Chronological

Child-Like Trust in the Lord

131 O Lord, my heart is not proud. My eyes are not filled with pride. And I do not trouble myself with important things or in things too great for me. ² For sure I have made my soul quiet like a child who no longer nurses while he is with his mother. My soul within me is like a child who no longer nurses. ³ O Israel, hope in the Lord, now and forever.

A Song of Praise

138 I will give You thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to You in front of the gods. ² I will bow down toward Your holy house. And I will give thanks to Your name for Your loving-kindness and Your truth. For You have honored Your Word because of what Your name is. ³ You answered me on the day I called. You gave me strength in my soul.

⁴ O Lord, all the kings of the earth will give thanks to You when they have heard the words of Your mouth. ⁵ And they will sing of the ways of the Lord. For the shining beauty of the Lord is great. ⁶ For even if the Lord is honored, He thinks about those who have no pride. But He knows the proud from far away. ⁷ Even if I walk into trouble, You will keep my life safe. You will put out Your hand against the anger of those who hate me. And Your right hand will save me. ⁸ The Lord will finish the work He started for me. O Lord, Your loving-kindness lasts forever. Do not turn away from the works of Your hands.

God Cares for His People

139 O Lord, You have looked through me and have known me. ² You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far away. ³ You look over my path and my lying down. You know all my ways very well. ⁴ Even before I speak a word, O Lord, You know it all. ⁵ You have closed me in from behind and in front. And You have laid Your hand upon me. ⁶ All You know is too great for me. It is too much for me to understand.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where You are? ⁸ If I go up to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in the place of the dead, You are there! ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea, ¹⁰ even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me. ¹¹ If I say, “For sure the darkness will cover me and the light around me will be night,” ¹² even the darkness is not dark to You. And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to You.

¹³ For You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother. ¹⁴ I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. ¹⁵ My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.

¹⁷ Your thoughts are of great worth to me, O God. How many there are! ¹⁸ If I could number them, there would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹ If only You would kill the sinful, O God, and the men of blood would go away from me! ²⁰ For they speak against You in sin. Those who hate You use Your name in a wrong way. ²¹ Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not hate those who rise up against You? ²² I hate them with the strongest hate. They have become men who hate me.

²³ Look through me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. ²⁴ See if there is any sinful way in me and lead me in the way that lasts forever.

A Prayer for Help

143 Hear my prayer, O Lord. Listen when I ask for help. Answer me because You are faithful and right. ² Do not find Your servant guilty, for no man living is right and good in Your eyes. ³ For the one who hates me has made it hard for my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead for a long time. ⁴ So my spirit grows weak within me. My heart within me is afraid.

⁵ I remember the days long ago. I think about all You have done. I think about the work of Your hands. ⁶ I put out my hands to You. My soul is thirsty for You like a dry land.

⁷ Hurry to answer me, O Lord! My spirit is becoming weak! Do not hide Your face from me, or I will become like those who go down to the grave. ⁸ Let me hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for I trust in You. Teach me the way I should go for I lift up my soul to You. ⁹ O Lord, take me away from those who hate me. I run to You to be safe.

¹⁰ Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on a straight path. ¹¹ Give me new life, O Lord, because of Your name. Bring me out of trouble because You are right and good. ¹² In Your loving-kindness cut off those who hate me. Destroy all those who make it hard for my soul, for I am Your servant.

A Song of Thanks

144 Praise and thanks be to the Lord, my rock. He makes my hands ready for war, and my fingers for battle. ² He is my loving-kindness and my walls of strength, my strong place and the One Who sets me free, my safe-covering and the One in Whom I trust. He brings my people under my rule. ³ O Lord, what is man that You think of him, the son of man that You remember him? ⁴ Man is like a breath. His days are like a passing shadow. ⁵ O Lord, divide Your heavens and come down. Touch the mountains so they will smoke. ⁶ Send out lightning and divide them. Send out Your arrows and trouble them. ⁷ Put out Your hand from above. Take me out of trouble and away from the many waters, from the power of those from other lands. ⁸ Their mouths speak lies. And their right hand is a right hand that is false.

⁹ I will sing a new song to You, O God. I will sing praises to You on a harp of ten strings. ¹⁰ You save kings. You take Your servant David away from the sharp sword. ¹¹ Take me out of trouble and away from the power of those from other lands. Their mouths speak lies. And their right hand is a right hand that is false.

¹² May our young sons be like plants that are full-grown. And may our daughters be like the corner pieces of a great house. ¹³ May our store-houses be full of all kinds of food. And may our sheep grow by the thousands and ten thousands in our fields. ¹⁴ Let our cattle give birth without trouble and without loss. And may there be no cry of trouble in our streets. ¹⁵ Happy are the people who have all this. Yes, happy are the people whose God is the Lord!

A Song of Praise

145 I will praise You, my God and King. I will honor Your name forever and ever. ² I will honor You every day, and praise Your name forever and ever. ³ The Lord is great and our praise to Him should be great. He is too great for anyone to understand. ⁴ Families of this time will praise Your works to the families-to-come. They will tell about Your powerful acts. ⁵ I will think about the shining-greatness of Your power and about Your great works. ⁶ Men will speak of Your powerful acts that fill us with fear. And I will tell of Your greatness. ⁷ Many words will come from their mouths about how good You are. They will sing for joy about how right You are.

⁸ The Lord is full of loving-favor and pity, slow to anger and great in loving-kindness. ⁹ The Lord is good to all. And His loving-kindness is over all His works. ¹⁰ All Your works will give thanks to You, O Lord. And all those who belong to You will honor You. ¹¹ They will speak of the shining-greatness of Your holy nation, and talk of Your power. ¹² They will make Your powerful acts and the great power of Your holy nation known to the sons of men. ¹³ Your holy nation is a nation that lasts forever. And Your rule lasts for all time.

¹⁴ The Lord holds up all who fall. He raises up all who are brought down. ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to You. And You give them their food at the right time. ¹⁶ You open Your hand and fill the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is right and good in all His ways, and kind in all His works. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. ¹⁹ He will fill the desire of those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and will save them. ²⁰ The Lord takes care of all who love Him. But He will destroy all the sinful. ²¹ My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. And all flesh will honor His holy name forever and ever.