Book Order Plan

¹Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob.

²Sing! Beat the tambourine. Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

³Blow the ram’s horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival!

⁴For this is required by the decrees of Israel; it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.

⁵He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free. I heard an unknown voice say,

⁶“Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

⁷You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Interlude

⁸“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me!

⁹You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god.

¹⁰For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

¹¹“But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around.

¹²So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.

¹³Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!

¹⁴How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes!

¹⁵Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever.

¹⁶But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”

¹God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:

²“How long will you hand down unjust decisions by favoring the wicked? Interlude

³“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.

⁴Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.

⁵But these oppressors know nothing; they are so ignorant! They wander about in darkness, while the whole world is shaken to the core.

⁶I say, ‘You are gods; you are all children of the Most High.

⁷But you will die like mere mortals and fall like every other ruler.’”

⁸Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you.

¹O God, do not be silent! Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, O God.

²Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies? Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up?

³They devise crafty schemes against your people; they conspire against your precious ones.

⁴“Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”

⁵Yes, this was their unanimous decision. They signed a treaty as allies against you —

⁶these Edomites and Ishmaelites; Moabites and Hagrites;

⁷Gebalites, Ammonites, and Amalekites; and people from Philistia and Tyre.

⁸Assyria has joined them, too, and is allied with the descendants of Lot. Interlude

⁹Do to them as you did to the Midianites and as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.

¹⁰They were destroyed at Endor, and their decaying corpses fertilized the soil.

¹¹Let their mighty nobles die as Oreb and Zeeb did. Let all their princes die like Zebah and Zalmunna,

¹²for they said, “Let us seize for our own use these pasturelands of God!”

¹³O my God, scatter them like tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind!

¹⁴As a fire burns a forest and as a flame sets mountains ablaze,

¹⁵chase them with your fierce storm; terrify them with your tempest.

¹⁶Utterly disgrace them until they submit to your name, O LORD.

¹⁷Let them be ashamed and terrified forever. Let them die in disgrace.

¹⁸Then they will learn that you alone are called the LORD, that you alone are the Most High, supreme over all the earth.

¹How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

²I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!

⁴What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. Interlude

⁵What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

⁶When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.

⁷They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.

⁸O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. Interlude

⁹O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield! Show favor to the one you have anointed.

¹⁰A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.

¹¹For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.

¹²O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you.

¹LORD, you poured out blessings on your land! You restored the fortunes of Israel.

²You forgave the guilt of your people — yes, you covered all their sins. Interlude

³You held back your fury. You kept back your blazing anger.

⁴Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us once more.

⁵Will you be angry with us always? Will you prolong your wrath to all generations?

⁶Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?

⁷Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

⁸I listen carefully to what God the LORD is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people. But let them not return to their foolish ways.

⁹Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.

¹⁰Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!

¹¹Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.

¹²Yes, the LORD pours down his blessings. Our land will yield its bountiful harvest.

¹³Righteousness goes as a herald before him, preparing the way for his steps.

¹Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help.

²Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God.

³Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly.

⁴Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you.

⁵O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

⁶Listen closely to my prayer, O LORD; hear my urgent cry.

⁷I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me.

⁸No pagan god is like you, O Lord. None can do what you do!

⁹All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord; they will praise your holy name.

¹⁰For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God.

¹¹Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.

¹²With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever,

¹³for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death.

¹⁴O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me. You mean nothing to them.

¹⁵But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

¹⁶Look down and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your servant; save me, the son of your servant.

¹⁷Send me a sign of your favor. Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, O LORD, help and comfort me.

¹On the holy mountain stands the city founded by the LORD.

²He loves the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel.

³O city of God, what glorious things are said of you! Interlude

⁴I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me — also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia. They have all become citizens of Jerusalem!

⁵Regarding Jerusalem it will be said, “Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.” And the Most High will personally bless this city.

⁶When the LORD registers the nations, he will say, “They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.” Interlude

⁷The people will play flutes and sing, “The source of my life springs from Jerusalem!”

¹O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night.

²Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry.

³For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.

⁴I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left.

⁵They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care.

⁶You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.

⁷Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude

⁸You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape.

⁹My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O LORD; I lift my hands to you for mercy.

¹⁰Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Interlude

¹¹Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?

¹²Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds? Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?

¹³O LORD, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day.

¹⁴O LORD, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me?

¹⁵I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.

¹⁶Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me.

¹⁷They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely.

¹⁸You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.