Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

1
Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;
Preserve me from violent men

2
Who devise evil things in {their} hearts;
They continually stir up wars.

3
They sharpen their tongues as a serpent;
Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.

4
Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
Preserve me from violent men
Who have purposed to trip up my feet.

5
The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set snares for me. Selah.

6
I said to the LORD, “You are my God;
Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.

7
“O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of battle.

8
“Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
Do not promote his {evil} device, {that} they {not} be exalted. Selah.

9
“As for the head of those who surround me,
May the mischief of their lips cover them.

10
“May burning coals fall upon them;
May they be cast into the fire,
Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.

11
“May a slanderer not be established in the earth;
May evil hunt the violent man speedily.

12
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted
And justice for the poor.

13
Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;
The upright will dwell in Your presence.

God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

1
O LORD, You have searched me and known {me.}

2
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.

3
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

5
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.

6
{Such} knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is {too} high, I cannot attain to it.

7
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

9
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

10
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

11
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,

12
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike {to You.}

13
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.

14
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.

15
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
{And} skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained {for me,}
When as yet there was not one of them.

17
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

19
O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

20
For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take {Your name} in vain.

21
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

22
I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.

23
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

24
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

Thanksgiving for the L{ORD}'{S} Favor.

{A Psalm} of David.

1
I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.

2
I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.

3
On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.

4
All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.

5
And they will sing of the ways of the LORD,
For great is the glory of the LORD.

6
For though the LORD is exalted,
Yet He regards the lowly,
But the haughty He knows from afar.

7
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.

8
The LORD will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

An Experience of the Captivity.

1
By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.

2
Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.

3
For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, {saying,}
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

4
How can we sing the LORD’S song
In a foreign land?

5
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget {her skill.}

6
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

7
Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.

8
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.

9
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.

Thanks for the L{ORD}'{S} Goodness to Israel.

1
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

2
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

3
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

4
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

5
To Him who made the heavens with skill,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

6
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

7
To Him who made {the} great lights,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:

8
The sun to rule by day,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

9
The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

10
To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

11
And brought Israel out from their midst,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

12
With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

13
To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

14
And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

15
But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

16
To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

17
To Him who smote great kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

18
And slew mighty kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:

19
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

20
And Og, king of Bashan,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

21
And gave their land as a heritage,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

22
Even a heritage to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

23
Who remembered us in our low estate,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

24
And has rescued us from our adversaries,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

25
Who gives food to all flesh,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

26
Give thanks to the God of heaven,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

PSALM 135

Praise the L{ORD}'{S} Wonderful Works. Vanity of Idols.

1
Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD;
Praise {Him,} O servants of the LORD,

2
You who stand in the house of the LORD,
In the courts of the house of our God!

3
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.

4
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His own possession.

5
For I know that the LORD is great
And that our Lord is above all gods.

6
Whatever the LORD pleases, He does,
In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.

7
He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
Who makes lightnings for the rain,
Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.

8
He smote the firstborn of Egypt,
Both of man and beast.

9
He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.

10
He smote many nations
And slew mighty kings,

11
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
And Og, king of Bashan,
And all the kingdoms of Canaan;

12
And He gave their land as a heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.

13
Your name, O LORD, is everlasting,
Your remembrance, O LORD, throughout all generations.

14
For the LORD will judge His people
And will have compassion on His servants.

15
The idols of the nations are {but} silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.

16
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;

17
They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.

18
Those who make them will be like them,
{Yes,} everyone who trusts in them.

19
O house of Israel, bless the LORD;
O house of Aaron, bless the LORD;

20
O house of Levi, bless the LORD;
You who revere the LORD, bless the LORD.

21
Blessed be the LORD from Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!

Greetings of Night Watchers.

A Song of Ascents.

1
Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD,
Who serve by night in the house of the LORD!

2
Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
And bless the LORD.

3
May the LORD bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth.

The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.

A Song of Ascents, of David.

1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!

2
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
{Even} Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

3
It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing–life forever.

Prayer for the L{ORD}'{S} Blessing upon the Sanctuary.

A Song of Ascents.

1
Remember, O LORD, on David’s behalf,
All his affliction;

2
How he swore to the LORD
And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

3
“Surely I will not enter my house,
Nor lie on my bed;

4
I will not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,

5
Until I find a place for the LORD,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.

6
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah,
We found it in the field of Jaar.

7
Let us go into His dwelling place;
Let us worship at His footstool.

8
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.

9
Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your godly ones sing for joy.

10
For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your anointed.

11
The LORD has sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.

12
“If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.

13
For the LORD has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His habitation.

14
“This is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

15
“I will abundantly bless her provision;
I will satisfy her needy with bread.

16
“Her priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her godly ones will sing aloud for joy.

17
“There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth;
I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed.

18
“His enemies I will clothe with shame,
But upon himself his crown shall shine.

Childlike Trust in the L{ORD}.

A Song of Ascents, of David.

1
O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.

2
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child {rests} against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.

3
O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.