Book Order Plan

¹For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

²Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.

³Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;

⁴this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵When God went out against Egypt, he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say:

⁶“I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.

⁷In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

⁸Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel!

⁹You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.

¹⁰I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹¹“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.

¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

¹³“If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways,

¹⁴how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!

¹⁵Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.

¹⁶But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

¹A psalm of Asaph. God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”:

²“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?

³Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

⁴Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

⁵“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’

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

⁸Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

¹A song. A psalm of Asaph. O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God.

²See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.

³With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish.

⁴“Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”

⁵With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you—

⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,

⁷Byblos, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre.

⁸Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.

⁹Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,

¹⁰who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

¹²who said, “Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.”

¹³Make them like tumbleweed, my God, like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.

¹⁶Cover their faces with shame, LORD, so that they will seek your name.

¹⁷May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace.

¹⁸Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD— that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

¹For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!

²My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

¹²LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

¹For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. You, LORD, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

²You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.

³You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.

⁴Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.

⁵Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations?

⁶Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

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

⁸I will listen to what God the LORD says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants— but let them not turn to folly.

⁹Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

¹¹Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

¹²The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.

¹³Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

¹A prayer of David. Hear me, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

²Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;

³have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.

⁴Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.

⁵You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.

⁶Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy.

⁷When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.

⁸Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.

⁹All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.

¹⁰For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

¹¹Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

¹²I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.

¹³For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.

¹⁴Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God; ruthless people are trying to kill me— they have no regard for you.

¹⁵But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did.

¹⁷Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

¹Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song. He has founded his city on the holy mountain.

²The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.

³Glorious things are said of you, city of God:

⁴“I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ”

⁵Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.”

⁶The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.”

⁷As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”

¹A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.

²May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

³I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.

⁴I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.

⁵I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.

⁶You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.

⁷Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

⁸You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;

⁹my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

¹⁰Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

¹¹Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?

¹²Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³But I cry to you for help, LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴Why, LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

¹⁵From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁷All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.

¹⁸You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.