Book Order Plan

¹Oh, praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, you who serve at night in the house of the LORD.

²Lift your hands toward the sanctuary, and praise the LORD.

³May the LORD, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Jerusalem.

¹Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD! Praise him, you who serve the LORD,

²you who serve in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God.

³Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; celebrate his lovely name with music.

⁴For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own special treasure.

⁵I know the greatness of the LORD — that our Lord is greater than any other god.

⁶The LORD does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths.

⁷He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.

⁸He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home, both people and animals.

⁹He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his people.

¹⁰He struck down great nations and slaughtered mighty kings —

¹¹Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan.

¹²He gave their land as an inheritance, a special possession to his people Israel.

¹³Your name, O LORD, endures forever; your fame, O LORD, is known to every generation.

¹⁴For the LORD will give justice to his people and have compassion on his servants.

¹⁵The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.

¹⁶They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see.

¹⁷They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe.

¹⁸And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.

¹⁹O Israel, praise the LORD! O priests — descendants of Aaron — praise the LORD!

²⁰O Levites, praise the LORD! All you who fear the LORD, praise the LORD!

²¹The LORD be praised from Zion, for he lives here in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! — His faithful love endures forever.

²Give thanks to the God of gods. — His faithful love endures forever.

³Give thanks to the Lord of lords. — His faithful love endures forever.

⁴Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. — His faithful love endures forever.

⁵Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. — His faithful love endures forever.

⁶Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters. — His faithful love endures forever.

⁷Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights — — His faithful love endures forever.

⁸the sun to rule the day, — His faithful love endures forever.

⁹and the moon and stars to rule the night. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁰Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹¹He brought Israel out of Egypt. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹²He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹³Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁴He led Israel safely through, — His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁵but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁶Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁷Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁸He killed powerful kings — — His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁹Sihon king of the Amorites, — His faithful love endures forever.

²⁰and Og king of Bashan. — His faithful love endures forever.

²¹God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance — — His faithful love endures forever.

²²a special possession to his servant Israel. — His faithful love endures forever.

²³He remembered us in our weakness. — His faithful love endures forever.

²⁴He saved us from our enemies. — His faithful love endures forever.

²⁵He gives food to every living thing. — His faithful love endures forever.

²⁶Give thanks to the God of heaven. — His faithful love endures forever.

¹Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.

²We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.

³For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”

⁴But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land?

⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.

⁶May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

⁷O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!”

⁸O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.

⁹Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!

¹I give you thanks, O LORD, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods.

²I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.

³As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.

⁴Every king in all the earth will thank you, LORD, for all of them will hear your words.

⁵Yes, they will sing about the LORD’s ways, for the glory of the LORD is very great.

⁶Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud.

⁷Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies. You reach out your hand, and the power of your right hand saves me.

⁸The LORD will work out his plans for my life — for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

¹O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

²You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

³You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.

⁴You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

⁵You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

⁷I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

⁸If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.

⁹If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

¹⁰even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

¹¹I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night —

¹²but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it.

¹⁵You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

¹⁶You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

¹⁷How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

¹⁸I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

¹⁹O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers!

²⁰They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name.

²¹O LORD, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?

²²Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

¹O LORD, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent,

²those who plot evil in their hearts and stir up trouble all day long.

³Their tongues sting like a snake; the venom of a viper drips from their lips. Interlude

⁴O LORD, keep me out of the hands of the wicked. Protect me from those who are violent, for they are plotting against me.

⁵The proud have set a trap to catch me; they have stretched out a net; they have placed traps all along the way. Interlude

⁶I said to the LORD, “You are my God!” Listen, O LORD, to my cries for mercy!

⁷O Sovereign LORD, the strong one who rescued me, you protected me on the day of battle.

⁸LORD, do not let evil people have their way. Do not let their evil schemes succeed, or they will become proud. Interlude

⁹Let my enemies be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me.

¹⁰Let burning coals fall down on their heads. Let them be thrown into the fire or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.

¹¹Don’t let liars prosper here in our land. Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.

¹²But I know the LORD will help those they persecute; he will give justice to the poor.

¹³Surely righteous people are praising your name; the godly will live in your presence.