Day 18 of the 30-day Psalter: Morning and Evening

Lord, you have been our refuge *

from one generation to another.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

or the land and the earth were born, *

from age to age you are God.

You turn us back to the dust and say, *

"Go back, O child of earth."

For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past *

and like a watch in the night.

You sweep us away like a dream; *

we fade away suddenly like the grass.

In the morning it is green and flourishes; *

in the evening it is dried up and withered.

For we consume away in your displeasure; *

we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation.

Our iniquities you have set before you, *

and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

When you are angry, all our days are gone; *

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

The span of our life is seventy years,

perhaps in strength even eighty; *

yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow,

for they pass away quickly and we are gone.

Who regards the power of your wrath? *

who rightly fears your indignation?

So teach us to number our days *

that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

Return, O LORD; how long will you tarry? *

be gracious to your servants.

Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *

so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us *

and the years in which we suffered adversity.

Show your servants your works *

and your splendor to their children.

May the graciousness of the LORD our God be upon us; *

prosper the work of our hands;

prosper our handiwork.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *

abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

He shall say to the LORD,

"You are my refuge and my stronghold, *

my God in whom I put my trust."

He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter *

and from the deadly pestilence.

He shall cover you with his pinions,

and you shall find refuge under his wings; *

his faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, *

nor of the arrow that flies by day;

Of the plague that stalks in the darkness, *

nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.

A thousand shall fall at your side

and ten thousand at your right hand, *

but it shall not come near you.

Your eyes have only to behold *

to see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD your refuge, *

and the Most High your habitation,

There shall no evil happen to you, *

neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over you, *

to keep you in all your ways.

They shall bear you in their hands, *

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and adder; *

you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.

Because he is bound to me in love,

therefore will I deliver him; *

I will protect him, because he knows my Name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *

I am with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him to honor.

With long life will I satisfy him, *

and show him my salvation.

It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, *

and to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;

To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning *

and of your faithfulness in the night season;

On the psaltery, and on the lyre, *

and to the melody of the harp.

For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD; *

and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.

LORD, how great are your works! *

your thoughts are very deep.

The dullard does not know,

nor does the fool understand, *

that though the wicked grow like weeds,

and all the workers of iniquity flourish,

They flourish only to be destroyed for ever; *

but you, O LORD, are exalted for evermore.

For lo, your enemies, O LORD,

lo, your enemies shall perish, *

and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

But my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild bulls; *

I am anointed with fresh oil.

My eyes also gloat over my enemies, *

and my ears rejoice to hear the doom of the wicked who rise up against me.

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, *

and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.

Those who are planted in the house of the LORD *

shall flourish in the courts of our God;

They shall still bear fruit in old age; *

they shall be green and succulent;

That they may show how upright the LORD is, *

my Rock, in whom there is no fault.

The LORD is King;

he has put on splendid apparel; *

the LORD has put on his apparel

and girded himself with strength.

He has made the whole world so sure *

that it cannot be moved;

Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; *

you are from everlasting.

The waters have lifted up, O LORD,

the waters have lifted up their voice; *

the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.

Mightier than the sound of many waters,

mightier than the breakers of the sea, *

mightier is the LORD who dwells on high.

Your testimonies are very sure, *

and holiness adorns your house, O LORD,

for ever and for evermore.

O LORD God of vengeance, *

O God of vengeance, show yourself.

Rise up, O Judge of the world; *

give the arrogant their just deserts.

How long shall the wicked, O LORD, *

how long shall the wicked triumph?

They bluster in their insolence; *

all evildoers are full of boasting.

They crush your people, O LORD, *

and afflict your chosen nation.

They murder the widow and the stranger *

and put the orphans to death.

Yet they say, "The LORD does not see, *

the God of Jacob takes no notice."

Consider well, you dullards among the people; *

when will you fools understand?

He that planted the ear, does he not hear? *

he that formed the eye, does he not see?

He who admonishes the nations, will he not punish? *

he who teaches all the world, has he no knowledge?

The LORD knows our human thoughts; *

how like a puff of wind they are.

Happy are they whom you instruct, O Lord! *

whom you teach out of your law;

To give them rest in evil days, *

until a pit is dug for the wicked.

For the LORD will not abandon his people, *

nor will he forsake his own.

For judgment will again be just, *

and all the true of heart will follow it.

Who rose up for me against the wicked? *

who took my part against the evildoers?

If the LORD had not come to my help, *

I should soon have dwelt in the land of silence.

As often as I said, "My foot has slipped," *

your love, O LORD, upheld me.

When many cares fill my mind, *

your consolations cheer my soul.

Can a corrupt tribunal have any part with you, *

one which frames evil into law?

They conspire against the life of the just *

and condemn the innocent to death.

But the LORD has become my stronghold, *

and my God the rock of my trust.

He will turn their wickedness back upon them

and destroy them in their own malice; *

the LORD our God will destroy them.