Month: December 2019

Longing for God’s House

1 How I love your Temple,LordAlmighty!

2 How I want to be there!

I long to be in theLord’s Temple.

With my whole being I sing for joy

to the living God.

3 Even the sparrows have built a nest,

and the swallows have their own home;

they keep their young near your altars,

LordAlmighty, my king and my God.

4 How happy are those who live in your Temple,

always singing praise to you.

5 How happy are those whose strength comes from you,

who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion.

6 As they pass through the dry valley of Baca,

it becomes a place of springs;

the autumn rain fills it with pools.

7 They grow stronger as they go;

they will see the God of gods on Zion.

8 Hear my prayer,LordGod Almighty.

Listen, O God of Jacob!

9 Bless our king, O God,

the king you have chosen.

10 One day spent in your Temple

is better than a thousand anywhere else;

I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God

than live in the homes of the wicked.

11 TheLordis our protector and glorious king,

blessing us with kindness and honor.

He does not refuse any good thing

to those who do what is right.

12 LordAlmighty, how happy are those who trust in you!

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/84-4ea2f131a87b111c0d40ec014c29b211.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for the Nation’s Welfare

1 Lord, you have been merciful to your land;

you have made Israel prosperous again.

2 You have forgiven your people’s sins

and pardoned all their wrongs.

3 You stopped being angry with them

and held back your furious rage.

4 Bring us back, O God our savior,

and stop being displeased with us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will your anger never cease?

6 Make us strong again,

and we, your people, will praise you.

7 Show us your constant love, OLord,

and give us your saving help.

8 I am listening to what theLordGod is saying;

he promises peace to us, his own people,

if we do not go back to our foolish ways.

9 Surely he is ready to save those who honor him,

and his saving presence will remain in our land.

10 Love and faithfulness will meet;

righteousness and peace will embrace.

11 Human loyalty will reach up from the earth,

and God’s righteousness will look down from heaven.

12 TheLordwill make us prosperous,

and our land will produce rich harvests.

13 Righteousness will go before theLord

and prepare the path for him.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/85-731599a37386f1ffbc8046eb13e58e57.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Help

1 Listen to me,Lord, and answer me,

for I am helpless and weak.

2 Save me from death, because I am loyal to you;

save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you.

3 You are my God, so be merciful to me;

I pray to you all day long.

4 Make your servant glad, O Lord,

because my prayers go up to you.

5 You are good to us and forgiving,

full of constant love for all who pray to you.

6 Listen,Lord, to my prayer;

hear my cries for help.

7 I call to you in times of trouble,

because you answer my prayers.

8 There is no god like you, O Lord,

not one has done what you have done.

9 All the nations that you have created

will come and bow down to you;

they will praise your greatness.

10 You are mighty and do wonderful things;

you alone are God.

11 Teach me,Lord, what you want me to do,

and I will obey you faithfully;

teach me to serve you with complete devotion.

12 I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God;

I will proclaim your greatness forever.

13 How great is your constant love for me!

You have saved me from the grave itself.

14 Proud people are coming against me, O God;

a cruel gang is trying to kill me—

people who pay no attention to you.

15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God,

always patient, always kind and faithful.

16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;

strengthen me and save me,

because I serve you just as my mother did.

17 Show me proof of your goodness,Lord;

those who hate me will be ashamed

when they see that you have given me comfort and help.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/86-d9a65644cd54c71394930f6d089a95c5.mp3?version_id=68—

In Praise of Jerusalem

1 TheLordbuilt his city on the sacred hill;

2 more than any other place in Israel

he loves the city of Jerusalem.

3 Listen, city of God,

to the wonderful things he says about you:

4 “I will include Egypt and Babylonia

when I list the nations that obey me;

the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia

I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

5 Of Zion it will be said

that all nations belong there

and that the Almighty will make her strong.

6 TheLordwill write a list of the peoples

and include them all as citizens of Jerusalem.

7 They dance and sing,

“In Zion is the source of all our blessings.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/87-c27f8eab8e7a1d62b5dd8ba81c80a69a.mp3?version_id=68—

A Cry for Help

1 LordGod, my savior, I cry out all day,

and at night I come before you.

2 Hear my prayer;

listen to my cry for help!

3 So many troubles have fallen on me

that I am close to death.

4 I am like all others who are about to die;

all my strength is gone.

5 I am abandoned among the dead;

I am like the slain lying in their graves,

those you have forgotten completely,

who are beyond your help.

6 You have thrown me into the depths of the tomb,

into the darkest and deepest pit.

7 Your anger lies heavy on me,

and I am crushed beneath its waves.

8 You have caused my friends to abandon me;

you have made me repulsive to them.

I am closed in and cannot escape;

9 my eyes are weak from suffering.

Lord, every day I call to you

and lift my hands to you in prayer.

10 Do you perform miracles for the dead?

Do they rise up and praise you?

11 Is your constant love spoken of in the grave

or your faithfulness in the place of destruction?

12 Are your miracles seen in that place of darkness

or your goodness in the land of the forgotten?

13 Lord, I call to you for help;

every morning I pray to you.

14 Why do you reject me,Lord?

Why do you turn away from me?

15 Ever since I was young, I have suffered and been near death;

I am worn outfrom the burden of your punishments.

16 Your furious anger crushes me;

your terrible attacks destroy me.

17 All day long they surround me like a flood;

they close in on me from every side.

18 You have made even my closest friends abandon me,

and darkness is my only companion.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/88-750498d57f405a1e7c2de07116d88d3d.mp3?version_id=68—

A Hymn in Time of National Trouble

1 OLord, I will always sing of your constant love;

I will proclaim your faithfulness forever.

2 I know that your love will last for all time,

that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky.

3 You said, “I have made a covenant with the man I chose;

I have promised my servant David,

4 ‘A descendant of yours will always be king;

I will preserve your dynasty forever.’”

5 The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do;

the holy ones sing of your faithfulness,Lord.

6 No one in heaven is like you,Lord;

none of the heavenly beings is your equal.

7 You are feared in the council of the holy ones;

they all stand in awe of you.

8 LordGod Almighty, none is as mighty as you;

in all things you are faithful, OLord.

9 You rule over the powerful sea;

you calm its angry waves.

10 You crushed the monster Rahaband killed it;

with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies.

11 Heaven is yours, the earth also;

you made the world and everything in it.

12 You created the north and the south;

Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you for joy.

13 How powerful you are!

How great is your strength!

14 Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice;

love and faithfulness are shown in all you do.

15 How happy are the people who worship you with songs,

who live in the light of your kindness!

16 Because of you they rejoice all day long,

and they praise you for your goodness.

17 You give us great victories;

in your love you make us triumphant.

18 You, OLord, chose our protector;

you, the Holy God of Israel, gave us our king.

God’s Promise to David

19 In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants,

“I have given help to a famous soldier;

I have given the throne to one I chose from the people.

20 I have made my servant David king

by anointing him with holy oil.

21 My strength will always be with him,

my power will make him strong.

22 His enemies will never succeed against him;

the wicked will not defeat him.

23 I will crush his foes

and kill everyone who hates him.

24 I will love him and be loyal to him;

I will make him always victorious.

25 I will extend his kingdom

from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River.

26 He will say to me,

‘You are my father and my God;

you are my protector and savior.’

27 I will make him my first-born son,

the greatest of all kings.

28 I will always keep my promise to him,

and my covenant with him will last forever.

29 His dynasty will be as permanent as the sky;

a descendant of his will always be king.

30 “But if his descendants disobey my law

and do not live according to my commands,

31 if they disregard my instructions

and do not keep my commandments,

32 then I will punish them for their sins;

I will make them suffer for their wrongs.

33 But I will not stop loving David

or fail to keep my promise to him.

34 I will not break my covenant with him

or take back even one promise I made him.

35 “Once and for all I have promised by my holy name:

I will never lie to David.

36 He will always have descendants,

and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines.

37 It will be as permanent as the moon,

that faithful witness in the sky.”

Lament over the Defeat of the King

38 But you are angry with your chosen king;

you have deserted and rejected him.

39 You have broken your covenant with your servant

and thrown his crown in the dirt.

40 You have torn down the walls of his city

and left his forts in ruins.

41 All who pass by steal his belongings;

all his neighbors laugh at him.

42 You have given the victory to his enemies;

you have made them all happy.

43 You have made his weapons useless

and let him be defeated in battle.

44 You have taken away his royal scepter

and knocked his throne to the ground.

45 You have made him old before his time

and covered him with disgrace.

A Prayer for Deliverance

46 Lord, will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your anger burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my life is;

remember that you created all of us mortal!

48 Who can live and never die?

How can we humans keep ourselves from the grave?

49 Lord, where are the former proofs of your love?

Where are the promises you made to David?

50 Don’t forget how I, your servant, am insulted,

how I endure all the cursesof the heathen.

51 Your enemies insult your chosen king, OLord!

They insult him wherever he goes.

52 Praise theLordforever!

Amen! Amen!

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/89-775d9f896b37339485caa29663ac925d.mp3?version_id=68—

Of God and Human Beings

1 O Lord, you have always been our home.

2 Before you created the hills

or brought the world into being,

you were eternally God,

and will be God forever.

3 You tell us to return to what we were;

you change us back to dust.

4 A thousand years to you are like one day;

they are like yesterday, already gone,

like a short hour in the night.

5 You carry us away like a flood;

we last no longer than a dream.

We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,

6 that grow and burst into bloom,

then dry up and die in the evening.

7 We are destroyed by your anger;

we are terrified by your fury.

8 You place our sins before you,

our secret sins where you can see them.

9 Our life is cut short by your anger;

it fades away like a whisper.

10 Seventy years is all we have—

eighty years, if we are strong;

yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;

life is soon over, and we are gone.

11 Who has felt the full power of your anger?

Who knows what fear your fury can bring?

12 Teach us how short our life is,

so that we may become wise.

13 How much longer will your anger last?

Have pity, OLord, on your servants!

14 Fill us each morning with your constant love,

so that we may sing and be glad all our life.

15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us

during all our years of misery.

16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;

let our descendants see your glorious might.

17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us.

Give us success in all we do!

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/90-389e823f4bb1d1a2880b7cd53d056f5b.mp3?version_id=68—

God Our Protector

1 Whoever goes to theLordfor safety,

whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,

2 can say to him,

“You are my defender and protector.

You are my God; in you I trust.”

3 He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers

and from all deadly diseases.

4 He will cover you with his wings;

you will be safe in his care;

his faithfulness will protect and defend you.

5 You need not fear any dangers at night

or sudden attacks during the day

6 or the plagues that strike in the dark

or the evils that kill in daylight.

7 A thousand may fall dead beside you,

ten thousand all around you,

but you will not be harmed.

8 You will look and see

how the wicked are punished.

9 You have made theLordyourdefender,

the Most High your protector,

10 and so no disaster will strike you,

no violence will come near your home.

11 God will put his angels in charge of you

to protect you wherever you go.

12 They will hold you up with their hands

to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones.

13 You will trample down lions and snakes,

fierce lions and poisonous snakes.

14 God says, “I will save those who love me

and will protect those who acknowledge me asLord.

15 When they call to me, I will answer them;

when they are in trouble, I will be with them.

I will rescue them and honor them.

16 I will reward them with long life;

I will save them.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/91-50352675b2f4d55348d85958275efb5e.mp3?version_id=68—

A Song of Praise

1 How good it is to give thanks to you, OLord,

to sing in your honor, O Most High God,

2 to proclaim your constant love every morning

and your faithfulness every night,

3 with the music of stringed instruments

and with melody on the harp.

4 Your mighty deeds, OLord, make me glad;

because of what you have done, I sing for joy.

5 How great are your actions,Lord!

How deep are your thoughts!

6 This is something a fool cannot know;

someone who is stupid cannot understand:

7 the wicked may grow like weeds,

those who do wrong may prosper;

yet they will be totally destroyed,

8 because you,Lord, are supreme forever.

9 We know that your enemies will die,

and all the wicked will be defeated.

10 You have made me as strong as a wild ox;

you have blessed me with happiness.

11 I have seen the defeat of my enemies

and heard the cries of the wicked.

12 The righteous will flourish like palm trees;

they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon.

13 They are like trees planted in the house of theLord,

that flourish in the Temple of our God,

14 that still bear fruit in old age

and are always green and strong.

15 This shows that theLordis just,

that there is no wrong in my protector.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/92-dbebec0b39beff554646e58d1ba05068.mp3?version_id=68—

God the King

1 TheLordis king.

He is clothed with majesty and strength.

The earth is set firmly in place

and cannot be moved.

2 Your throne, OLord, has been firm from the beginning,

and you existed before time began.

3 The ocean depths raise their voice, OLord;

they raise their voice and roar.

4 TheLordrules supreme in heaven,

greater than the roar of the ocean,

more powerful than the waves of the sea.

5 Your laws are eternal,Lord,

and your Temple is holy indeed,

forever and ever.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/93-651973b5d39fc2c1d9b491a4de2276e5.mp3?version_id=68—