June 9 Psalms 65-69

Psalm 65
Thanksgiving for Earth’s BountyTo the leader. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
2 O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
3When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
4Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.


5By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
6By your* strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
7You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
8Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.


9You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
12The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Psalm 66
Praise for God’s Goodness to IsraelTo the leader. A Song. A Psalm.
1Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.
3Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
4All the earth worships you;
they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.’
Selah


5Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
6He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
7 who rules by his might for ever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves.
Selah


8Bless our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9who has kept us among the living,
and has not let our feet slip.
10For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11You brought us into the net;
you laid burdens on our backs;
12you let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.*


13I will come into your house with burnt-offerings;
I will pay you my vows,
14those that my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
15I will offer to you burnt-offerings of fatlings,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats.
Selah


16Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
17I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
18If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19But truly God has listened;
he has given heed to the words of my prayer.


20Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me.
Psalm 67
The Nations Called to Praise GodTo the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
Selah
2that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.


4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
Selah
5Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.


6The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
7May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere him.
Psalm 68
Praise and ThanksgivingTo the leader. Of David. A Psalm. A Song.
1Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered;
let those who hate him flee before him.
2As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
let the wicked perish before God.
3But let the righteous be joyful;
let them exult before God;
let them be jubilant with joy.


4Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds*—
his name is the Lord—
be exultant before him.


5Father of orphans and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6God gives the desolate a home to live in;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious live in a parched land.


7O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
Selah
8the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
you restored your heritage when it languished;
10your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.


11The Lord gives the command;
great is the company of those* who bore the tidings:
12 ‘The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!’
The women at home divide the spoil,
13 though they stay among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with green gold.
14When the Almighty* scattered kings there,
snow fell on Zalmon.


15O mighty mountain, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
where the Lord will reside for ever?


17With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands,
the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.*
18You ascended the high mount,
leading captives in your train
and receiving gifts from people,
even from those who rebel against the Lord God’s abiding there.
19Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.
Selah
20Our God is a God of salvation,
and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.


21But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.
22The Lord said,
‘I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23so that you may bathe* your feet in blood,
so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.’


24Your solemn processions are seen,* O God,
the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
25the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them girls playing tambourines:
26‘Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!’
27There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in a body,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.


28Summon your might, O God;
show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before.
29Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings bear gifts to you.
30Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample* under foot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.*
31Let bronze be brought from Egypt;
let Ethiopia* hasten to stretch out its hands to God.


32Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
sing praises to the Lord,
Selah
33O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
34Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel;
and whose power is in the skies.
35Awesome is God in his* sanctuary,
the God of Israel;
he gives power and strength to his people.


Blessed be God!
Psalm 69
Prayer for Deliverance from PersecutionTo the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.
1Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.


4More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.


6Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonoured because of me,
O God of Israel.
7It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.
8I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.


9It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10When I humbled my soul with fasting,*
they insulted me for doing so.
11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.


13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help 14rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15Do not let the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the Pit close its mouth over me.


16Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17Do not hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
18Draw near to me, redeem me,
set me free because of my enemies.


19You know the insults I receive,
and my shame and dishonour;
my foes are all known to you.
20Insults have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.
21They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.


22Let their table be a trap for them,
a snare for their allies.
23Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25May their camp be a desolation;
let no one live in their tents.
26For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more.*
27Add guilt to their guilt;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29But I am lowly and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, protect me.


30I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33For the Lord hears the needy,
and does not despise his own that are in bonds.


34Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah;
and his servants shall live* there and possess it;
36 the children of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall live in it.