Psalm 137

1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept

as we thought of Jerusalem.*

2 We put away our harps,

hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.

3 For our captors demanded a song from us.

Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn:

“Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”

4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord

while in a pagan land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget how to play the harp.

6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth

if I fail to remember you,

if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

7 O Lord, remember what the Edomites did

on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem.

“Destroy it!” they yelled.

“Level it to the ground!”

8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed.

Happy is the one who pays you back

for what you have done to us.

9 Happy is the one who takes your babies

and smashes them against the rocks!

Psalm 138

A psalm of David.

1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will sing your praises before the gods.

2 I 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.

3 As soon as I pray, you answer me;

you encourage me by giving me strength.

4 Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,

for all of them will hear your words.

5 Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,

for the glory of the Lord is very great.

6 Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,

but he keeps his distance from the proud.

7 Though 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.

8 The 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.

Psalm 139

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel

and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

5 You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave,* you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning,

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me

and the light around me to become night—

12 but 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.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You 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.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me,* O God.

They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;

they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

you are still with me!

19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!

Get out of my life, you murderers!

20 They blaspheme you;

your enemies misuse your name.

21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?

Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?

22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,

for your enemies are my enemies.

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

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you,

and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 140

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, rescue me from evil people.

Protect me from those who are violent,

2 those who plot evil in their hearts

and stir up trouble all day long.

3 Their tongues sting like a snake;

the venom of a viper drips from their lips.

Interlude

4 O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked.

Protect me from those who are violent,

for they are plotting against me.

5 The proud have set a trap to catch me;

they have stretched out a net;

they have placed traps all along the way.

Interlude

6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God!”

Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy!

7 O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me,

you protected me on the day of battle.

8 Lord, do not let evil people have their way.

Do not let their evil schemes succeed,

or they will become proud.

Interlude

9 Let my enemies be destroyed

by the very evil they have planned for me.

10 Let burning coals fall down on their heads.

Let them be thrown into the fire

or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.

11 Don’t let liars prosper here in our land.

Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.

12 But I know the Lord will help those they persecute;

he will give justice to the poor.

13 Surely righteous people are praising your name;

the godly will live in your presence.

Psalm 141

A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!

Listen when I cry to you for help!

2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,

and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

3 Take control of what I say, O Lord,

and guard my lips.

4 Don’t let me drift toward evil

or take part in acts of wickedness.

Don’t let me share in the delicacies

of those who do wrong.

5 Let the godly strike me!

It will be a kindness!

If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.

Don’t let me refuse it.

But I pray constantly

against the wicked and their deeds.

6 When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,

the wicked will listen to my words and find them true.

7 Like rocks brought up by a plow,

the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.*

8 I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord.

You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.

9 Keep me from the traps they have set for me,

from the snares of those who do wrong.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

but let me escape.