THE PSALMS OF DAVID

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM I

The happiness of the just and the evil state of the wicked.

Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper. Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth. Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XIX

A prayer for the king

May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation: may the name of the God of Jacob protect thee. May he send thee help from the sanctuary: and defend thee out of Sion. May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices: and may thy whole burnt offering be made fat. May he give thee according to thy own heart; and confirm all thy counsels.

We will rejoice in thy salvation; and in the name of our God we shall be exalted. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions: now have I known that the Lord hath saved his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven: the salvation of his right hand is in powers. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God. They are bound, and have fallen; but we are risen, and are set upright. O Lord, save the king: and hear us in the day that we shall call upon thee.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XVIII

The works of God shew forth his glory: his law is greatly to be esteemed and loved.


The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge. There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.

He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he, as a bridegroom coming out of his bride chamber, Hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way: His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat. The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones. The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves.

More to be desired than gold and many precious stones: and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. For thy servant keepeth them, and in keeping them there is a great reward.

Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord: And from those of others spare thy servant. If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin. And the words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. O Lord, my helper, and my redeemer.

[Dawn Marie]

 

PSALM XVII

David's thanks to God for his delivery from all his enemies.

Unto the end, for David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. [2 Kings 22] I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector and the horn of my salvation, and my support. Praising I will call upon the Lord: and I shall be saved from my enemies. The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of iniquity troubled me.

The sorrows of hell encompassed me: and the snares of death prevented me. In my affliction I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God: And he heard my voice from his holy temple: and my cry before him came into his ears. The earth shook and trembled: the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he was angry with them. There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds. And he made darkness his covert, his pavilion round about him: dark waters in the clouds of the air. At the brightness that was before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the highest gave his voice: hail and coals of fire. And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: he multiplied lightnings, and troubled them.

Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were discovered: At thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the spirit of thy wrath. He sent from on high, and took me: and received me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my affliction: and the Lord became my protector. And he brought me forth into a large place: he saved me, because he was well pleased with me.

And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; and will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands: Because I have kept the ways of the Lord; and have not done wickedly against my God. For till his judgments are in my sight: and his justices I have not put away from me. And I shall be spotless with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; and according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.

With the holy, thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent. And with the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted. For thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud. For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: O my God enlighten my darkness. For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; and through my God I shall go over a wall.

As for my God, his way is undefiled: the words of the Lord are fire tried: he is the protector of all that trust in him. For who is God but the Lord? or who is God but our God? God who hath girt me with strength; and made my way blameless. Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: and who setteth me upon high places. Who teacheth my hands to war: and thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow.

And thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath held me up: And thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end: and thy discipline, the same shall teach me. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not weakened. I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: and I will not turn again till they are consumed.I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet. And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; and hast subdued under me them that rose up against me.

And thou hast made my enemies turn their back upon me, and hast destroyed them that hated me. They cried, but there was none to save them, to the Lord: but he heard them not. And I shall beat them as small as the dust before the wind; I shall bring them to nought, like the dirt in the streets. Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people: thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles. A people, which I knew not, hath served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.

The children that are strangers have lied to me, strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my God, and let the God of my salvation be exalted: O God, who avengest me, and subduest the people under me, my deliverer from my enemies. And thou wilt lift me up above them that rise up against me: from the unjust man thou wilt deliver me. Therefore will I give glory to thee, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing a psalm to thy name.

Giving great deliverance to his king, and shewing mercy to David his anointed: and to his seed for ever.

[Dawn Marie]

 

PSALM XVI

A just man's prayer in tribulation against the malice of his enemy.

The prayer of David. Hear, O Lord, my justice: attend to my supplication. Give ear unto my prayer, which proceedeth not from deceitful lips. Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: let thy eyes behold the things that are equitable Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me. That my mouth may not speak the works of men: for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways. Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved.

I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words. shew forth thy wonderful mercies; thou who savest them that trust in thee. From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings. From the face of the wicked who have afflicted me. My enemies have surrounded my soul: They have shut up their fat: their mouth hath spoken proudly.

They have cast me forth and now they have surrounded me: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth. They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; and as a young lion dwelling in secret places. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; deliver my soul from the wicked one: thy sword From the enemies of thy hand. O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life: their belly is filled from thy hidden stores They are full of children: and they have left to their little ones the rest of their substance. But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.

[Dawn Marie]

 

PSALM XV

Christ's future victory and triumph over the world and death.


Preserve me, O Lord, for I have put trust in thee. I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods. To the saints, who are in his land, he hath made wonderful all my desires in them. Their infirmities were multiplied: afterwards they made haste. I will not gather together their meetings for blood offerings: nor will I be mindful of their names by my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me.

The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places: for my inheritance is goodly to me. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding: moreover my reins also have corrected me even till night. I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved. Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt then give thy holy one to see corruption.

Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end.

[Dawn Marie]

 

PSALM XIV

What kind of men shall dwell in the heavenly Sion.

Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest in thy holy hill? He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice: He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours. In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his neighbour, and deceiveth not; He that hath not put out his money to usury, nor taken bribes against the innocent: He that doth these things shall not be moved for ever.

[Dawn Marie]

 

PSALM XIII

The general corruption of man before our redemption by Christ


The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God, They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one. The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Shall not all they know that work iniquity, who devour my people as they eat bread? They have not called upon the Lord: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear.

For the Lord is in the just generation: you have confounded the counsel of the poor man, but the Lord is his hope. Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when the Lord shall have turned away the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XII

A prayer in tribulation

O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? how long dost thou turn away thy face from me? How long shall I take counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes that I never sleep in death: Lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him. They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved:

But I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: yea I will sing to the name of the Lord the most high.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XI

The prophet calls for God's help against the wicked

Save me, O Lord, for there is now no saint: truths are decayed from among the children of men. They have spoken vain things every one to his neighbour: with deceitful lips, and with a double heart have they spoken. May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Who have said: We will magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is Lord over us?

By reason of the misery of the needy, and the groans of the poor, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I win set him in safety; I will deal confidently in his regard. The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth refined seven times. Thou, O Lord, wilt preserve us: and keep us from this generation for ever. The wicked walk round about: according to thy highness, thou hast multiplied the children of men.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM X

The just man's confidence in God in the midst of persecutions.

Unto the end. A psalm for David. In the Lord I put my trust: how then do you say to my soul: Get thee away from hence to the mountain like a sparrow? For, lo, the wicked have bent their bow; they have prepared their arrows in the quiver; to shoot in the dark the upright of heart. For they have destroyed the things which thou hast made: but what has the just man done? The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord' s throne is in heaven. His eyes look on the poor man: his eyelids examine the sons of men.

The Lord trieth the just and the wicked: but he that loveth iniquity hateth his own soul. He shall rain snares upon sinners: fire and brimstone and storms of winds shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice: his countenance hath beheld righteousness.