Psalms 101–105

A Psalm by David.

¹I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, LORD, I will sing praises.

²I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart.

³I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me.

⁴A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil.

⁵I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won’t tolerate one who is arrogant and conceited.

⁶My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me.

⁷He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes.

⁸Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off all the workers of iniquity from the LORD’s city.

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD.

¹Hear my prayer, LORD! Let my cry come to you.

²Don’t hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Turn your ear to me. Answer me quickly in the day when I call.

³For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.

⁴My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, for I forget to eat my bread.

⁵By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones stick to my skin.

⁶I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places.

⁷I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop.

⁸My enemies reproach me all day. Those who are mad at me use my name as a curse.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,

¹⁰because of your indignation and your wrath; for you have taken me up and thrown me away.

¹¹My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass.

¹²But you, LORD, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.

¹³You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.

¹⁴For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust.

¹⁵So the nations will fear the LORD’s name, all the kings of the earth your glory.

¹⁶For the LORD has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory.

¹⁷He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.

¹⁸This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise the LORD,

¹⁹for he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, the LORD saw the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoner, to free those who are condemned to death,

²¹that men may declare the LORD’s name in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,

²²when the peoples are gathered together, the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

²³He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.

²⁴I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.

²⁵Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.

²⁷But you are the same. Your years will have no end.

²⁸The children of your servants will continue. Their offspring will be established before you.”

By David.

¹Praise the LORD, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name!

²Praise the LORD, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits,

³who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases,

⁴who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,

⁵who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The LORD executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel.

⁸The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.

⁹He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever.

¹⁰He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.

¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³Like a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.

¹⁴For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.

¹Bless the LORD, my soul. The LORD, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.

²He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.

³He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.

⁴He makes his messengers winds, and his servants flames of fire.

⁵He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.

⁶You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.

⁷At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.

⁸The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.

⁹You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they don’t turn again to cover the earth.

¹⁰He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.

¹¹They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹²The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.

¹³He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.

¹⁴He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth:

¹Give thanks to the LORD! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.

²Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.

³Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴Seek the LORD and his strength. Seek his face forever more.

⁵Remember his marvelous works that he has done: his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,

⁶you offspring of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷He is the LORD, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,

¹⁰and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

¹¹saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,”

¹²when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it.

¹³They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.

¹⁴He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,