Chronological
Psalm 25[a]
Confident Prayer for Forgiveness and Guidance
1 Of David.
I
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul,
2 (A)my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be disgraced;(B)
do not let my enemies gloat over me.
3 No one is disgraced who waits for you,(C)
but only those who are treacherous without cause.
4 Make known to me your ways, Lord;
teach me your paths.(D)
5 Guide me by your fidelity and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your compassion and your mercy, O Lord,
for they are ages old.(E)
7 Remember no more the sins of my youth;(F)
remember me according to your mercy,
because of your goodness, Lord.
II
8 Good and upright is the Lord,
therefore he shows sinners the way,
9 He guides the humble in righteousness,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth
toward those who honor his covenant and decrees.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
pardon my guilt, though it is great.
12 Who is the one who fears the Lord?
God shows him the way he should choose.(G)
13 He will abide in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.(H)
14 The counsel of the Lord belongs to those who fear him;
and his covenant instructs them.
15 My eyes are ever upon the Lord,
who frees my feet from the snare.(I)
III
16 Look upon me, have pity on me,
for I am alone and afflicted.(J)
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart;
bring me out of my distress.
18 Look upon my affliction and suffering;
take away all my sins.
19 See how many are my enemies,
see how fiercely they hate me.
20 Preserve my soul and rescue me;
do not let me be disgraced, for in you I seek refuge.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me;
I wait for you, O Lord.
22 [b]Redeem Israel, O God,
from all its distress!
Psalm 29[a]
The Lord of Majesty Acclaimed as King of the World
1 A psalm of David.
I
Give to the Lord, you sons of God,[b]
give to the Lord glory and might;
2 Give to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bow down before the Lord’s holy splendor!(A)
II
3 The voice of the Lord[c] is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is power;
the voice of the Lord is splendor.(B)
5 The voice of the Lord cracks the cedars;
the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon,
6 Makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
and Sirion[d] like a young bull.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes with fiery flame;
8 the voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.
9 [e]The voice of the Lord makes the deer dance
and strips the forests bare.
All in his Temple say, “Glory!”
III
Psalm 33[a]
Praise of God’s Power and Providence
I
1 Rejoice, you righteous, in the Lord;
praise from the upright is fitting.(A)
2 Give thanks to the Lord on the harp;
on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.(B)
3 Sing to him a new song;
skillfully play with joyful chant.
4 For the Lord’s word is upright;
all his works are trustworthy.
5 He loves justice and right.
The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.(C)
II
6 By the Lord’s word the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.[b](D)
7 [c]He gathered the waters of the sea as a mound;
he sets the deep into storage vaults.(E)
III
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all who dwell in the world show him reverence.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be,
commanded, and it stood in place.(F)
10 The Lord foils the plan of nations,
frustrates the designs of peoples.
11 But the plan of the Lord stands forever,
the designs of his heart through all generations.(G)
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people chosen as his inheritance.(H)
IV
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and observes the children of Adam,(I)
14 From his dwelling place he surveys
all who dwell on earth.
15 The One who fashioned together their hearts
is the One who knows all their works.
V
16 A king is not saved by a great army,
nor a warrior delivered by great strength.
17 Useless is the horse for safety;
despite its great strength, it cannot be saved.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,
upon those who count on his mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive through famine.
VI
20 Our soul waits for the Lord,
he is our help and shield.(J)
21 For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
22 May your mercy, Lord, be upon us;
as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 36[a]
Human Wickedness and Divine Providence
1 For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
I
2 Sin directs the heart of the wicked man;
his eyes are closed to the fear of God.(A)
3 For he lives with the delusion:
his guilt will not be known and hated.[b]
4 Empty and false are the words of his mouth;
he has ceased to be wise and do good.
5 On his bed he hatches plots;
he sets out on a wicked way;
he does not reject evil.(B)
II
6 [c]Lord, your mercy reaches to heaven;
your fidelity, to the clouds.(C)
7 Your justice is like the highest mountains;
your judgments, like the mighty deep;
human being and beast you sustain, Lord.
8 How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of Adam take refuge in the shadow of your wings.[d](D)
9 They feast on the rich food of your house;
from your delightful stream(E) you give them drink.
10 For with you is the fountain of life,(F)
and in your light we see light.(G)
11 Show mercy on those who know you,
your just defense to the upright of heart.
12 Do not let the foot of the proud overtake me,
nor the hand of the wicked disturb me.
13 There make the evildoers fall;
thrust them down, unable to rise.
Psalm 39[a]
The Vanity of Life
1 For the leader, for Jeduthun.(A) A psalm of David.
I
2 I said, “I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth.”
3 Mute and silent before the wicked,
I refrain from good things.
But my sorrow increases;
4 my heart smolders within me.(B)
In my sighing a fire blazes up,
and I break into speech:
II
5 Lord, let me know my end, the number of my days,
that I may learn how frail I am.
6 To be sure, you establish the expanse of my days;
indeed, my life is as nothing before you.
Every man is but a breath.(C)
Selah
III
7 Man goes about as a mere phantom;
they hurry about, although in vain;
he heaps up stores without knowing for whom.
8 And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
You are my only hope.
9 From all my sins deliver me;
let me not be the taunt of fools.
10 I am silent and do not open my mouth
because you are the one who did this.
11 Take your plague away from me;
I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
12 You chastise man with rebukes for sin;
like a moth you consume his treasures.
Every man is but a breath.
Selah
13 Listen to my prayer, Lord, hear my cry;
do not be deaf to my weeping!
For I am with you like a foreigner,
a refugee, like my ancestors.(D)
14 Turn your gaze from me, that I may smile
before I depart to be no more.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.