Psalm 146

Praise the LORD!
I will praise the Lord while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
How blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God;
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever;
Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free.

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous;
The LORD protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
The LORD will reign forever,
Thy God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

~Psalm 146 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 140

Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;
Preserve me from violent men
Who devise evil things in their hearts;
They continually stir up wars.
They sharpen their tongues as a serpent;
Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.

Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
Preserve me from violent men,
Who have purposed to trip up my feet.
The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set snares for me. Selah.

I said to the LORD, “Thou art my God;
Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.
“O God the LORD, the strength of my salvation,
Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
“Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.

“As for the head of those who surround me,
May the mischief of their lips cover them.
“May burning coals fall upon them;
May they be cast into the fire,
Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.
“May a slanderer not be established in the earth;
May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”

I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted
And justice for the poor.
Surely the righteous will give thanks to Thy name;
The upright will dwell in Thy presence.

~Psalm 140 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 111

Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart;
In the company of the upright and in the assembly,
Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
Splendid and majestic is His work;
And His righteousness endures forever.
He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever.
He has made known to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of His hands are truth and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
They are upheld forever and ever;
They are performed in truth and uprightness.
He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.

~Psalm 111 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 106

Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD,
Or can show forth all His praise?
How blessed are those who keep justice,
Who practice righteousness at all times!

Remember me, O LORD, in Thy favor toward Thy people;
Visit me with Thy salvation,
That I may see the prosperity of Thy chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation,
That I may glory with Thine inheritance.

We have sinned like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Thy wonders;
They did not remember Thine abundant kindnesses,
But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known.
Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up,
And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.
So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.

They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
But craved intensely in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.

When they became envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the company of Abiram.
And a fire blazed up in their company;
The flame consumed the wicked.

They made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
Thus they exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the Red Sea.
Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe in His word,
But grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the LORD.
Therefore He swore to them
That He would cast them down in the wilderness,
And that He would cast their seed among the nations
And scatter them in the lands.

They joined themselves also to Baal-peor,
And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
Then Phinehas stood up and interposed,
And so the plague was stayed.
And it was reckoned to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.

They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah,
So that it went hard with Moses on their account;
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.

They did not destroy the peoples,
As the LORD commanded them,
But they mingled with the nations
And learned their practices,
And served their idols,
Which became a snare to them.
They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,
And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with the blood.
Thus they became unclean in their practices,
And played the harlot in their deeds.

Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against His people
And He abhorred His inheritance.
Then He gave them into the hand of the nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their power.
Many times He would deliver them;
They, however, were rebellious in their counsel,
And so sank down in their iniquity.

Nevertheless He looked upon their distress
When He heard their cry;
And He remembered His covenant for their sake,
And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness.
He also made them objects of compassion
In the presence of all their captors.

Save us, O LORD our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks to Thy holy name
And glory in Thy praise.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, "Amen."
Praise the LORD!

~Psalm 106 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 99

The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble;
He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
The LORD is great in Zion,
And He is exalted above all peoples.
Let them praise Thy great and awesome name;
Holy is He.
And the strength of the King loves justice;
Thou hast established equity;
Thou hast executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the LORD our God,
And worship at His footstool;
Holy is He.

Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called on His name;
They called upon the LORD, and He answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They kept His testimonies,
And the statute that He gave them.
O LORD our God, Thou didst answer them;
Thou wast a forgiving God to them,
And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.
Exalt the LORD our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For holy is the LORD our God.

~Psalm 99 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 97

The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice;
Let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Fire goes before Him
And burns up His adversaries round about.
His lightnings lit up the world;
The earth saw and trembled.
The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory.

Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,
Who boast themselves of idols;
Worship Him, all you gods.
Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Thy judgments, O LORD.
For Thou art the LORD Most High over all the earth;
Thou art exalted far above all gods.

Hate evil, you who love the LORD,
Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown like seed for the righteous
And gladness for the upright in heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones,

And give thanks to His holy name.

~Psalm 97 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 58

Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods?
Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
No, in heart you work unrighteousness;
On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.
The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from birth.
They have venom like the venom of a serpent'
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
So that it does not hear the voice of charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.

O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.
Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.
Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along,
Like the miscarriages of a women which never see the sun.
Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns,
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
And men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges on earth!"

~Psalm 58 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 52

Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
Falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.

You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah.

The righteous will see and fear,
And will laugh at him, saying,
"Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches
And was strong in his evil desire."

But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
I will give Thee thanks forever, because Thou hast done it,
And I will wait on Thy name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy godly ones.

~Psalm 52 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
But the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

The wicked plots against the righteous
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow
To cast down the afflicted and the needy,
To slay those who are upright in conduct.
Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their bows will be broken.

Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the LORD sustains the righteous.
The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
And their inheritance will be forever.
They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have abundance.
But the wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures,
They vanish--like smoke they vanish away.
The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous is gracious and gives.
For those blessed by Him will inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.
I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or his descendants begging bread.
All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his descendants are a blessing.

Depart from evil and do good,
So you will abide forever.
For the LORD loves justice
And does not forsake His godly ones;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
The righteous will inherit the land
And dwell in it forever.
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
And his tongue speaks justice.
The law of his God is in his heart;
His steps do not slip.
The wicked spies upon the righteous
And seeks to kill him.
The LORD will not leave him in his hand
Or let him be condemned when he is judged.
Wait for the LORD and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

I have seen a violent, wicked man
Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.
Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more;
I sought for him, but he could not be found.
Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright;
For the man of peace will have a posterity.
But transgressors will be altogether destroyed;
The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
He is their strength in time of trouble.
The LORD helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.

~Psalm 37 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 33

Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright,
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
Sing praise to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
For the word of the LORD is upright;
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, 

The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in Thee.

~Psalm 33 (NASB, 1977)

Psalm 21

O Lord, in Thy strength the king will be glad,
And in Thy salvation how greatly he will rejoice!
Thou hast given him his heart’s desire,
And Thou hast not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.

For Thou dost meet him with the blessings of good things;
Thou dost set a crown of fine gold on his head.
He asked life of Thee, Thou didst give it to him,
Length of days forever and ever.
His glory is great through Thy salvation,
Splendor and majesty Thou dost place upon him.
For Thou dost make him most blessed forever;
Thou dost make him joyful with gladness in Thy presence.

For the king trusts in the LORD,
And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.
Your hand will find out all your enemies;
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger;
The LORD will swallow them up in His wrath,
And fire will devour them.
Their offspring Thou wilt destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from among the sons of men.
Though they intended evil against Thee,
And devised a plot, They will not succeed.
For Thou wilt make them turn their back;
Thou wilt aim with Thy bowstrings at their faces.
Be Thou exalted, O LORD, in Thy strength;
We will sing and praise Thy power.

~Psalm 21 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 17

Hear a just cause, O Lord, give heed to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips.
Let my judgment come forth from Thy presence;
Let Thine eyes look with equity.
Thou hast tried my heart;
Thou hast visited me by night;
Thou hast tested me and dost find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
As for the deeds of men, by the word of Thy lips
I have kept from the paths of the violent.
My steps have held fast to Thy paths.
My feet have not slipped.

I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt answer me, O God;
Incline Thine ear to me, hear my speech.
Wondrously show Thy lovingkindness,
O Savior of those who take refuge at Thy right hand
From those who rise up against them.
Keep me as the apple of Thy eye;
Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings,
From the wicked who despoil me,
My deadly enemies, who surround me.
They have closed their unfeeling heart.
With their mouth they speak proudly.
They have now surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground.
He is like a lion that is eager to tear,
And as a young lion lurking in hiding places.

Arise, O Lord, confront him, bring him low;
Deliver my soul from the wicked with Thy sword,
From men with Thy hand, O Lord,
From men of the world, whose portion is in this life;
And whose belly Thou dost fill with Thy treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babes.
As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness;
I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake.

~Psalm 17 (NASB 1977)