Reading the Bible Together

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.

¹ Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, LORD, to help me.

² May those who seek my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.

³ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
turn back because of their shame.

⁴ But 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!”

⁵ But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
LORD, do not delay.

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David.

¹ Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.

² I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.

³ I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God.

⁴ Those 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.

⁵ You, God, know my folly;
my guilt is not hidden from you.

⁶ Lord, the LORD Almighty,
may those who hope in you
not be disgraced because of me;
God of Israel,
may those who seek you
not be put to shame because of me.

⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake,
and shame covers my face.

⁸ I am a foreigner to my own family,
a stranger to my own mother’s children;

⁹ for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

¹⁰ When I weep and fast,
I must endure scorn;

¹¹ when I put on sackcloth,
people make sport of me.

¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³ But I pray to you, LORD,
in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.

¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
from the deep waters.

¹⁵ Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶ Answer me, LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.

¹⁷ Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

¹⁸ Come near and rescue me;
redeem me because of my foes.

¹⁹ You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
all my enemies are before you.

²⁰ Scorn has broken my heart
and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.

²¹ They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

²² May the table set before them become a snare;
may it become retribution and a trap.

²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.

²⁴ Pour out your wrath on them;
let your fierce anger overtake them.

²⁵ May their place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.

²⁶ For they persecute those you wound
and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

²⁷ Charge them with crime upon crime;
do not let them share in your salvation.

²⁸ May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous.

²⁹ But as for me, afflicted and in pain—
may your salvation, God, protect me.

³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.

³¹ This will please the LORD more than an ox,
more than a bull with its horns and hooves.

³² The poor will see and be glad—
you who seek God, may your hearts live!

³³ The LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his captive people.

³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that move in them,

³⁵ for God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will settle there and possess it;

³⁶ the children of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell there.

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

¹ May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.

² May you blow them away like smoke—
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.

³ But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.

⁴ Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.

⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

⁶ God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

⁷ When you, God, went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,

⁸ the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.

⁹ You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.

¹⁰ Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

¹¹ The Lord announced the word,
and great was the company of those who proclaimed it:

¹² “Kings and armies flee in haste;
every household shares in the plunder.

¹³ Even while you sleep among the sheep pens,
the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,
its feathers with shining gold.”

¹⁴ When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,
it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

¹⁵ Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,
Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,

¹⁶ why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
where the LORD himself will dwell forever?

¹⁷ The chariots of God are tens of thousands
and thousands of thousands;
the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

¹⁸ When you ascended on high,
you took many captives;
you received gifts from people,
even from the rebellious—
that you, LORD God, might dwell there.

¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.

²⁰ Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.

²¹ Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

²² The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan;
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

²³ that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes,
while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”

²⁴ Your procession, God, has come into view,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

²⁵ In front are the singers, after them the musicians;
with them are the young women playing the timbrels.

²⁶ Praise God in the great congregation;
praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.

²⁷ There 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.

²⁸ Summon your power, God;
show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.

²⁹ Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings will bring you gifts.

³⁰ Rebuke the beast among the reeds,
the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.
Humbled, may it bring bars of silver.
Scatter the nations who delight in war.

³¹ Envoys will come from Egypt;
Cush will submit herself to God.

³² Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord,

³³ to him who rides the ancient skies above,
who thunders with mighty voice.

³⁴ Proclaim the power of God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.

³⁵ You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God!

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—

² so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

³ May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

⁴ May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.

⁵ May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

⁶ The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.

⁷ May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

¹ Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

² Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.

³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.

⁴ All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”

⁵ Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for humankind!

⁶ He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.

⁷ He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.

⁸ Praise our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;

⁹ he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.

¹⁰ For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.

¹¹ You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.

¹² You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

¹³ I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you—

¹⁴ vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.

¹⁵ I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.

¹⁶ Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.

¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.

¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;

¹⁹ but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.

²⁰ Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!

For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.

¹ Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.

² You who answer prayer,
to you all people will come.

³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.

⁴ Blessed 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.

⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,

⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,

⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.

⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You 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.

¹⁰ You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.

¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.

¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy.

² Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the plots of evildoers.

³ They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.

⁴ They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
they shoot suddenly, without fear.

⁵ They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, “Who will see it?”

⁶ They plot injustice and say,
“We have devised a perfect plan!”
Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.

⁷ But God will shoot them with his arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.

⁸ He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

⁹ All people will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done.

¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will glory in him!

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 seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.

¹⁰ They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.

² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

³ How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?

⁴ Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.

⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

⁹ Surely 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.

¹⁰ Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,

¹² and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”

¹ Save me, O God, by your name;
vindicate me by your might.

² Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.

³ Arrogant foes are attacking me;
ruthless people seek my life—
people without regard for God.

⁴ Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.

⁵ Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶ I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good.

⁷ You have delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.