PSALMS 137-143

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An Experience of the Captivity.137:1 By the rivers of Babylon,

There we sat down and wept,

When we remembered Zion.

2 Upon the willows in the midst of it

We hung our harps.

3 For there our captors demanded of us songs,

And our tormentors mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

4 How can we sing the LORD’S song

In a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

May my right hand forget her skill.

6 May 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.

7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom

The day of Jerusalem,

Who said, “Raze it, raze it

To its very foundation.”

8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,

How blessed will be the one who repays you

With the recompense with which you have repaid us.

9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones

Against the rock.

Thanksgiving for the LORD’S Favor.A Psalm of David.
138:1 I will give You thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to You before the gods.

2 I 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.

3 On the day I called, You answered me;

You made me bold with strength in my soul.

4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD,

When they have heard the words of Your mouth.

5 And they will sing of the ways of the LORD,

For great is the glory of the LORD.

6 For though the LORD is exalted,

Yet He regards the lowly,

But the haughty He knows from afar.

7 Though 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.

8 The LORD will accomplish what concerns me;

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
139:1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thought from afar.

3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

5 You have enclosed me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand will lead me,

And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night,”

12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,

And the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works,

And my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

16 Your 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.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with You.

19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;

Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

20 For they speak against You wickedly,

And Your enemies take Your name in vain.

21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;

They have become my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
140:1 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;

Preserve me from violent men

2 Who devise evil things in their hearts;

They continually stir up wars.

3 They sharpen their tongues as a serpent;

Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.

4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;

Preserve me from violent men

Who have purposed to trip up my feet.

5 The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;

They have spread a net by the wayside;

They have set snares for me. Selah.

6 I said to the LORD, “You are my God;

Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.

7 “O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,

You have covered my head in the day of battle.

8 “Do 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.

10 “May burning coals fall upon them;

May they be cast into the fire,

Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.

11 “May a slanderer not be established in the earth;

May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”

12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted

And justice for the poor.

13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;

The upright will dwell in Your presence.

An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.A Psalm of David.
141:1 O LORD, I call upon You; hasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to You!

2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You;

The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.

3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do 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.

5 Let 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.

6 Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock,

And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 As when one plows and breaks open the earth,

Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

8 For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord;

In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.

9 Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,

And from the snares of those who do iniquity.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

While I pass by safely.

Prayer for Help in Trouble.Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
142:1 I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD;

I make supplication with my voice to the LORD.

2 I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare my trouble before Him.

3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

You knew my path.

In the way where I walk

They have hidden a trap for me.

4 Look 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.

5 I cried out to You, O LORD;

I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

6 “Give heed to my cry,

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are too strong for me.

7 “Bring 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.”

Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance.A Psalm of David.
143:1 Hear my prayer, O LORD,

Give ear to my supplications!

Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!

2 And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,

For in Your sight no man living is righteous.

3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul;

He has crushed my life to the ground;

He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.

4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;

My heart is appalled within me.

5 I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all Your doings;

I muse on the work of Your hands.

6 I stretch out my hands to You;

My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.

7 Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails;

Do not hide Your face from me,

Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;

For I trust in You;

Teach me the way in which I should walk;

For to You I lift up my soul.

9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies;

I take refuge in You.

10 Teach me to do Your will,

For You are my God;

Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

11 For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me.

In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.

12 And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies

And destroy all those who afflict my soul,

For I am Your servant.

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