Psalm 134

A song of ascents.
1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. 2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. 3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

Psalm 135

135:15-20pp — Ps 115:4-11
1 Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD, 2 you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God. 3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. 4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession. 5 I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. 6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. 7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of men and animals. 9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. 10 He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings– 11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan and all the kings of Canaan– 12 and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to his people Israel. 13 Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, through all generations. 14 For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants. 15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; 17 they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. 19 O house of Israel, praise the LORD; O house of Aaron, praise the LORD; 20 O house of Levi, praise the LORD; you who fear him, praise the LORD. 21 Praise be to the LORD from Zion, to him who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.

Psalm 136

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. “His love endures forever.” 2 Give thanks to the God of gods. “His love endures forever.” 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: “His love endures forever.” 4 to him who alone does great wonders, “His love endures forever.” 5 who by his understanding made the heavens, “His love endures forever.” 6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, “His love endures forever.” 7 who made the great lights– “His love endures forever.” 8 the sun to govern the day, “His love endures forever.” 9 the moon and stars to govern the night; “His love endures forever.” 10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt “His love endures forever.” 11 and brought Israel out from among them “His love endures forever.” 12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; “His love endures forever.” 13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder “His love endures forever.” 14 and brought Israel through the midst of it, “His love endures forever.” 15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; “His love endures forever.” 16 to him who led his people through the desert, “His love endures forever.” 17 who struck down great kings, “His love endures forever.” 18 and killed mighty kings– “His love endures forever.” 19 Sihon king of the Amorites “His love endures forever.” 20 and Og king of Bashan– “His love endures forever.” 21 and gave their land as an inheritance, “His love endures forever.” 22 an inheritance to his servant Israel; “His love endures forever.” 23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate “His love endures forever.” 24 and freed us from our enemies, “His love endures forever.” 25 and who gives food to every creature. “His love endures forever.” 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. “His love endures forever.”

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget [its skill]. 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. 7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” 8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us– 9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Psalm 138

Of David.
1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. 2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 3 When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. 4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. 5 May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. 6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. 8 The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever– do not abandon the works of your hands.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in–behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 140

For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; protect me from men of violence, 2 who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day. 3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips. “Selah” 4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet. 5 Proud men have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. “Selah” 6 O LORD, I say to you, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy. 7 O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle– 8 do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud. “Selah” 9 Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused. 10 Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise. 11 Let slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down men of violence. 12 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. 13 Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you.