Qof
145
I call with all my heart; answer me,
Lord
.
I will obey Your statutes.
146
I call to You; save me,
and I will keep Your decrees.
147
I rise before dawn and cry out for help;
I put my hope in Your word.
148
I am awake through each watch of the night
to meditate on Your promise.
149
In keeping with Your faithful love, hear my voice.
Lord
, give me life in keeping with Your justice.
150
Those who pursue evil plans come near;
they are far from Your instruction.
151
You are near,
Lord
,
and all Your commands are true.
152
Long ago I learned from Your decrees
that You have established them forever.
Resh
153
Consider my affliction and rescue me,
for I have not forgotten Your instruction.
154
Defend my cause and redeem me;
give me life as You promised.
155
Salvation is far from the wicked
because they do not seek Your statutes.
156
Your compassions are many,
Lord
;
give me life according to Your judgments.
157
My persecutors and foes are many.
I have not turned from Your decrees.
158
I have seen the disloyal and feel disgust
because they do not keep Your word.
159
Consider how I love Your precepts;
Lord
, give me life according to Your faithful love.
160
The entirety of Your word is truth,
and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.
Sin
/ ׁש
Shin
161
Princes have persecuted me without cause,
but my heart fears only Your word.
162
I rejoice over Your promise
like one who finds vast treasure.
163
I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love Your instruction.
164
I praise You seven times a day
for Your righteous judgments.
165
Abundant peace belongs to those
who love Your instruction;
nothing makes them stumble.
166
Lord
, I hope for Your salvation
and carry out Your commands.
167
I obey Your decrees
and love them greatly.
168
I obey Your precepts and decrees,
for all my ways are before You.
Tav
169
Let my cry reach You,
Lord
;
give me understanding according to Your word.
170
Let my plea reach You;
rescue me according to Your promise.
171
My lips pour out praise,
for You teach me Your statutes.
172
My tongue sings about Your promise,
for all Your commands are righteous.
173
May Your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen Your precepts.
174
I long for Your salvation,
Lord
,
and Your instruction is my delight.
175
Let me live, and I will praise You;
may Your judgments help me.
176
I wander like a lost sheep;
seek Your servant,
for I do not forget Your commands.
Psalms
A Cry for Truth and Peace
120
In my distress I called to the
Lord
,
and He answered me.
2
“
Lord
, deliver me from lying lips
and a deceitful tongue.”
3
What will He give you,
and what will He do to you,
you deceitful tongue?
4
A warrior's sharp arrows
with burning charcoal!
5
What misery that I have stayed in Meshech,
that I have lived among the tents of Kedar!
6
I have lived too long
with those who hate peace.
7
I am for peace; but when I speak,
they are for war.
Psalms
The
Lord
Our Protector
121
I lift my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?
2
My help comes from the
Lord
,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3
He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.
4
Indeed, the Protector of Israel
does not slumber or sleep.
5
The
Lord
protects you;
the
Lord
is a shelter right by your side.
6
The sun will not strike you by day
or the moon by night.
7
The
Lord
will protect you from all harm;
He will protect your life.
8
The
Lord
will protect your coming and going
both now and forever.
Psalms
A Prayer for Jerusalem
A Davidic
•song
of ascents.
122
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the
Lord
.”
2
Our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem —
3
Jerusalem, built as a city should be,
solidly joined together,
4
where the tribes,
•Yahweh
's tribes, go up
to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
(This is an ordinance for Israel. )
5
There, thrones for judgment are placed,
thrones of the house of David.
6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you prosper;
7
may there be peace within your walls,
prosperity within your fortresses.”
8
Because of my brothers and friends,
I will say, “Peace be with you.”
9
Because of the house of the
Lord
our God,
I will seek your good.
Psalms
Looking for God's Favor
123
I lift my eyes to You,
the One enthroned in heaven.
2
Like a servant's eyes on his master's hand,
like a servant girl's eyes on her mistress's hand,
so our eyes are on the
Lord
our God
until He shows us favor.
3
Show us favor,
Lord
, show us favor,
for we've had more than enough contempt.
4
We've had more than enough
scorn from the arrogant
and contempt from the proud.
Psalms
The
Lord
Is on Our Side
A Davidic
•song
of ascents.
124
If the
Lord
had not been on our side —
let Israel say —
2
If the
Lord
had not been on our side
when men attacked us,
3
then they would have swallowed us alive
in their burning anger against us.
4
Then the waters would have engulfed us;
the torrent would have swept over us;
5
the raging waters would have swept over us.
6
Praise the
Lord
,
who has not let us be ripped apart by their teeth.
7
We have escaped like a bird from the hunter's net;
the net is torn, and we have escaped.
8
Our help is in the name of
•Yahweh
,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalms
Israel's Stability
125
Those who trust in the
Lord
are like Mount
•Zion
.
It cannot be shaken; it remains forever.
2
Jerusalem — the mountains surround her.
And the
Lord
surrounds His people,
both now and forever.
3
The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous will not apply their hands to injustice.
4
Do what is good,
Lord
, to the good,
to those whose hearts are upright.
5
But as for those who turn aside to crooked ways,
the
Lord
will banish them with the evildoers.
Peace be with Israel.
Psalms
Zion's Restoration
126
When the
Lord
restored the fortunes of
•Zion
,
we were like those who dream.
2
Our mouths were filled with laughter then,
and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The
Lord
has done great things for them.”
3
The
Lord
had done great things for us;
we were joyful.
4
Restore our fortunes,
Lord
,
like watercourses in the
•Negev
.
5
Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.
6
Though one goes along weeping,
carrying the bag of seed,
he will surely come back with shouts of joy,
carrying his sheaves.
Psalms
The Blessing of the
Lord
A Solomonic
•song
of ascents.
127
Unless the
Lord
builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the
Lord
watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.
2
In vain you get up early and stay up late,
working hard to have enough food —
yes, He gives sleep to the one He loves.
3
Sons are indeed a heritage from the
Lord
,
children, a reward.
4
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons born in one's youth.
5
Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them.
Such men will never be put to shame
when they speak with their enemies at the city
•gate
.
Psalms
Blessings for Those Who Fear God
128
How happy is everyone who
•fears
the
Lord
,
who walks in His ways!
2
You will surely eat
what your hands have worked for.
You will be happy,
and it will go well for you.
3
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house,
your sons, like young olive trees
around your table.
4
In this very way
the man who fears the
Lord
will be blessed.
5
May the
Lord
bless you from
•Zion
,
so that you will see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life
6
and will see your children's children!
Peace be with Israel.
Psalms
Protection of the Oppressed
129
Since my youth they have often attacked me —
let Israel say —
2
Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not prevailed against me.
3
Plowmen plowed over my back;
they made their furrows long.
4
The
Lord
is righteous;
He has cut the ropes of the wicked.