Psalms 143-150

Psalm 143

¹A Psalm. Of David. Let my prayer come to you, O Lord; give ear to my requests for your grace; keep faith with me, and give me an answer in your righteousness;

²Let not your servant come before you to be judged; for no man living is upright in your eyes.

³The evil man has gone after my soul; my life is crushed down to the earth: he has put me in the dark, like those who have long been dead.

⁴Because of this my spirit is overcome; and my heart is full of fear.

⁵I keep in mind the early days of the past, giving thought to all your acts, even to the work of your hands.

⁶My hands are stretched out to you: my soul is turned to you, like a land in need of water. (Selah.)

⁷Be quick in answering me, O Lord, for the strength of my spirit is gone: let me see your face, so that I may not be like those who go down into the underworld.

⁸Let the story of your mercy come to me in the morning, for my hope is in you: give me knowledge of the way in which I am to go; for my soul is lifted up to you.

⁹O Lord, take me out of the hands of my haters; my soul is waiting for you.

¹⁰Give me teaching so that I may do your pleasure; for you are my God: let your good Spirit be my guide into the land of righteousness.

¹¹Give me life, O Lord, because of your name; in your righteousness take my soul out of trouble.

¹²And in your mercy put an end to my haters, and send destruction on all those who are against my soul; for I am your servant.

Psalm 144

¹A Psalm. Of David. Praise be to the God of my strength, teaching my hands the use of the sword, and my fingers the art of fighting:

²He is my strength, and my Rock; my high tower, and my saviour; my keeper and my hope: he gives me authority over my people.

³Lord, what is man, that you keep him in mind? or the son of man that you take him into account?

⁴Man is like a breath: his life is like a shade which is quickly gone.

⁵Come down, O Lord, from your heavens: at your touch let the mountains give out smoke.

⁶With your storm-flames send them in flight: send out your arrows for their destruction.

⁷Put out your hand from on high; make me free, take me safely out of the great waters, and out of the hands of strange men;

⁸In whose mouths are false words, and whose right hand is a right hand of deceit.

⁹I will make a new song to you, O God; I will make melody to you on an instrument of ten cords.

¹⁰It is God who gives salvation to kings; and who kept his servant David from the wounding sword.

¹¹Make me free, and take me out of the hands of strange men, in whose mouths are false words, and whose right hand is a right hand of deceit.

¹²Our sons are like tall young plants; and our daughters like the shining stones of a king's house;

¹³Our store-houses are full of all good things; and our sheep give birth to thousands and ten thousands in our fields.

¹⁴Our oxen are well weighted down; our cows give birth safely; there is no going out, and there is no cry of sorrow in our open places.

¹⁵Happy is the nation whose ways are so ordered: yes, happy is the nation whose God is the Lord.

Psalm 145

¹A Song of praise. Of David. Let me give glory to you, O God, my King; and blessing to your name for ever and ever.

²Every day will I give you blessing, praising your name for ever and ever.

³Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his power may never be searched out.

⁴One generation after another will give praise to your great acts, and make clear the operation of your strength.

⁵My thoughts will be of the honour and glory of your rule, and of the wonder of your works.

⁶Men will be talking of the power and fear of your acts; I will give word of your glory.

⁷Their sayings will be full of the memory of all your mercy, and they will make songs of your righteousness.

⁸The Lord is full of grace and pity; not quickly angry, but great in mercy.

⁹The Lord is good to all men; and his mercies are over all his works.

¹⁰All the works of your hands give praise to you, O Lord; and your saints give you blessing.

¹¹Their words will be of the glory of your kingdom, and their talk of your strength;

¹²So that the sons of men may have knowledge of his acts of power, and of the great glory of his kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your rule is through all generations.

¹⁴The Lord is the support of all who are crushed, and the lifter up of all who are bent down.

¹⁵The eyes of all men are waiting for you; and you give them their food in its time.

¹⁶By the opening of your hand, every living thing has its desire in full measure.

¹⁷The Lord is upright in all his ways, and kind in all his works.

¹⁸The Lord is near all those who give honour to his name; even to all who give honour to him with true hearts.

¹⁹To his worshippers, he will give their desire; their cry comes to his ears, and he gives them salvation.

²⁰The Lord will keep all his worshippers from danger; but he will send destruction on all sinners.

²¹My mouth will give praise to the Lord; let all flesh be blessing his holy name for ever and ever.

Psalm 146

¹Let the Lord be praised. Give praise to the Lord, O my soul.

²While I have breath I will give praise to the Lord: I will make melody to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your faith in rulers, or in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴Man's breath goes out, he is turned back again to dust; in that day all his purposes come to an end.

⁵Happy is the man who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

⁶Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things in them; who keeps faith for ever:

⁷Who gives their rights to those who are crushed down; and gives food to those who are in need of it: the Lord makes the prisoners free;

⁸The Lord makes open the eyes of the blind; the Lord is the lifter up of those who are bent down; the Lord is a lover of the upright;

⁹The Lord takes care of those who are in a strange land; he gives help to the widow and to the child who has no father; but he sends destruction on the way of sinners.

¹⁰The Lord will be King for ever; your God, O Zion, will be King through all generations. Praise be to the Lord.

Psalm 147

¹Give praise to the Lord; for it is good to make melody to our God; praise is pleasing and beautiful.

²The Lord is building up Jerusalem; he makes all the outlaws of Israel come together.

³He makes the broken-hearted well, and puts oil on their wounds.

⁴He sees the number of the stars; he gives them all their names.

⁵Great is our Lord, and great his power; there is no limit to his wisdom.

⁶The Lord gives help to the poor in spirit; but he sends sinners down in shame.

⁷Make songs of praise to the Lord; make melody to our God with instruments of music.

⁸By his hand the heaven is covered with clouds and rain is stored up for the earth; he makes the grass tall on the mountains.

⁹He gives food to every beast, and to the young ravens in answer to their cry.

¹⁰He has no delight in the strength of a horse; he takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹The Lord takes pleasure in his worshippers, and in those whose hope is in his mercy.

¹²Give praise to the Lord, O Jerusalem; give praise to your God, O Zion.

¹³He has made strong the iron bands of your doors; he has sent blessings on your children inside your walls.

¹⁴He gives peace in all your land, making your stores full of fat grain.

¹⁵He sends out his orders to the earth; his word goes out quickly.

¹⁶He gives snow like wool; he sends out ice-drops like dust.

¹⁷He sends down ice like raindrops: water is made hard by his cold.

¹⁸At the outgoing of his word, the ice is turned to water; when he sends out his wind, there is a flowing of waters.

¹⁹He makes his word clear to Jacob, teaching Israel his laws and his decisions.

²⁰He has not done these things for any other nation: and as for his laws, they have no knowledge of them. Let the Lord be praised.

Psalm 148

¹Give praise to the Lord. Let the Lord be praised from the heavens: give him praise in the skies.

²Give praise to him, all you his angels: give praise to him, all his armies.

³Give praise to him, you sun and moon: give praise to him, all you stars of light.

⁴Give praise to him, you highest heavens, and you waters which are over the heavens.

⁵Let them give praise to the name of the Lord: for he gave the order, and they were made.

⁶He has put them in their places for ever; he has given them their limits which may not be broken.

⁷Give praise to the Lord from the earth, you great sea-beasts, and deep places:

⁸Fire and rain of ice, snow and mists; storm-wind, doing his word:

⁹Mountains and all hills; fruit-trees and all trees of the mountains:

¹⁰Beasts and all cattle; insects and winged birds:

¹¹Kings of the earth, and all peoples; rulers and all judges of the earth:

¹²Young men and virgins; old men and children:

¹³Let them give glory to the name of the Lord: for his name only is to be praised: his kingdom is over the earth and the heaven.

¹⁴He has put on high the horn of his people, for the praise of all his saints; even the children of Israel, a people which is near to him. Let the Lord be praised.

Psalm 149

¹Let the Lord be praised. Make a new song to the Lord, let his praise be in the meeting of his saints.

²Let Israel have joy in his maker; let the children of Zion be glad in their King.

³Let them give praise to his name in the dance: let them make melody to him with instruments of brass and corded instruments of music.

⁴For the Lord has pleasure in his people: he gives the poor in spirit a crown of salvation.

⁵Let the saints have joy and glory: let them give cries of joy on their beds.

⁶Let the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands;

⁷To give the nations the reward of their sins, and the peoples their punishment;

⁸To put their kings in chains, and their rulers in bands of iron;

⁹To give them the punishment which is in the holy writings: this honour is given to all his saints. Praise be to the Lord.

Psalm 150

¹Let the Lord be praised. Give praise to God in his holy place: give him praise in the heaven of his power.

²Give him praise for his acts of power: give him praise in the measure of his great strength.

³Give him praise with the sound of the horn: give him praise with corded instruments of music.

⁴Give him praise with instruments of brass and in the dance: give him praise with horns and corded instruments.

⁵Give him praise with the loud brass: give him praise with the high-sounding brass.

⁶Let everything which has breath give praise to the Lord. Let the Lord be praised.