PSALM 137

An Experience of the Captivity.

1 By the arivers of Babylon,

There we sat down and bwept,

When we remembered Zion.

2 Upon the 1awillows in the midst of it

We bhung our 2harps.

3 For there our captors 1ademanded of us 2songs,

And bour tormentors mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

4 How can we sing athe Lord’s song

In a foreign land?

5 If I aforget you, O Jerusalem,

May my right hand 1forget her skill.

6 May my atongue cling to the roof of my mouth

If I do not remember you,

If I do not 1bexalt Jerusalem

Above my chief joy.

7 Remember, O Lord, against the sons of aEdom

The day of Jerusalem,

Who said, “Raze it, raze it

bTo its very foundation.”

8 O daughter of Babylon, you 1adevastated one,

How blessed will be the one who brepays you

With 2the recompense with which you have repaid us.

9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and adashes your little ones

Against the rock.

PSALM 138

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.

A Psalm of David.

1 aI will give You thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to You before the bgods.

2 I will bow down atoward Your holy temple

And bgive thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your 1truth;

For You have cmagnified Your 2word 3according to all Your name.

3 On the day I acalled, You answered me;

You made me bold with bstrength in my soul.

4 aAll the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,

When they have heard the words of Your mouth.

5 And they will asing of the ways of the Lord,

For bgreat is the glory of the Lord.

6 For athough the Lord is exalted,

Yet He bregards the lowly,

But the chaughty He knows from afar.

7 Though I awalk in the midst of trouble, You will 1brevive me;

You will cstretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will dsave me.

8 The Lord will aaccomplish what concerns me;

Your blovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;

cDo not forsake the dworks of Your hands.

PSALM 139

God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, You have asearched me and known me.

2 You aknow 1when I sit down and 2when I rise up;

You bunderstand my thought from afar.

3 You 1ascrutinize my 2path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 1Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O Lord, You aknow it all.

5 You have aenclosed me behind and before,

And blaid Your hand upon me.

6 Such aknowledge is btoo wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

7 aWhere can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 aIf I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in 1Sheol, behold, bYou are there.

9 If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand will alead me,

And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

11 If I say, “Surely the adarkness will 1overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night,”

12 Even the adarkness is not dark 1to You,

And the night is as bright as the day.

bDarkness and light are alike to You.

13 For You aformed my 1inward parts;

You bwove me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will give thanks to You, for 1I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

aWonderful are Your works,

And my soul knows it very well.

15 My 1aframe was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the bdepths of the earth;

16 Your aeyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in bYour book were all written

The cdays that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

17 How precious also are Your athoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would aoutnumber the sand.

When bI awake, I am still with You.

19 O that You would aslay the wicked, O God;

bDepart from me, therefore, cmen of bloodshed.

20 For they aspeak 1against You wickedly,

And Your enemies 2btake Your name in vain.

21 Do I not ahate those who hate You, O Lord?

And do I not bloathe those who rise up against You?

22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;

They have become my enemies.

23 aSearch me, O God, and know my heart;

bTry me and know my anxious thoughts;

24 And see if there be any 1ahurtful way in me,

And blead me in the ceverlasting way.

PSALM 140

Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

1 aRescue me, O Lord, from evil men;

Preserve me from bviolent men

2 Who adevise evil things in their hearts;

They bcontinually stir up wars.

3 They asharpen their tongues as a serpent;

bPoison of a viper is under their lips.

1Selah.

4 aKeep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

bPreserve me from violent men

Who have 1purposed to 2ctrip up my feet.

5 The proud have ahidden a trap for me, and cords;

They have spread a bnet by the 1wayside;

They have set csnares for me.

Selah.

6 I asaid to the Lord, “You are my God;

bGive ear, O Lord, to the cvoice of my supplications.

7 “O 1God the Lord, athe strength of my salvation,

You have bcovered my head in the day of 2battle.

8 “Do not grant, O Lord, the adesires of the wicked;

Do not promote bhis evil device, that they not be exalted.

Selah.

9 “As for the head of those who surround me,

May the amischief of their lips cover them.

10 “May aburning coals fall upon them;

May they be bcast into the fire,

Into 1deep pits from which they ccannot rise.

11 “May a 1slanderer not be established in the earth;

aMay evil hunt the violent man 2speedily.”

12 I know that the Lord will amaintain the cause of the afflicted

And bjustice for the poor.

13 Surely the arighteous will give thanks to Your name;

The bupright will dwell in Your presence.

PSALM 141

An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.

A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, I call upon You; ahasten to me!

bGive ear to my voice when I call to You!

2 May my prayer be 1counted as aincense before You;

The blifting up of my hands as the cevening offering.

3 Set a aguard, O Lord, 1over my mouth;

Keep watch over the bdoor of my lips.

4 aDo not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice deeds 1of wickedness

With men who bdo iniquity;

And cdo not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let the arighteous smite me 1in kindness and reprove me;

It is boil upon the head;

Do not let my head refuse it,

2For still my prayer cis 3against their wicked deeds.

6 Their judges are athrown down by the sides of the rock,

And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 As when one aplows and breaks open the earth,

Our bbones have been scattered at the cmouth of 1Sheol.

8 For my aeyes are toward You, O 1God, the Lord;

In You I btake refuge; cdo not 2leave me defenseless.

9 Keep me from the 1ajaws of the trap which they have set for me,

And from the bsnares of those who do iniquity.

10 Let the wicked afall into their own nets,

While I pass by 1bsafely.