Day 167: Psalms 63 - 68

 

Chapter 63

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

1: O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2: So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

3: Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

4: So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

5: My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6:when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

7: for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

8: My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

9:But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;

10: they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals.

11: But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Chapter 64

Hide Me from the Wicked

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1: Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

2: Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers,

3: who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows,

4: shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

5: They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, “Who can see them?”

6: They search out injustice, saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.” For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

7: But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly.

8: They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads.

9: Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done.

10: Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him!
Let all the upright in heart exult!

Chapter 65

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1: Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.

2: O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.

3: When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.

4: Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!

5: By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;

6: the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;

7: who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,

8: so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

9: You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.

10: You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.

11: You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

12: The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,

13: the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

Chapter 66

How Awesome Are Your Deeds

To the choirmaster - A Song, A Psalm

1: Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

2: sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!

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

4: All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah

5: Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

6: He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him,

7: who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations — let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

8: Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,

9: who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.

10: For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.

11: You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

12: you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

13: I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you,

14: that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15: I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

16: Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

17: I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.

18: If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

19: But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20: Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Chapter 67

Make Your Face Shine upon Us

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm A Song.

1: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

2: that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

3: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

4: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

5: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

6: The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

7: God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Chapter 68

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster - a Psalm of David; a Song

1: God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him!

2: As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!

3: But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!

4: Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord; exult before him!

5: Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

6: God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

7: O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah

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

9: Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished;

10: your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

11: The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host:

12: “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!” The women at home divide the spoil—

13: though you men lie among the sheepfolds— the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold.

14: When the Almighty scatters kings there, let snow fall on Zalmon.

15: O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan; O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!

16: Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

17: The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

18: You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

19: Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah

20: Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

21: But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

22: The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

23: that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

24: Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—

25: the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines:

26: “Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”

27: There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

28: Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

29: Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you.

30: Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war.

31: Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

32: O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, Selah

33: to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.

34: Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies.

35: Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!