PSALMS 120-129

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Prayer for Deliverance from the Treacherous.A Song of Ascents.
120:1 In my trouble I cried to the LORD,

And He answered me.

2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips,

From a deceitful tongue.

3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you,

You deceitful tongue?

4 Sharp arrows of the warrior,

With the burning coals of the broom tree.

5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech,

For I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling

With those who hate peace.

7 I am for peace, but when I speak,

They are for war.

The LORD the Keeper of Israel.A Song of Ascents.
121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

From where shall my help come?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to slip;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun will not smite you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will protect you from all evil;

He will keep your soul.

8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in

From this time forth and forever.

Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.A Song of Ascents, of David.
122:1 I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

2 Our feet are standing

Within your gates, O Jerusalem,

3 Jerusalem, that is built

As a city that is compact together;

4 To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD--

An ordinance for Israel--

To give thanks to the name of the LORD.

5 For there thrones were set for judgment,

The thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May they prosper who love you.

7 “May peace be within your walls,

And prosperity within your palaces.”

8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends,

I will now say, “May peace be within you.”

9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

I will seek your good.

Prayer for the LORD’S Help.A Song of Ascents.
123:1 To You I lift up my eyes,

O You who are enthroned in the heavens!

2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,

As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,

So our eyes look to the LORD our God,

Until He is gracious to us.

3 Be gracious to us, O LORD, be gracious to us,

For we are greatly filled with contempt.

4 Our soul is greatly filled

With the scoffing of those who are at ease,

And with the contempt of the proud.

Praise for Rescue from Enemies.A Song of Ascents, of David.
124:1 “Had it not been the LORD who was on our side,”

Let Israel now say,

2 “Had it not been the LORD who was on our side

When men rose up against us,

3 Then they would have swallowed us alive,

When their anger was kindled against us;

4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,

The stream would have swept over our soul;

5 Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.”

6 Blessed be the LORD,

Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth.

7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper;

The snare is broken and we have escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

The LORD Surrounds His People.A Song of Ascents.
125:1 Those who trust in the LORD

Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.

2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

So the LORD surrounds His people

From this time forth and forever.

3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous,

So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.

4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good

And to those who are upright in their hearts.

5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,

The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.

Peace be upon Israel.

Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.A Song of Ascents.
126:1 When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion,

We were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter

And our tongue with joyful shouting;

Then they said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

3 The LORD has done great things for us;

We are glad.

4 Restore our captivity, O LORD,

As the streams in the South.

5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,

Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Prosperity Comes from the LORD.A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the LORD guards the city,

The watchman keeps awake in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early,

To retire late,

To eat the bread of painful labors;

For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

3 Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

They will not be ashamed

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Blessedness of the Fear of the LORD.A Song of Ascents.
128:1 How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,

Who walks in His ways.

2 When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,

You will be happy and it will be well with you.

3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

Within your house,

Your children like olive plants

Around your table.

4 Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed

Who fears the LORD.

5 The LORD bless you from Zion,

And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

6 Indeed, may you see your children’s children.

Peace be upon Israel!

Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion’s Enemies.A Song of Ascents.
129:1 “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,”

Let Israel now say,

2 “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;

Yet they have not prevailed against me.

3 “The plowers plowed upon my back;

They lengthened their furrows.”

4 The LORD is righteous;

He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.

5 May all who hate Zion

Be put to shame and turned backward;

6 Let them be like grass upon the housetops,

Which withers before it grows up;

7 With which the reaper does not fill his hand,

Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;

8 Nor do those who pass by say,

“The blessing of the LORD be upon you;

We bless you in the name of the LORD.”

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