Praying the Psalms

Jump to end of psalm To the leader. A Psalm of David. 1) In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord, and in your help how greatly he exults! 2) You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah 3) For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold on his head. 4) He asked you for life; you gave it to him— length of days forever and ever. 5) His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. 6) You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. 7) For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. 8) Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9) You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,

Jump to end of psalm To the leader: according to the Lily of the Covenant. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 1) O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; now restore us! 2) You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering. 3) You have made your people suffer hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us reel. 4) You have set up a banner for those who fear you, to rally to it out of bowshot. Selah 5) Give victory with your right hand, and answer us, so that those whom you love may be rescued. 6) God has promised in his sanctuary: "With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth. 7) Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is min

Jump to end of psalm 33) Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end. 34) Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. 35) Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. 36) Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. 37) Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. 38) Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you. 39) Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good. 40) See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life. Psalm 119 7th Sunday after Epiphany, Year A, verses 33-40 Sunday between May 24 and 28, Year B, verses 1-13, 22 Proper 18, Sunday between September 4 and September 10, Year A In this fifth section of the longest psalm, we see, and put on our own lips, the problem of interna

Jump to end of psalm To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. 1) Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind. 2) They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. 3) May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4) those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?” 5) “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the Lord; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.” 6) The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. 7) You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever. 8) On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among huma

Jump to end of psalm A Song of Ascents. Of David. 1) O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. 3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore. Psalm 131 8th Sunday after Epiphany, Year A Sunday between May 24 and 28, Year A One immediately thinks of trauma. Something has happened to disturb and disquiet this soul. We are not talking about an infant who cries naturally when they are hungry or suffering the daily ups and downs of a life that is more complicated than their comprehension. This is the voice of an adult, who finds comfort by limiting what they see, by retreating, becoming "like a child." But they are not curled into a fetal position, they

Jump to end of psalm 1) O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2) Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3) For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4) In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5) The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 6) O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7) For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! 8) &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9) when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Jump to end of psalm To the leader: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. 1) Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who does good. 2) God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God. 3) They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one. 4) Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God? 5) There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them. 6) O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad. Psalm 53 Not

Jump to end of psalm To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. 1) I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2) He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3) He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. 4) Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. 5) You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted. 6) Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7) Then I said, “Here I am; in the

Jump to end of psalm 1) Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments. 2) Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3) Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. 4) They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. 5) It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice. 6) For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. 7) They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. 8) Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. 9) They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in ho