Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

How can we sing the LORD's song
In a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.

~Psalm 137 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 109

O God of my praise,
Do not be silent!
For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without cause.
In return for my love they act as my accusers;
But I am in prayer.
Thus they have repaid me evil for good
And hatred for my love.

Appoint a wicked man over him,
And let an accuser stand at his right hand.
When he is judged, let him come forth guilty,
And let his prayer become sin.
Let his days be few;
Let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.
Let his children wander about and beg;
And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.
Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.
Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him,
Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.
Let his posterity be cut off;
In a following generation let their name be blotted out.

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be before the LORD continually,
That He may cut off their memory from the earth;
Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness,
But persecuted the afflicted and needy man,
And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.
He also loved cursing, so it came to him;
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it entered into his body like water
And like oil into his bones.
Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself,
And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself.
Let this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
And of those who speak evil against my soul.

But Thou, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Thy name's sake;
Because Thy lovingkindness is good, deliver me;
For I am afflicted and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like the locust.
My knees are weak from fasting,
And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.
I also have become a reproach to them;
When they see me, they wag their head.

Help me, O LORD my God;
Save me according to Thy lovingkindness.
And let them know that this is Thy hand;
Thou, LORD, hast done it.
Let them curse, but do Thou bless;
When they arise, they shall be ashamed,
But Thy servant shall be glad.
Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.

With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD;
And in the midst of many I will praise Him.
For He stands at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who judge his soul.

~Psalm 109 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 94

O LORD, God of vengeance,
God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O Judge of the earth,
Render recompense to the proud.
How long shall the wicked, O LORD,
How long shall the wicked exult?
They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly;
All who do wickedness vaunt themselves.
They crush Thy people, O LORD,
And afflict Thy heritage.
They slay the widow and the stranger
And murder the orphans.
They have said, "The LORD does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed."

Pay heed, you senseless among the people;
And when will you understand, stupid ones?
He who planted the ear, does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, does He not see?
He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke,
Even He who teaches man knowledge?
The LORD knows the thoughts of man,
That they are a mere breath.

Blessed is the man whom Thou dost chasten, O LORD,
And dost teach out of Thy law;
That Thou mayest grant him relief from the days of adversity,
Until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the LORD will not abandon His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
For judgment will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
Who will take his stand for me against those who do wickedness?

If the LORD had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
If I should say, "My foot has slipped,"
Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up.
When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Thy consolations delight my soul.
Can a throne of destruction be allied with Thee,
One which devises mischief by decree?
They band themselves together against the life of the righteous
And condemn the innocent to death.
But the LORD has been my stronghold,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
He has brought back their wickedness upon them
And will destroy them in their evil;
The LORD our God will destroy them.

~Psalm 94 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 79

God, the nations have invaded Thine inheritance;
They have defiled Thy holy temple;
They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the dead bodies of Thy servants for food to the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Thy godly ones to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was no one to bury them.
We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and derision to those around us.

How long, O LORD? Wilt Thou be angry forever?
Will Thy jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations which do not know Thee,
And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Thy name.
For they have devoured Jacob
And laid waste his habitation.

Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us;
Let Thy compassion come quickly to meet us,
For we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name;
And deliver us and forgive our sins for Thy name's sake.
Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
Let there be known among the nations in our sight,
Vengeance for the blood of Thy servants which has been shed.

Let the groaning of the prisoner come before Thee;
According to the greatness of Thy power preserve those who are doomed to die.
And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom
The reproach with which they have reproached Thee, O Lord.
So we Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture
Will give thanks to Thee forever;
To all generations we will tell of Thy praise.

~Psalm 79 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 73

Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!
But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling;
My steps had almost slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant,
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pains in their death;
Nor are they plagued like mankind.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.
Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot.
They mock, and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.
They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue parades through the earth.

Therefore his people return to this place;
And waters of abundance are drunk by them.
And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. 

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure,
And washed my hands in innocence;
For I have been stricken all day long,
And chastened every morning.

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I should have betrayed the generations of Thy children.
When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
Surely Thou dost set them in slippery places;
Thou dost cast them down to destruction.
How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, Thou wilt despite their form.

When my heart was embittered,
And I was pierced within,
Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before Thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with Thee;
Thou hast take hold of my right hand.
With Thy counseled Thou wilt guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For, behold, those who are far from Thee will perish;
Thou hast destroyed all those who are unfaithful to Thee.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Thy works.

~Psalm 73 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 62

My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.

How long will you assail a man,
That you may murder him, all of you,
Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position;
They delight in falsehood;
They bless with their mouth,
But inwardly they curse. Selah.

My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie;
In the balances they go up;
They are together lighter than breath.
Do not trust in oppression
And do not vainly hope in robbery;
If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

Once God has spoken;
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God;
And lovingkindness is Thine, O Lord,
For Thou dost recompense a man according to his work.

~Psalm 62 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 54

Save me, O God, by Thy name,
And vindicate me by Thy power.
Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah.

Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
He will recompense the evil to my foes;
Destroy them in Thy faithfulness.

Willingly I will sacrifice to Thee;
I will give thanks to Thy name, O LORD, for it is good.
For He has delivered me from all trouble,
And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

~Psalm 54 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 31

In Thee, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed;
In Thy righteousness deliver me.
Incline Thine ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be Thou to me a rock of strength,
A stronghold to save me.
For Thou art my rock and my fortress;
For Thy name’s sake Thou wilt lead me and guide me.
Thou wilt pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me;
For Thou art my strength.
Into Thy hand I commit my spirit;
Thou hast ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.

I hate those who regard vain idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad in They lovingkindness,
Because Thou hast seen my affliction’
Thou hast known the trouble of my soul,
And Thou hast not given me over into the hand of the enemy;
Thou hast set my feet in a large place.

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.
For my life is pent with sorrow,
And my years with sighing’
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And my body has wasted way.

Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach,
Especially to my neighbors
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind,
I am like a broken vessel.
For I have heard the slander of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they took counsel together against me,
They schemed to take away my life.

But as for me, I trust in Thee, O Lord,
I say, “Thou art my God.”
My times are in Thy hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant’
Save me in Thy lovingkindness.
Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon Thee;
Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.
Let the lying lips be dumb,
Which speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.

How great is Thy goodness,
Which Thou hast stored up for those who fear Thee,
Which Thou hast wrought for those who take refuge in Thee,
Before the sons of men!
Thou dost hide them in the secret place of Thy presence from the conspiracies of man;
Thou dost keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord,
For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.
As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from before Thine eyes”;
Nevertheless Thou didst hear the voice of my supplications
When I cried to Thee.

O love the Lord, all you His godly ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully recompenses the proud doer.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the Lord.

~Psalm 31 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 28

To Thee, O Lord, I call;
My rock, do not be deaf to me,
Lest, if Thou be silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to Thee for help,
When I lift up my hands toward Thy holy sanctuary.
Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who work iniquity;
Who speak peace with their neighbors,
While evil is in their hearts.
Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Requite them according to their deeds of their hands;
Repay them their recompense.
Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not build them up.

Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults,
And with my son I shall thank Him.
The Lord is their strength,
And He is a saving defense to His anointed.
Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance;
Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.

~Psalm 28 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 18

"I love Thee, O LORD, my strength."
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried to my God for help; 

He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
He rode upon a cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.

The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
Then the channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Thy rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.

He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

With the kind Thou dost show Thyself kind;
With the blameless Thou dost show Thyself blameless;
With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure,
And with the crooked Thou dost show Thyself astute.
For Thou dost save an afflicted people,
But haughty eyes Thou dost abase.
For Thou dost light my lamp;
The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
For by Thee I can run upon a troop;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God,
The God who girds me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
He makes my feet like hinds' feet,
And sets me upon my high places.
He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation,
And Thy right hand upholds me;
And Thy gentleness makes me great.
Thou dost enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise;
They fell under my feet.
For Thou hast girded me with strength for battle;
Thou hast subdued under me those who rose up against me.
Thou hast also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
They cried for help, but there was none to save,
Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

Thou hast delivered me from the contentions of the people;
Thou hast placed me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners submit to me.
Foreigners fade away,
And come trembling out of their fortresses.

The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,
The God who executes vengeance for me,
And subdues peoples under me.
He delivers me from my enemies;
Surely Thou dost lift me above those who rise up against me;
Thou dost rescue me from the violent man.

Therefore I will give thanks to Thee among the nations, O LORD,
And I will sing praises to Thy name.
He gives great deliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever.

~Psalm 18 (NASB 1977)