PSALM 137
An Experience of the Captivity.
1By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
3For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
5If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”
8O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
9How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
PSALM 138
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
1I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
2I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
3On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.
4All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5And they will sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
6For though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He regards the lowly,
But the haughty He knows from afar.
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
8The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
PSALM 139
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
1O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
19O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
PSALM 140
Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
1Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men;
Preserve me from violent men
2Who devise evil things in their hearts;
They continually stir up wars.
3They sharpen their tongues as a serpent;
Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.
4Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
Preserve me from violent men
Who have purposed to trip up my feet.
5The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set snares for me. Selah.
6I said to the Lord, “You are my God;
Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.
7O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of battle.
8Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.
9“As for the head of those who surround me,
May the mischief of their lips cover them.
10May burning coals fall upon them;
May they be cast into the fire,
Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.
11May a slanderer not be established in the earth;
May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”
12I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted
And justice for the poor.
13Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;
The upright will dwell in Your presence.
PSALM 141
An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.
A Psalm of David.
1O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to You!
2May my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
3Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
4Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds of wickedness
With men who do iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.
5Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me;
It is oil upon the head;
Do not let my head refuse it,
For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.
6Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock,
And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7As when one plows and breaks open the earth,
Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8For my eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.
9Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the snares of those who do iniquity.
10Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
While I pass by safely.
PSALM 142
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord;
I make supplication with my voice to the Lord.
2I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my trouble before Him.
3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have hidden a trap for me.
4Look to the right and see;
For there is no one who regards me;
There is no escape for me;
No one cares for my soul.
5I cried out to You, O Lord;
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
6Give heed to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are too strong for me.
7Bring my soul out of prison,
So that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me,
For You will deal bountifully with me.”