Psalm 138

Of David.

1 I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

3 When I called, you answered me;
you made me bold and stouthearted.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, O Lord,
when they hear the words of your mouth.

5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.

6 Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
but the proud he knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me.

8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 140

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men;
protect me from men of violence,

2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.

3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.
Selah

4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from men of violence
who plan to trip my feet.

5 Proud men have hidden a snare for me;
they have spread out the cords of their net
and have set traps for me along my path.
Selah

6 O Lord, I say to you, “You are my God.”
Hear, O Lord, my cry for mercy.

7 O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,
who shields my head in the day of battle—

8 do not grant the wicked their desires, O Lord;
do not let their plans succeed,
or they will become proud.
Selah

9 Let the heads of those who surround me
be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.

10 Let burning coals fall upon them;
may they be thrown into the fire,
into miry pits, never to rise.

11 Let slanderers not be established in the land;
may disaster hunt down men of violence.

12 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.

13 Surely the righteous will praise your name
and the upright will live before you.