Daily Wisdom Plan

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.

¹I will sing of the LORD’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.

²Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

³The LORD said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant. I have sworn this oath to him:

⁴‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever; they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’” Interlude

⁵All heaven will praise your great wonders, LORD; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.

⁶For who in all of heaven can compare with the LORD? What mightiest angel is anything like the LORD?

⁷The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.

⁸O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O LORD? You are entirely faithful.

⁹You rule the oceans. You subdue their storm-tossed waves.

¹⁰You crushed the great sea monster. You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

¹¹The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours — you created it all.

¹²You created north and south. Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.

¹³Powerful is your arm! Strong is your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.

¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.

¹⁵Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.

¹⁶They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation. They exult in your righteousness.

¹⁷You are their glorious strength. It pleases you to make us strong.

¹⁸Yes, our protection comes from the LORD, and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.

¹⁹Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful people. You said, “I have raised up a warrior. I have selected him from the common people to be king.

²⁰I have found my servant David. I have anointed him with my holy oil.

²¹I will steady him with my hand; with my powerful arm I will make him strong.

²²His enemies will not defeat him, nor will the wicked overpower him.

²³I will beat down his adversaries before him and destroy those who hate him.

²⁴My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him, and by my authority he will grow in power.

²⁵I will extend his rule over the sea, his dominion over the rivers.

²⁶And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

²⁷I will make him my firstborn son, the mightiest king on earth.

²⁸I will love him and be kind to him forever; my covenant with him will never end.

²⁹I will preserve an heir for him; his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.

³⁰But if his descendants forsake my instructions and fail to obey my regulations,

³¹if they do not obey my decrees and fail to keep my commands,

³²then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their disobedience with beating.

³³But I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him.

³⁴No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.

³⁵I have sworn an oath to David, and in my holiness I cannot lie:

³⁶His dynasty will go on forever; his kingdom will endure as the sun.

³⁷It will be as eternal as the moon, my faithful witness in the sky!” Interlude

³⁸But now you have rejected him and cast him off. You are angry with your anointed king.

³⁹You have renounced your covenant with him; you have thrown his crown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have broken down the walls protecting him and ruined every fort defending him.

⁴¹Everyone who comes along has robbed him, and he has become a joke to his neighbors.

⁴²You have strengthened his enemies and made them all rejoice.

⁴³You have made his sword useless and refused to help him in battle.

⁴⁴You have ended his splendor and overturned his throne.

⁴⁵You have made him old before his time and publicly disgraced him. Interlude

⁴⁶O LORD, how long will this go on? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my life is, how empty and futile this human existence!

⁴⁸No one can live forever; all will die. No one can escape the power of the grave. Interlude

⁴⁹Lord, where is your unfailing love? You promised it to David with a faithful pledge.

⁵⁰Consider, Lord, how your servants are disgraced! I carry in my heart the insults of so many people.

⁵¹Your enemies have mocked me, O LORD; they mock your anointed king wherever he goes.

⁵²Praise the LORD forever! Amen and amen!

¹Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!

²Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.

³You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”

⁴For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.

⁵You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning.

⁶In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.

⁷We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury.

⁸You spread out our sins before you — our secret sins — and you see them all.

⁹We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan.

¹⁰Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.

¹¹Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.

¹²Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.

¹³O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!

¹⁴Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.

¹⁵Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.

¹⁶Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory.

¹⁷And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!