Day 2 of the 30-day Psalter: Morning and Evening

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; *

I will tell of all your marvelous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in you; *

I will sing to your Name, O Most High.

When my enemies are driven back, *

they will stumble and perish at your presence.

For you have maintained my right and my cause; *

you sit upon your throne judging right.

You have rebuked the ungodly and destroyed the wicked; *

you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

As for the enemy, they are finished, in perpetual ruin, *

their cities plowed under, the memory of them perished;

But the LORD is enthroned for ever; *

he has set up his throne for judgment.

It is he who rules the world with righteousness; *

he judges the peoples with equity.

The LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, *

a refuge in time of trouble.

Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, *

for you never forsake those who seek you, O LORD.

Sing praise to the LORD who dwells in Zion; *

proclaim to the peoples the things he has done.

The Avenger of blood will remember them; *

he will not forget the cry of the afflicted.

Have pity on me, O LORD; *

see the misery I suffer from those who hate me,

O you who lift me up from the gate of death;

So that I may tell of all your praises

and rejoice in your salvation *

in the gates of the city of Zion.

The ungodly have fallen into the pit they dug, *

and in the snare they set is their own foot caught.

The LORD is known by his acts of justice; *

the wicked are trapped in the works of their own hands.

The wicked shall be given over to the grave, *

and also all the people that forget God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, *

and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.

Rise up, O LORD, let not the ungodly have the upper hand; *

let them be judged before you.

Put fear upon them, O LORD; *

let the ungodly know they are but mortal.

Why do you stand so far off, O LORD, *

and hide yourself in time of trouble?

The wicked arrogantly persecute the poor, *

but they are trapped in the schemes they have devised.

The wicked boast of their heart's desire; *

the covetous curse and revile the LORD.

The wicked are so proud that they care not for God; *

their only thought is, "God does not matter."

Their ways are devious at all times;

your judgments are far above out of their sight; *

they defy all their enemies.

They say in their heart, "I shall not be shaken; *

no harm shall happen to me ever."

Their mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression; *

under their tongue are mischief and wrong.

They lurk in ambush in public squares

and in secret places they murder the innocent; *

they spy out the helpless.

They lie in wait, like a lion in a covert;

they lie in wait to seize upon the lowly; *

they seize the lowly and drag them away in their net.

The innocent are broken and humbled before them; *

the helpless fall before their power.

They say in their heart, "God has forgotten; *

he hides his face; he will never notice."

Rise up, O LORD;

lift up your hand, O God; *

do not forget the afflicted.

Why should the wicked revile God? *

why should they say in their heart, "You do not care"?

Surely, you behold trouble and misery; *

you see it and take it into your own hand.

The helpless commit themselves to you, *

for you are the helper of orphans.

Break the power of the wicked and evil; *

search out their wickedness until you find none.

The LORD is King for ever and ever; *

the ungodly shall perish from his land.

The LORD will hear the desire of the humble; *

you will strengthen their heart and your ears shall hear;

To give justice to the orphan and oppressed, *

so that mere mortals may strike terror no more.

In the LORD have I taken refuge; *

how then can you say to me,

"Fly away like a bird to the hilltop;

For see how the wicked bend the bow

and fit their arrows to the string, *

to shoot from ambush at the true of heart.

When the foundations are being destroyed, *

what can the righteous do?"

The LORD is in his holy temple; *

the LORD'S throne is in heaven.

His eyes behold the inhabited world; *

his piercing eye weighs our worth.

The LORD weighs the righteous as well as the wicked, *

but those who delight in violence he abhors.

Upon the wicked he shall rain coals of fire and burning sulphur; *

a scorching wind shall be their lot.

For the LORD is righteous;

he delights in righteous deeds; *

and the just shall see his face.

Help me, LORD, for there is no godly one left; *

the faithful have vanished from among us.

Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor; *

with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.

Oh, that the LORD would cut off all smooth tongues, *

and close the lips that utter proud boasts!

Those who say, "With our tongue will we prevail; *

our lips are our own; who is lord over us?"

"Because the needy are oppressed,

and the poor cry out in misery, *

I will rise up," says the LORD,

"and give them the help they long for."

The words of the LORD are pure words, *

like silver refined from ore

and purified seven times in the fire.

O LORD, watch over us *

and save us from this generation for ever.

The wicked prowl on every side, *

and that which is worthless is highly prized by everyone.

How long, O LORD?

will you forget me for ever? *

how long will you hide your face from me?

How long shall I have perplexity in my mind,

and grief in my heart, day after day? *

how long shall my enemy triumph over me?

Look upon me and answer me, O LORD my God; *

give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;

Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him," *

and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.

But I put my trust in your mercy; *

my heart is joyful because of your saving help.

I will sing to the LORD, for he has dealt with me richly; *

I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." *

All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;

there is none who does any good.

The LORD looks down from heaven upon us all, *

to see if there is any who is wise,

if there is one who seeks after God.

Every one has proved faithless;

all alike have turned bad; *

there is none who does good; no, not one.

Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers *

who eat up my people like bread

and do not call upon the LORD?

See how they tremble with fear, *

because God is in the company of the righteous.

Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, *

but the LORD is their refuge.

Oh, that Israel's deliverance would come out of Zion! *

when the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,

Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.