Day 9 of the 30-day Psalter: Morning and Evening

We have heard with our ears, O God,

our forefathers have told us, *

the deeds you did in their days,

in the days of old.

How with your hand you drove the peoples out

and planted our forefathers in the land; *

how you destroyed nations and made your people flourish.

For they did not take the land by their sword,

nor did their arm win the victory for them; *

but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance,

because you favored them.

You are my King and my God; *

you command victories for Jacob.

Through you we pushed back our adversaries; *

through your Name we trampled on those who rose up against us.

For I do not rely on my bow, *

and my sword does not give me the victory.

Surely, you gave us victory over our adversaries *

and put those who hate us to shame.

Every day we gloried in God, *

and we will praise your Name for ever.

Nevertheless, you have rejected and humbled us *

and do not go forth with our armies.

You have made us fall back before our adversary, *

and our enemies have plundered us.

You have made us like sheep to be eaten *

and have scattered us among the nations.

You are selling your people for a trifle *

and are making no profit on the sale of them.

You have made us the scorn of our neighbors, *

a mockery and derision to those around us.

You have made us a byword among the nations, *

a laughing-stock among the peoples.

My humiliation is daily before me, *

and shame has covered my face;

Because of the taunts of the mockers and blasphemers, *

because of the enemy and avenger.

All this has come upon us; *

yet we have not forgotten you,

nor have we betrayed your covenant.

Our heart never turned back, *

nor did our footsteps stray from your path;

Though you thrust us down into a place of misery, *

and covered us over with deep darkness.

If we have forgotten the Name of our God, *

or stretched out our hands to some strange god,

Will not God find it out? *

for he knows the secrets of the heart.

Indeed, for your sake we are killed all the day long; *

we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Awake, O Lord! why are you sleeping? *

Arise! do not reject us for ever.

Why have you hidden your face *

and forgotten our affliction and oppression?

We sink down into the dust; *

our body cleaves to the ground.

Rise up, and help us, *

and save us, for the sake of your steadfast love.

My heart is stirring with a noble song;

let me recite what I have fashioned for the king; *

my tongue shall be the pen of a skilled writer.

You are the fairest of men; *

grace flows from your lips,

because God has blessed you for ever.

Strap your sword upon your thigh, O mighty warrior, *

in your pride and in your majesty.

Ride out and conquer in the cause of truth *

and for the sake of justice.

Your right hand will show you marvelous things; *

your arrows are very sharp, O mighty warrior.

The peoples are falling at your feet, *

and the king's enemies are losing heart.

Your throne, O God, endures for ever and ever, *

a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom;

you love righteousness and hate iniquity.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you *

with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, *

and the music of strings from ivory palaces makes you glad.

Kings' daughters stand among the ladies of the court; *

on your right hand is the queen,

adorned with the gold of Ophir.

"Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; *

forget your people and your father's house.

The king will have pleasure in your beauty; *

he is your master; therefore do him honor.

The people of Tyre are here with a gift; *

the rich among the people seek your favor."

All glorious is the princess as she enters; *

her gown is cloth-of-gold.

In embroidered apparel she is brought to the king; *

after her the bridesmaids follow in procession.

With joy and gladness they are brought, *

and enter into the palace of the king.

"In place of fathers, O king, you shall have sons; *

you shall make them princes over all the earth.

I will make your name to be remembered

from one generation to another; *

therefore nations will praise you for ever and ever."

God is our refuge and strength, *

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, *

and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;

Though its waters rage and foam, *

and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.

The LORD of hosts is with us; *

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, *

the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her;

she shall not be overthrown; *

God shall help her at the break of day.

The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken; *

God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.

The LORD of hosts is with us; *

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come now and look upon the works of the LORD, *

what awesome things he has done on earth.

It is he who makes war to cease in all the world; *

he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,

and burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, then, and know that I am God; *

I will be exalted among the nations;

I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD of hosts is with us; *

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Clap your hands, all you peoples; *

shout to God with a cry of joy.

For the LORD Most High is to be feared; *

he is the great King over all the earth.

He subdues the peoples under us, *

and the nations under our feet.

He chooses our inheritance for us, *

the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout, *

the LORD with the sound of the ram's-horn.

Sing praises to God, sing praises; *

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is King of all the earth; *

sing praises with all your skill.

God reigns over the nations; *

God sits upon his holy throne.

The nobles of the peoples have gathered together *

with the people of the God of Abraham.

The rulers of the earth belong to God, *

and he is highly exalted.

Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; *

in the city of our God is his holy hill.

Beautiful and lofty, the joy of all the earth, is the

hill of Zion, *

the very center of the world and the city of the great King.

God is in her citadels; *

he is known to be her sure refuge.

Behold, the kings of the earth assembled *

and marched forward together.

They looked and were astounded; *

they retreated and fled in terror.

Trembling seized them there; *

they writhed like a woman in childbirth,

like ships of the sea when the east wind shatters them.

As we have heard, so have we seen,

in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God; *

God has established her for ever.

We have waited in silence on your loving-kindness, O God, *

in the midst of your temple.

Your praise, like your Name, O God, reaches to the world's end; *

your right hand is full of justice.

Let Mount Zion be glad

and the cities of Judah rejoice, *

because of your judgments.

Make the circuit of Zion;

walk round about her; *

count the number of her towers.

Consider well her bulwarks;

examine her strongholds; *

that you may tell those who come after.

This God is our God for ever and ever; *

he shall be our guide for evermore.

Hear this, all you peoples;

hearken, all you who dwell in the world, *

you of high degree and low, rich and poor together.

My mouth shall speak of wisdom, *

and my heart shall meditate on understanding.

I will incline my ear to a proverb *

and set forth my riddle upon the harp.

Why should I be afraid in evil days, *

when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,

The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, *

and boast of their great riches?

We can never ransom ourselves, *

or deliver to God the price of our life;

For the ransom of our life is so great, *

that we should never have enough to pay it,

In order to live for ever and ever, *

and never see the grave.

For we see that the wise die also;

like the dull and stupid they perish *

and leave their wealth to those who come after them.

Their graves shall be their homes for ever,

their dwelling places from generation to generation, *

though they call the lands after their own names.

Even though honored, they cannot live for ever; *

they are like the beasts that perish.

Such is the way of those who foolishly trust in themselves, *

and the end of those who delight in their own words.

Like a flock of sheep they are destined to die;

Death is their shepherd; *

they go down straightway to the grave.

Their form shall waste away, *

and the land of the dead shall be their home.

But God will ransom my life; *

he will snatch me from the grasp of death.

Do not be envious when some become rich, *

or when the grandeur of their house increases;

For they will carry nothing away at their death, *

nor will their grandeur follow them.

Though they thought highly of themselves while they lived, *

and were praised for their success,

They shall join the company of their forebears, *

who will never see the light again.

Those who are honored, but have no understanding, *

are like the beasts that perish.