11 — Shabbat morning: Psalms of praise and ascent

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Part 11 of 26

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God,

And the firmament showeth His handiwork;

Day unto day uttereth speech,

And night unto night revealeth knowledge;

There is no speech, there are no words,

Neither is their voice heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them hath He set a tent for the sun,

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven,

And his circuit unto the ends of it;

And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever;

The ordinances of the LORD are true, they are righteous altogether;

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is Thy servant warned;

In keeping of them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?

Clear Thou me from hidden faults.

Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins,

That they may not have dominion over me; then shall I be faultless,

And I shall be clear from great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before Thee,

O LORD, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

Psalm 90

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.

Thou turnest man to contrition;

And sayest: ‘Return, ye children of men.’

For a thousand years in Thy sight

Are but as yesterday when it is past,

And as a watch in the night.

Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep;

In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;

In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

For we are consumed in Thine anger,

And by Thy wrath are we hurried away.

Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee,

Our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.

For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath;

We bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.

The days of our years are threescore years and ten,

Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;

Yet is their pride but travail and vanity;

For it is speedily gone, and we fly away.

Who knoweth the power of Thine anger,

And Thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto Thee?

So teach us to number our days,

That we may get us a heart of wisdom.

Return, O LORD; how long?

And let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants.

O satisfy us in the morning with Thy mercy;

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us,

According to the years wherein we have seen evil.

Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants,

And Thy glory upon their children.

And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us;

Establish Thou also upon us the work of our hands;

Yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.

Psalm 91

O thou that dwellest in the covert of the Most High,

And abidest in the shadow of the Almighty;

I will say of the LORD, who is my refuge and my fortress,

My God, in whom I trust,

That He will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,

And from the noisome pestilence.

He will cover thee with His pinions,

And under His wings shalt thou take refuge;

His truth is a shield and a buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flieth by day;

Of the pestilence that walketh in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand may fall at Thy side,

And ten thousand at Thy right hand;

It shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold,

And see the recompense of the wicked.

For thou hast made the LORD who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, thy habitation.

There shall no evil befall thee,

Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.

For He will give His angels charge over thee,

To keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee upon their hands,

Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and asp;

The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under feet.

‘Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him, and bring him to honour.

With long life will I satisfy him,

And make Him to behold My salvation.’

Psalm 98

O sing unto the LORD a new song;

For He hath done marvellous things;

His right hand, and His holy arm, hath wrought salvation for Him.

The LORD hath made known His salvation;

His righteousness hath He revealed in the sight of the nations.

He hath remembered His mercy and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout unto the LORD, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy, yea, sing praises.

Sing praises unto the LORD with the harp;

With the harp and the voice of melody.

With trumpets and sound of the horn

Shout ye before the King, the LORD.

Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;

The world, and they that dwell therein;

Let the floods clap their hands;

Let the mountains sing for joy together;

Before the LORD, for He is come to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness,

And the peoples with equity.

Psalm 121

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:

From whence shall my help come?

My help cometh from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved;

He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, He that keepeth Israel

Doth neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is thy keeper;

The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day,

Nor the moon by night.

The LORD shall keep thee from all evil;

He shall keep thy soul.

The LORD shall guard thy going out and thy coming in,

From this time forth and for ever.

Psalm 122

I rejoiced when they said unto me:

‘Let us go unto the house of the LORD.’

Our feet are standing

Within thy gates, O Jerusalem;

Jerusalem, that art builded

As a city that is compact together;

Whither the tribes went up, even the tribes of the LORD,

As a testimony unto Israel,

To give thanks unto the name of the LORD.

For there were set thrones for judgment,

The thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;

May they prosper that love thee.

Peace be within thy walls,

And prosperity within thy palaces.

For my brethren and companions’ sakes,

I will now say: ‘Peace be within thee.’

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God

I will seek thy good.

Psalm 123

Unto Thee I lift up mine eyes,

O Thou that art enthroned in the heavens.

Behold, as the eyes of servants unto the hand of their master,

As the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress;

So our eyes look unto the LORD our God,

Until He be gracious unto us.

Be gracious unto us, O LORD, be gracious unto us;

For we are full sated with contempt.

Our soul is full sated

With the scorning of those that are at ease,

And with the contempt of the proud oppressors.

Psalm 124

‘If it had not been the LORD who was for us’,

Let Israel now say;

‘If it had not been the LORD who was for us,

When men rose up against us,

Then they had swallowed us up alive,

When their wrath was kindled against us;

Then the waters had overwhelmed us,

The stream had gone over our soul;

Then the proud waters

Had gone over our soul.’

Blessed be the LORD,

Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers;

The snare is broken, and we are escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.