Praying the Psalms

Jump to end of psalm To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites. 1) As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2) My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? 3) My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?” 4) These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. 5) Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help 6) and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7) Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your catar...

Jump to end of psalm A Psalm of David. 1) O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for his steadfast love endures forever. 2 O give thanks to the God of gods, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for his steadfast love endures forever. 3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for his steadfast love endures forever; 4 who alone does great wonders, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for his steadfast love endures forever; 5 who by understanding made the heavens, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for his steadfast love endures forever; 6 who spread out the earth on the waters, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for his steadfast love endures forever; 7 who made the great lights, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for his steadfast love endures forever; 8 the sun to rule over the day, &nbsp&nbsp&...

Jump to end of psalm For the director of music. A psalm of David. 1) In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2) Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 3) Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4) Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. 5) Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God. 6) I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the Lord. 7) I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. 8) You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. 9) Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with so...

Jump to end of psalm A Psalm of David. To the leader. Of David, for the memorial offering. 1) Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me! 2) Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire to hurt me. 3) Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!” turn back because of their shame. 4) Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” 5) But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay! Psalm 70 (NRSV) Wednesday of Holy Week Proper 27, Year A, Sunday between November 6 and November 12 What a prayer! "Let all who seek you rejoice." Let your promises be true. Make it all work out! Deliver those in need, bless the poor and needy, turn the tables on my adversaries. And plea...

Jump to end of psalm A Psalm of David. 1) When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2) Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3) The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. 4) The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. 5) Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? 6) O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? 7) Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8) who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. Psalm 114 (NRSV*) The Great Vigil of Easter Easter Evening Proper 19, Sunday between September 11 and September 17, Year A It's a rhetorical question, of course. Why does the sea flee and why do the mountains skip like rams? The casual modern reader may hear that image of mountains skipping ...

Jump to end of psalm Of David. 1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2) Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever.” 5) When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. 6) The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 7) The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. 8) It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. 9) It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. 10) All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. 11) They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. 12) They swarmed around me like bees, ...

Jump to end of psalm Of David. A maskil. 1) Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2) Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3) When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4) For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5) Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6) Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. 7) You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. 8) I will instruct you and teach you in ...

Jump to end of psalm A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. 1) You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. 2) I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3) Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4) I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5) I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 6) On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 7) Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. 8) I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. 9) Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. 10) ...

Jump to end of psalm 9) How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. 10) I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12) Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. 13) With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14) I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15) I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16) I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. Psalm 119 , verses 9-16 (NRSV*) 5th Sunday of Lent, Years B & C, verses 9-16 The whole 119th Psalm is a mnemonic hymn to the Wisdom of Torah, and its benefits to those philosophers (lovers of wisdom) who keep the Lord's statutes. These eight verses focus on making God's word and God's laws a living...

Jump to end of psalm Of David. 1) The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2) When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes— they shall stumble and fall. 3) Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. 4) One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. 5) For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. 6) Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and ...

Jump to end of psalm Of David. 1) Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, 2) for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3) Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 4) Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5) Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6) He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. 7) Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. 8) Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9) For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 10) Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more...

Jump to end of psalm 1) The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 2) The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. 3) Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is he! 4) Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5) Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he! 6) Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them. 7) He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them. 8) O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 9) Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain;...