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Greetings of Night Watchers.

A Song of [a]Ascents.

134 Behold, bless and praise the Lord, all servants of the Lord (priests, Levites),
Who stand and serve by night in the house of the Lord.(A)

Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
And bless the Lord.

May the Lord bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 134:1 See Psalm 120 title note.

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!

While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).

When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.(A)

How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,(B)

Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them,
Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,(C)

Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets free the prisoners.


The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the [a]righteous [the upright in heart].(D)

The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.
10 
The Lord shall reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(E)

Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.

147 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our [gracious and majestic] God;
Praise is becoming and appropriate.

The Lord is building up Jerusalem;
He is gathering [together] the exiles of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].(F)

He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by their names.

Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless].

The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.


Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God with the lyre,

Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass grow on the mountains.

He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens that for which they cry.
10 
He does not delight in the strength (military power) of the horse,
Nor does He take pleasure in the legs (strength) of a man.
11 
The Lord favors those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
Those who wait for His mercy and lovingkindness.(G)

12 
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 
For He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
He has blessed your children within you.
14 
He makes peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.
15 
He sends His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16 
He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17 
He casts out His ice like fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?
18 
He sends out His word and melts the ice;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19 
He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.(H)
20 
He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;
They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(I)

The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.

148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!

Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts (armies)!

Praise Him, sun and moon:
Praise Him, all stars of light!

Praise Him, highest heavens,
And the waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.

He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which shall not pass away.


Praise the Lord from the earth,
Sea monsters and all deeps;

Lightning and hail, snow and fog;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His orders;

Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 
Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and winged birds;
11 
Kings of the earth and all people;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 
Both young men and virgins;
Old men and children.

13 
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted and supreme;
His glory and majesty are above earth and heaven.
14 
He has lifted up a horn for His people [giving them strength, prosperity, dignity, and preeminence],
Praise for all His godly ones;
For the people of Israel, a people near to Him.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(J)

Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.

149 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
And praise Him in the congregation of His godly ones (believers).

Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let Zion’s children rejoice in their King.(K)

Let them praise His name with dancing;
Let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre.

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.


Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.

Let the high praises of God be in their throats,
And a two-edged sword in their hands,(L)

To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,

To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,

To execute on them the judgment written.
This is the honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

A Psalm of Praise.

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty heavens.

Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to [the abundance of] His greatness.(M)


Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.

Praise Him with tambourine and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flute.

Praise Him with resounding cymbals;
Praise Him with loud cymbals.

Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 146:8 I.e. those whose moral and spiritual integrity places them in right standing with God.

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