Psalm 101-103

The Voice

I will walk in my house
    with an honest and true heart.
³ I will refuse to look
    on any sordid thing;

I detest the worthless deeds of those who stray;
    evil will not get a hold on me.
⁴ I will rid my heart of all perversion;
    I will not flirt with any evil.

⁵ Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,
    I will silence;
I will not tolerate
    a condescending smirk, an arrogant heart.
⁶ I will look for those who are loyal in the land
    so that they may live with me and know my pleasure.
Whoever walks with integrity
    will enter my service.

⁷ The one who makes a habit of deceit
    will not be welcome in my house;
The one who lies
    will not remain in my presence for long.

⁸ Every morning I will purge
    all the wicked from the land
So as to rid the city of the Eternal
    of those who practice evil.

³ For my days come and go, vanishing like smoke,
    and my bones are charred like bricks of a hearth.
⁴ My heart is beaten down like grass withered and scorched in the summer heat;
    I can’t even remember to eat.
⁵ My body is shaken by my groans;
    my bones cling to my skin, holding on for dear life.
⁶ I am like a solitary owl in the wilderness;
    I am a lost and lonely screech owl at home in the rubble.
⁷ I stare at the ceiling, awake in my bed;
    I am alone, a defenseless sparrow perched on a roof.
⁸ All day long my enemies chide me;
    those who mock me spit out my name as a curse.
⁹ For ashes have become my bread;
    my tears fall into my drink
¹⁰ Because of the depth of Your wrath.
    You have brought me up
    and then hurled me aside.
¹¹ My days go by like a long shadow—stretched thin and disappearing—
    I shrivel up like grass baked in the hot sun.

¹² But You, O Eternal One, remain forever,
    and Your name endures to all generations.
¹³ You will rise up once again and remember Your love for Zion;
    it is time to have mercy on Your city;
    yes, it is the divinely appointed time.
¹⁴ Your faithful servants take pleasure in her every stone;
    they even delight in the dust of her streets.
¹⁵ Days are coming when nations will tremble at the name of the Eternal;
    all the rulers of the earth will bow down to Your glory.
¹⁶ For He will return to rebuild His city, Zion;
    He will be seen in His splendor.
¹⁷ He will listen to the prayer of the impoverished
    and welcome their prayers.

¹⁸ Let this record be kept for posterity
    so that people not yet born may praise the Eternal.
¹⁹ Tell them that He looked down from holy heights, His heavenly sanctuary;
    the Eternal looked down from heaven and closely watched the earth,
²⁰ Hearing the prisoners’ groans—
    releasing those awaiting execution—
²¹ That the name of the Eternal would resound in Zion,
    and His praise would be proclaimed in Jerusalem
²² When the peoples gather
    and the nations’ leaders assemble to worship the Eternal.

²³ Along my way He has sapped my strength;
    He has shortened my days here on earth.
²⁴ I said, “O my True God, don’t take me away
    in the middle of my life;
Unlike me, Your years continually unfold
    throughout all generations.”

²⁵ In the beginning, You laid the foundation of the earth
    and set the skies above us with Your own hands.
²⁶ But while they will someday pass away, You remain forever;
    when they wear out like old clothes,
You will roll them up and change them into something new, and they will pass away.
²⁷ But You are the same, You will never change;
    Your years will never come to an end.^[a]
28 The children of those who serve You will enjoy a good, long life;
    their offspring will stand strong before You.

⁶ When people are crushed, wronged, enslaved, raped, murdered,
    the Eternal is just;
    He makes the wrongs right.
⁷ He showed Moses His ways;
    He allowed His people Israel to see His wonders and acts of power.
⁸ The Eternal is compassionate and merciful.
    When we cross all the lines, He is patient with us.
    When we struggle against Him, He lovingly stays with us—changing, convicting, prodding;
⁹ He will not constantly criticize,
    nor will He hold a grudge forever.
¹⁰ Thankfully, God does not punish us for our sins and depravity as we deserve.
    In His mercy, He tempers justice with peace.
¹¹ Measure how high heaven is above the earth;
    God’s wide, loving, kind heart is greater for those who revere Him.
¹² You see, God takes all our crimes—our seemingly inexhaustible sins—and removes them.
    As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us.
¹³ An earthly father expresses love for his children;
    it is no different with our heavenly Father;
The Eternal shows His love for those who revere Him.
¹⁴ For He knows what we are made of;
    He knows our frame is frail, and He remembers we came from dust.

¹⁵ The children of Adam are like grass;
    their days are few;
    they flourish for a time like flowers in a meadow.
¹⁶ As the wind blows over the field and the bloom is gone,
    it doesn’t take much to blow us out of the memory of that place.
¹⁷ But the unfailing love of the Eternal is always and eternal
    for those who reverently run after Him.
    He extends His justice on and on to future generations,
¹⁸ To those who will keep His bond of love
    and remember to walk in the guidance of His commands.

¹⁹ The Eternal has established His throne up in the heavens.
    He rules over every seen and unseen realm and creature.
²⁰ Adore Him! Give Him praise, you heavenly messengers,
    you powerful creatures who listen to
    and act on His every word.
²¹ Give praise to the Eternal, all armies of heaven—
    you servants who stand ready to do His will.
²² Give praise to the Eternal, all that He has made
    in all corners of His creation.
O my soul, come, praise the Eternal!