Daily Wisdom Plan

¹A psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

²They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

³They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

⁴We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us.

⁵How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name;

⁷for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.

⁸Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.

⁹Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.

¹⁰Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

¹¹May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.

¹²Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.

¹³Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.

¹For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm. Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

²before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us.

³Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

⁴How long, LORD God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

⁶You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.

⁷Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

⁸You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.

¹²Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

¹³Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.

¹⁴Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine,

¹⁵the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.

¹⁷Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Restore us, LORD God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

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.”