Psalms 142-144

1I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.

2I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.

3Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.

4Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.

5I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

6Listen to my cry, for I am brought quite low. Rescue me from my pursuers, for they are too strong for me.

7Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name. The righteous will gather around me because of Your goodness to me.

1O LORD, hear my prayer. In Your faithfulness, give ear to my plea; in Your righteousness, answer me.

2Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

3For the enemy has pursued my soul, crushing my life to the ground, making me dwell in darkness like those long since dead.

4My spirit grows faint within me; my heart is dismayed inside me.

5I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.

6I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah

7Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.

8Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.

9Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD; I flee to You for refuge.

10Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

11For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me. In Your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.

12And in Your loving devotion, cut off my enemies. Destroy all who afflict me, for I am Your servant.

1Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

2He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

3O LORD, what is man, that You regard him, the son of man that You think of him?

4Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

5Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.

6Flash forth Your lightning and scatter them; shoot Your arrows and rout them.

7Reach down from on high; set me free and rescue me from the deep waters, from the grasp of foreigners,

8whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.

9I will sing to You a new song, O God; on a harp of ten strings I will make music to You—

10to Him who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.

11Set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners, whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.

12Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace.

13Our storehouses will be full, supplying all manner of produce; our flocks will bring forth thousands, tens of thousands in our fields.

14Our oxen will bear great loads. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our streets.

15Blessed are the people of whom this is so; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.