June 3 Psalms 30-34

Psalm 30
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave IllnessA Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.
1I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.*


4Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5For his anger is but for a moment;
his favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.


6As for me, I said in my prosperity,
‘I shall never be moved.’
7By your favour, O Lord,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.


8To you, O Lord, I cried,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
9‘What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!’


11You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12so that my soul* may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever.
Psalm 31
Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from EnemiesTo the leader. A Psalm of David.
1In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
2Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.


3You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
4take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.


6You hate* those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have taken heed of my adversities,
8and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in a broad place.


9Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body also.
10For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,*
and my bones waste away.


11I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
a horror* to my neighbours,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13For I hear the whispering of many—
terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.


14But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, ‘You are my God.’
15My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
17Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
18Let the lying lips be stilled
that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.


19O how abundant is your goodness
that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of everyone!
20In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
from contentious tongues.


21Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege.
22I had said in my alarm,
‘I am driven far* from your sight.’
But you heard my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.


23Love the Lord, all you his saints.
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
24Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.
Psalm 32
The Joy of ForgivenessOf David. A Maskil.
1Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.


3While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up* as by the heat of summer.
Selah


5Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah


6Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress,* the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.
7You are a hiding-place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
Selah


8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.


10Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
11Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Psalm 33
The Greatness and Goodness of God
1Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
2Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3Sing to him a new song;
play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts.


4For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.


6By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.


8Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.


10The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11The counsel of the Lord stands for ever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.


13The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.
14From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth—
15he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.
16A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.


18Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.


20Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
21Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Psalm 34
Praise for Deliverance from TroubleOf David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3O magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together.


4I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5Look to him, and be radiant;
so your* faces shall never be ashamed.
6This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,
and was saved from every trouble.
7The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8O taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
9O fear the Lord, you his holy ones,
for those who fear him have no want.
10The young lions suffer want and hunger,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.


11Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12Which of you desires life,
and covets many days to enjoy good?
13Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.


15The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
18The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit.


19Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord rescues them from them all.
20He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.