Thursday 10 August 2017

Day 163: Psalms 34 - 38

 


Chapter 34

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

1: I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2: My soul makes its boast in the Lordlet the humble hear and be glad.
3: Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!
4: I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
5: Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6: This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
7: The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8: Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9: Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
10: The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11: Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12: What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?
13: Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
14: Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15: The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.
16: The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17: When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
19: Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20: He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
21: Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22: The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.


Chapter 35

Great Is the Lord
Of David

1: Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!
2: Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help!
3: Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!”
4: Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me!
5: Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6: Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7: For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.
8: Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!
9: Then my soul will rejoice in the Lordexulting in his salvation.
10: All my bones shall say, “O Lord, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
11: Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know.
12: They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.
13: But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
14: I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.
15: But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;
16: like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth.
17: How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!
18: I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19: Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye
who hate me without cause.
20: For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit.
21: They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!”
22: You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!
23: Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24: Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!
25: Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26: Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me!
27: Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lordwho delights in the welfare of his servant!”
28: Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.

Chapter 36

How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love
To the choirmaster - of David, the servant of the Lord

1: Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2: For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3: The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
4: He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
5: Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6: Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.
7: How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8: They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9: For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
10: Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
11: Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12: There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.


Chapter 37

He Will Not Forsake His Saints
Of David

1: Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not 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; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4: Delight yourself in the Lordand he will give you the desires of your heart.
5: Commit your way to the Lordtrust in him, and he will act.
6: He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
7: Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
8: Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9: For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
10: In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11: But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
12: The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him,
13: but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.
14: The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright;
15: their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
16: Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.
17: For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18: The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever;
19: they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.
20: But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21: The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives;
22: for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23: The steps of a man are established by the Lordwhen he delights in his way;
24: though he falls, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
25: I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.
26: He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.
27: Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.
28: For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29: The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.
30: The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
31: The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.
32: The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.
33: The Lord will not abandon him to his power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
34: Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
35: I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36: But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.
37: Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
38: But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39: The salvation of the righteous is from the Lordhe is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40: The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.


Chapter 38

Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord
A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering

1: Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
2: For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
3There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
6I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
7For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.
12Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
13But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!”
17For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me.
18I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
19But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.
21Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me!
22Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

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