SOTD Psalm 130-131

Psalm 130

My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

¹Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
²O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

³If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
⁴But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

⁵I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
⁶my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

Psalm 131

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
²But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore.

SOTD Pslam 128-129

Psalm 128

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the LORD

A Song of Ascents.

¹ Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
²You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
⁴Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.

⁵ The LORD bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
⁶May you see your children’s children!
Peace be upon Israel!

Psalm 129

They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth

A Song of Ascents.

¹“Greatly^[d] have they afflicted me from my youth”—
let Israel now say—
²“Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
³ The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
⁴The LORD is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
⁵May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
⁶Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,
⁷with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
⁸nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the LORD be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the LORD!”

SOTD Psalm 126-127

Psalm 126

Restore Our Fortunes, O LORD

A Song of Ascents.

¹When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
²Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
³The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad.

⁴Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like streams in the Negeb!
⁵ Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
⁶He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 127

Unless the LORD Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

¹Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
²It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

³Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children^[b] of one’s youth.
⁵Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.^[c]

SOTD Psalm 124-125

Psalm 124

Our Help Is in the Name of the LORD

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹ If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
let Israel now say—
²if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
when people rose up against us,
³then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
⁴then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
⁵then over us would have gone
the raging waters.

⁶Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!
⁷We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped!

⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 125

The LORD Surrounds His People

A Song of Ascents.

¹Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
²As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore.
³For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
⁴ Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts!
⁵But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
Peace be upon Israel!

SOTD Psalm 122-123

Psalm 122

Let Us Go to the House of the LORD

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
²Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

³Jerusalem— built as a city
that is bound firmly together,
⁴to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD,
as was decreed for^[a] Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
⁵There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!
⁷Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!”
⁸For my brothers and companions’ sake
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
⁹For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your good.

Psalm 123

Our Eyes Look to the LORD Our God

A Song of Ascents.

¹To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
²Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.

³ Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
⁴Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.

SOTD Psalm 120&121

Psalm 120

Deliver Me, O LORD

A Song of Ascents.

¹In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
²Deliver me, O LORD,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.

³What shall be given to you,
and what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
⁴ A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!

⁵Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
⁶Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
⁷ I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!

Psalm 121

My Help Comes from the LORD

A Song of Ascents.

¹I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
² My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

³He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
⁸The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

SOTD Psalm 74

Psalm 74

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil^[a] of Asaph.

¹O God, why do you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
² Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
³Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

⁴Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
they set up their own signs for signs.
⁵They were like those who swing axes
in a forest of trees.^[b]
6And all its carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
⁷They set your sanctuary on fire;
they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
⁸They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
¹⁰How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
¹¹Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment^[c] and destroy them!

¹²Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters^[d] on the waters.
¹⁴You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵You split open springs and brooks;
you dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
and a foolish people reviles your name.
¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Have regard for the covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
²¹Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, O God, defend your cause;
remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
²³Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

SOTD Psalm 73

Psalm 73

BOOK THREE

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
³ For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
⁵They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
⁷Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.^[a]
11And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹²Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
¹³All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
¹⁷until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.

¹⁸Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
²⁰Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
²¹When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
²²I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
²⁴You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength^[b] of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
²⁸But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

SOTD Psalm 72

Psalm 72

Give the King Your Justice

Of Solomon.

¹Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
²May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
³Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
⁴May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!

⁵May they fear you^[p] while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
⁶May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
⁷In his days may the righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

⁸May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River^[q] to the ends of the earth!
⁹May desert tribes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts!
¹¹May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!

¹²For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
¹³He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
¹⁴From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.

¹⁵Long may he live;
may gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
¹⁶May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field!
¹⁷ May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!

¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and Amen!

²⁰ The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

SOTD Psalm 70 & 71

Psalm 70

O LORD, Do Not Delay

To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.

¹ Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
O LORD, make haste to help me!
²Let them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
³Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, “Aha, Aha!”

⁴May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
⁵But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay!

Psalm 71

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

¹ In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
²In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
³Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴ Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
⁵For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
⁶Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

⁷I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
⁸My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
⁹ Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
¹⁰For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who watch for my life consult together
¹¹and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”

¹²O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
¹³May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who seek my hurt.
¹⁴But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
¹⁹Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
²⁰You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
²¹You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.

²²I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
²⁴And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.