalm 110
1Of David. A psalm. The LORD says to my lord:
2The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb.
4The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
5The Lord is at your right hand
6He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7He will drink from a brook along the way,