PSALMS 97-103

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The LORD’S Power and Dominion.97:1 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;

Let the many islands be glad.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

3 Fire goes before Him

And burns up His adversaries round about.

4 His lightnings lit up the world;

The earth saw and trembled.

5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD,

At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens declare His righteousness,

And all the peoples have seen His glory.

7 Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,

Who boast themselves of idols;

Worship Him, all you gods.

8 Zion heard this and was glad,

And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced

Because of Your judgments, O LORD.

9 For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth;

You are exalted far above all gods.

10 Hate evil, you who love the LORD,

Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;

He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown like seed for the righteous

And gladness for the upright in heart.

12 Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones,

And give thanks to His holy name.

A Call to Praise the LORD for His Righteousness.A Psalm.
98:1 O sing to the LORD a new song,

For He has done wonderful things,

His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

2 The LORD has made known His salvation;

He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

3 He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of melody.

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn

Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.

7 Let the sea roar and all it contains,

The world and those who dwell in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy

9 Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with equity.

Praise to the LORD for His Fidelity to Israel.99:1 The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble;

He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!

2 The LORD is great in Zion,

And He is exalted above all the peoples.

3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name;

Holy is He.

4 The strength of the King loves justice;

You have established equity;

You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

5 Exalt the LORD our God

And worship at His footstool;

Holy is He.

6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,

And Samuel was among those who called on His name;

They called upon the LORD and He answered them.

7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;

They kept His testimonies

And the statute that He gave them.

8 O LORD our God, You answered them;

You were a forgiving God to them,

And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.

9 Exalt the LORD our God

And worship at His holy hill,

For holy is the LORD our God.

All Men Exhorted to Praise God.A Psalm for Thanksgiving.
100:1 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Serve the LORD with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful singing.

3 Know that the LORD Himself is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving

And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

5 For the LORD is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations.

The Psalmist’s Profession of Uprightness.A Psalm of David.
101:1 I will sing of lovingkindness and justice,

To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.

2 I will give heed to the blameless way.

When will You come to me?

I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.

3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;

I hate the work of those who fall away;

It shall not fasten its grip on me.

4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;

I will know no evil.

5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy;

No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.

6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me;

He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.

7 He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;

He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me.

8 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land,

So as to cut off from the city of the LORD all those who do iniquity.

Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
102:1 Hear my prayer, O LORD!

And let my cry for help come to You.

2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;

Incline Your ear to me;

In the day when I call answer me quickly.

3 For my days have been consumed in smoke,

And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.

4 My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away,

Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.

5 Because of the loudness of my groaning

My bones cling to my flesh.

6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;

I have become like an owl of the waste places.

7 I lie awake,

I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

8 My enemies have reproached me all day long;

Those who deride me have used my name as a curse.

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread

And mingled my drink with weeping

10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath,

For You have lifted me up and cast me away.

11 My days are like a lengthened shadow,

And I wither away like grass.

12 But You, O LORD, abide forever,

And Your name to all generations.

13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion;

For it is time to be gracious to her,

For the appointed time has come.

14 Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones

And feel pity for her dust.

15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD

And all the kings of the earth Your glory.

16 For the LORD has built up Zion;

He has appeared in His glory.

17 He has regarded the prayer of the destitute

And has not despised their prayer.

18 This will be written for the generation to come,

That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.

19 For He looked down from His holy height;

From heaven the LORD gazed upon the earth,

20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner,

To set free those who were doomed to death,

21 That men may tell of the name of the LORD in Zion

And His praise in Jerusalem,

22 When the peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

23 He has weakened my strength in the way;

He has shortened my days.

24 I say, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days,

Your years are throughout all generations.

25 “Of old You founded the earth,

And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

26 “Even they will perish, but You endure;

And all of them will wear out like a garment;

Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.

27 “But You are the same,

And Your years will not come to an end.

28 “The children of Your servants will continue,

And their descendants will be established before You.”

Praise for the LORD’S Mercies.A Psalm of David.
103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits;

3 Who pardons all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases;

4 Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

5 Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

6 The LORD performs righteous deeds

And judgments for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the sons of Israel.

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

9 He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

12 As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13 Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

14 For He Himself knows our frame;

He is mindful that we are but dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,

And its place acknowledges it no longer.

17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children’s children,

18 To those who keep His covenant

And remember His precepts to do them.

19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,

And His sovereignty rules over all.

20 Bless the LORD, you His angels,

Mighty in strength, who perform His word,

Obeying the voice of His word!

21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,

You who serve Him, doing His will.

22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His,

In all places of His dominion;

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

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