How Long, O Lord?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

13 (A)How long, O Lord? Will you (B)forget me forever?
    How long will you (C)hide your face from me?
How long must I take (D)counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

(E)Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    (F)light up my eyes, lest (G)I sleep the sleep of death,
(H)lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am (I)shaken.

But I have (J)trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall (K)rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43 (A)Vindicate me, O God, and (B)defend my cause
    against an ungodly people,
from (C)the deceitful and unjust man
    deliver me!
For you are (D)the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you (E)rejected me?
Why do I (F)go about mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?

(G)Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your (H)holy hill
    and to your (I)dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

(J)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
(K)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of (A)Asaph.

73 Truly God is good to (B)Israel,
    to those who are (C)pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
(D)For I was (E)envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the (F)prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not (G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is (H)their necklace;
    violence covers them as (I)a garment.
Their (J)eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and (K)speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find (L)no fault in them.[a]
11 And they say, (M)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they (N)increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I (O)kept my heart clean
    and (P)washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been (Q)stricken
    and (R)rebuked (S)every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed (T)the generation of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me (U)a wearisome task,
17 until I went into (V)the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their (W)end.

18 Truly you set them in (X)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed (Y)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by (Z)terrors!
20 Like (AA)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when (AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was (AC)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like (AD)a beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you (AE)hold my right hand.
24 You (AF)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will (AG)receive me to glory.
25 (AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 (AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is (AJ)the strength[b] of my heart and my (AK)portion (AL)forever.

27 For behold, those who are (AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is (AN)unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to (AO)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my (AP)refuge,
    that I may (AQ)tell of all your works.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them
  2. Psalm 73:26 Hebrew rock

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.

103 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
(B)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and (C)forget not all his benefits,
who (D)forgives all your iniquity,
    who (E)heals all your diseases,
who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
    who (G)crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who (H)satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like (I)the eagle's.

The Lord works (J)righteousness
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his (K)ways to Moses,
    his (L)acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is (M)merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
(N)He will not always chide,
    nor will he (O)keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us (P)according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For (Q)as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his (R)steadfast love toward (S)those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he (T)remove our transgressions from us.
13 As (U)a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion (V)to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;[a]
    he (W)remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like (X)grass;
    he flourishes like (Y)a flower of the field;
16 for (Z)the wind passes over it, and (AA)it is gone,
    and (AB)its place knows it no more.
17 But (AC)the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on (AD)those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to (AE)children's children,
18 to those who (AF)keep his covenant
    and (AG)remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has (AH)established his throne in the heavens,
    and his (AI)kingdom rules over all.

20 Bless the Lord, O you (AJ)his angels,
    you (AK)mighty ones who (AL)do his word,
    obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his (AM)hosts,
    his (AN)ministers, who do his will!
22 (AO)Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
(AP)Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 103:14 Or knows how we are formed

When Brothers Dwell in Unity

A Song of (A)Ascents. Of David.

133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
    when (B)brothers dwell in unity![a]
It is like the precious (C)oil on (D)the head,
    running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down on (E)the collar of his robes!
It is like (F)the dew of (G)Hermon,
    which falls on (H)the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord (I)has commanded the blessing,
    life forevermore.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 133:1 Or dwell together

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