Day 16 of the 30-day Psalter: Morning and Evening

O God, the heathen have come into your inheritance;

they have profaned your holy temple; *

they have made Jerusalem a heap of rubble.

They have given the bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the air, *

and the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the field.

They have shed their blood like water on every side of Jerusalem, *

and there was no one to bury them.

We have become a reproach to our neighbors, *

an object of scorn and derision to those around us.

How long will you be angry, O LORD? *

will your fury blaze like fire for ever?

Pour out your wrath upon the heathen who have not known you *

and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your Name.

For they have devoured Jacob *

and made his dwelling a ruin.

Remember not our past sins;

let your compassion be swift to meet us; *

for we have been brought very low.

Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your Name; *

deliver us and forgive us our sins, for your Name's sake.

Why should the heathen say, "Where is their God?" *

Let it be known among the heathen and in our sight

that you avenge the shedding of your servants' blood.

Let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before you, *

and by your great might spare those who are condemned to die.

May the revilings with which they reviled you, O Lord, *

return seven-fold into their bosoms.

For we are your people and the sheep of your pasture; *

we will give you thanks for ever

and show forth your praise from age to age.

Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; *

shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.

In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, *

stir up your strength and come to help us.

Restore us, O God of hosts; *

show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

O LORD God of hosts, *

how long will you be angered

despite the prayers of your people?

You have fed them with the bread of tears; *

you have given them bowls of tears to drink.

You have made us the derision of our neighbors, *

and our enemies laugh us to scorn.

Restore us, O God of hosts; *

show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *

you cast out the nations and planted it.

You prepared the ground for it; *

it took root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered by its shadow *

and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.

You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea *

and its branches to the River.

Why have you broken down its wall, *

so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?

The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, *

and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.

Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven;

behold and tend this vine; *

preserve what your right hand has planted.

They burn it with fire like rubbish; *

at the rebuke of your countenance let them perish.

Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, *

the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.

And so will we never turn away from you; *

give us life, that we may call upon your Name.

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; *

show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

Sing with joy to God our strength *

and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel, *

the merry harp, and the lyre.

Blow the ram's-horn at the new moon, *

and at the full moon, the day of our feast.

For this is a statute for Israel, *

a law of the God of Jacob.

He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph, *

when he came out of the land of Egypt.

I heard an unfamiliar voice saying, *

"I eased his shoulder from the burden;

his hands were set free from bearing the load."

You called on me in trouble, and I saved you; *

I answered you from the secret place of thunder

and tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: *

O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

There shall be no strange god among you; *

you shall not worship a foreign god.

I am the LORD your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *

"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."

And yet my people did not hear my voice, *

and Israel would not obey me.

So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *

to follow their own devices.

Oh, that my people would listen to me! *

that Israel would walk in my ways!

I should soon subdue their enemies *

and turn my hand against their foes.

Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, *

and their punishment would last for ever.

But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *

and satisfy him with honey from the rock.

God takes his stand in the council of heaven; *

he gives judgment in the midst of the gods:

"How long will you judge unjustly, *

and show favor to the wicked?

Save the weak and the orphan; *

defend the humble and needy;

Rescue the weak and the poor; *

deliver them from the power of the wicked.

They do not know, neither do they understand;

they go about in darkness; *

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Now I say to you, 'You are gods, *

and all of you children of the Most High;

Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, *

and fall like any prince.'"

Arise, O God, and rule the earth, *

for you shall take all nations for your own.

O God, do not be silent; *

do not keep still nor hold your peace, O God;

For your enemies are in tumult, *

and those who hate you have lifted up their heads.

They take secret counsel against your people *

and plot against those whom you protect.

They have said, "Come, let us wipe them out from among the nations; *

let the name of Israel be remembered no more."

They have conspired together; *

they have made an alliance against you:

The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; *

the Moabites and the Hagarenes;

Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; *

the Philistines and those who dwell in Tyre.

The Assyrians also have joined them, *

and have come to help the people of Lot.

Do to them as you did to Midian, *

to Sisera, and to Jabin at the river of Kishon:

They were destroyed at Endor; *

they became like dung upon the ground.

Make their leaders like Oreb and Zeëb, *

and all their commanders like Zebah and Zalmunna,

Who said, "Let us take for ourselves *

the fields of God as our possession."

O my God, make them like whirling dust *

and like chaff before the wind;

Like fire that burns down a forest, *

like the flame that sets mountains ablaze.

Drive them with your tempest *

and terrify them with your storm;

Cover their faces with shame, O LORD, *

that they may seek your Name.

Let them be disgraced and terrified for ever; *

let them be put to confusion and perish.

Let them know that you, whose Name is YAHWEH, *

you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

How dear to me is your dwelling, O LORD of hosts! *

My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

The sparrow has found her a house

and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *

by the side of your altars, O LORD of hosts,

my King and my God.

Happy are they who dwell in your house! *

they will always be praising you.

Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *

whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.

Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *

for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

They will climb from height to height, *

and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; *

hearken, O God of Jacob.

Behold our defender, O God; *

and look upon the face of your Anointed.

For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room, *

and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God

than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the LORD God is both sun and shield; *

he will give grace and glory;

No good thing will the LORD withhold *

from those who walk with integrity.

O LORD of hosts, *

happy are they who put their trust in you!

You have been gracious to your land, O LORD, *

you have restored the good fortune of Jacob.

You have forgiven the iniquity of your people *

and blotted out all their sins.

You have withdrawn all your fury *

and turned yourself from your wrathful indignation.

Restore us then, O God our Savior; *

let your anger depart from us.

Will you be displeased with us for ever? *

will you prolong your anger from age to age?

Will you not give us life again, *

that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your mercy, O LORD, *

and grant us your salvation.

I will listen to what the LORD God is saying, *

for he is speaking peace to his faithful people

and to those who turn their hearts to him.

Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, *

that his glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth have met together; *

righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring up from the earth, *

and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

The LORD will indeed grant prosperity, *

and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness shall go before him, *

and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.