Psalms

The Two Ways

Book I begins. The tree planted by streams of water, against chaff the wind drives away.

Why Do the Nations Rage

The kings set themselves against the LORD and his anointed — and the one enthroned laughs.

A Shield Around Me

Of David, fleeing Absalom. Many say there is no help for him; he lies down and sleeps anyway.

Answer Me When I Call

Be angry and do not sin. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone make me dwell in safety.

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

A morning prayer. You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness.

I Am Weary with Groaning

The first of the penitential psalms. Every night I flood my bed with tears.

Judge Me According to My Integrity

A plea from someone falsely accused — he has dug a pit and fallen into it himself.

What Is Man

Out of the mouths of babes. When I consider the heavens — what is man, that you think of him?

The Oppressed Not Forgotten

The needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

Why Do You Stand Far Off

The wicked lying in wait for the helpless — and the answer: you have seen it, for you look at trouble and grief to take it into your hand.

The LORD Is in His Holy Temple

Flee like a bird to your mountain, they say. His eyes see; his eyelids test the children of men.

Because of the Oppression of the Poor

For the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise. Words as silver refined seven times.

How Long?

Four “how longs” in two verses, and a turn in the last: but I trust in your loving kindness.

The Fool Says in His Heart

No one who does good — and then the charge that they eat up my people as they eat bread, and shame the counsel of the poor.

Who May Dwell

He who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not lend money at interest or take a bribe against the innocent.

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. In your presence is fullness of joy.

Keep Me as the Apple of Your Eye

Hide me under the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who oppress me.

He Reached Down

A long thanksgiving after deliverance — he sent from on high and took me; he drew me out of many waters.

The Heavens Declare

Two halves: the sky without speech, and the law that revives the soul. Let the words of my mouth be acceptable.

Some Trust in Chariots

Some in chariots and some in horses; we trust the name of the LORD our God.

The King Rejoices

A royal psalm, paired with the one before it — prayer before the battle, thanks after.

My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me

The cry quoted from the cross. Dogs surround me; they pierced my hands and feet — and then, without transition, praise in the great assembly.

The Shepherd

Green pastures, still waters, the valley of the shadow — and a table set in the presence of enemies.

Lift Up Your Heads

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Then the gates called to open.

Remember Not the Sins of My Youth

An acrostic. He guides the humble in justice, and teaches the humble his way.

Examine Me

I have not sat with deceitful men. I will wash my hands in innocence and go about your altar.

The LORD Is My Light

Whom shall I fear? When my father and my mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up.

Do Not Be Silent

Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who speak peace to their neighbours while mischief is in their hearts.

The Voice of the LORD

Seven times “the voice of the LORD” — over the waters, breaking cedars, shaking the wilderness.

Weeping May Stay for the Night

You turned my mourning into dancing. Joy comes in the morning.

Into Your Hand

Into your hand I commend my spirit — the words spoken from the cross. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind.

Blessed Is the One Forgiven

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away. Then I acknowledged it, and you forgave.

Sing a New Song

A king is not saved by the size of his army. Our soul has waited for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

Taste and See

An acrostic. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.

Contend with Those Who Contend

They repay me evil for good. When they were sick, I wore sackcloth and prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

The Fountain of Life

Your loving kindness reaches to the heavens. With you is the spring of life; in your light we see light.

Do Not Fret

An acrostic on patience. I have been young and now am old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken.

My Wounds Are Foul

A penitential psalm, and the most physical — my friends and companions stand aloof from my plague.

Let Me Know My End

I was mute with silence. Every man at his best is but a breath. Look away from me, that I may recover strength.

He Lifted Me Out of the Pit

Out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and my feet set on a rock. Sacrifice you did not desire; my ears you have opened.

Blessed Is He Who Considers the Poor

Book I closes. My own familiar friend, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

As the Deer Pants

Book II begins. Why are you in despair, my soul? Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls.

Send Out Your Light

A continuation of 42, with the same refrain — hope in God, for I shall yet praise him.

Awake, Why Do You Sleep?

A national lament with no confession in it: all this has come on us, and we have not forgotten you.

A Wedding Song

For the king’s marriage — my heart overflows with a noble theme; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

A Very Present Help

God is our refuge and strength. He breaks the bow and burns the chariots. Be still, and know that I am God.

Clap Your Hands

God has gone up with a shout, with the sound of a trumpet.

Beautiful in Elevation

Walk about Zion and count her towers, that you may tell it to the next generation.

No One Can Redeem Another

A wisdom psalm on wealth. When he dies he carries nothing away; his glory will not descend after him.

I Will Not Take a Bull

If I were hungry I would not tell you. Offer to God thanksgiving — and the charge against those who recite the covenant while consorting with thieves.

Create in Me a Clean Heart

David after Nathan. Wash me thoroughly. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Why Do You Boast of Evil

Against a man whose tongue is like a sharpened razor — you love evil more than good, and lies rather than speaking righteousness.

The Fool Again

A near-duplicate of Psalm 14, placed here in the second collection.

Save Me by Your Name

Short, occasioned by betrayal — strangers have risen up against me.

If an Enemy Had Reproached Me

Oh that I had wings like a dove. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend.

Put My Tears in Your Bottle

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. You number my wanderings; you put my tears into your container.

My Heart Is Steadfast

In the cave. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the calamity has passed.

Do You Rulers Speak Justly?

An angry psalm against corrupt judges — in your heart you devise wickedness; you weigh out the violence of your hands.

Deliver Me from My Enemies

They return at evening, howling like dogs and prowling around the city.

You Have Rejected Us

After a defeat. Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain.

The Rock Higher Than I

From the end of the earth I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed.

My Soul Waits in Silence

He only is my rock and my salvation. Do not set your heart on increasing riches. Pour out your heart before him.

My Soul Thirsts

In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Your loving kindness is better than life.

Hide Me from the Secret Counsel

They sharpen their tongue like a sword and aim bitter words like arrows.

You Crown the Year

You visit the earth and water it. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys shout for joy — they also sing.

Come and See

You brought us into prison; you laid a burden on our backs — and brought us out into abundance.

Let the Peoples Praise You

Short and outward-facing — that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

A Father of the Fatherless

A father of the fatherless and a defender of the widows is God in his holy habitation. He sets the lonely in families.

I Sink in Deep Mire

They hated me without a cause. They gave me vinegar for my thirst — and the poor will see it and be glad.

Make Haste

Five verses, almost identical to the close of Psalm 40. I am poor and needy; come to me quickly.

Do Not Cast Me Off in Old Age

From my youth you have taught me. Now that I am old and grey, do not forsake me.

May He Judge Your People with Righteousness

Book II closes. He will deliver the needy when he cries, and the poor who has no helper — and the prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

I Almost Slipped

Book III begins. Envy at the prosperity of the wicked — until I went into the sanctuary; then I understood their end.

They Burned Your Sanctuary

A lament over the destruction of the temple. We see no signs; there is no longer any prophet.

God Is the Judge

He puts down one and lifts up another. A cup in the hand of the LORD, and the wicked drink it to the dregs.

You Saved the Oppressed

When God arose to judgment, to save all the oppressed of the earth.

Has He Forgotten to Be Gracious?

I remembered God and groaned. Then a deliberate turn: I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.

Tell the Next Generation

A long recitation of the history so the children will not forget — and the repeated pattern of forgetting anyway.

How Long, LORD?

After the city fell. They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds.

Restore Us

A refrain three times: restore us, cause your face to shine, and we will be saved. The vine brought out of Egypt.

Open Your Mouth Wide

I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the basket. Oh that my people would listen.

Defend the Poor and Fatherless

God standing in the divine assembly: how long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Rescue the poor and needy out of the hand of the wicked.

Do Not Keep Silent

A list of allied nations conspiring — and a plea that they seek the name of the LORD rather than be destroyed.

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling

Even the sparrow has found a home. Better a day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. The valley of weeping made a place of springs.

Mercy and Truth Meet Together

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Will you not revive us again?

You Are Good and Ready to Forgive

Teach me your way; unite my heart to fear your name. I am poor and needy.

Born in Zion

Short and surprising — Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Cush counted among those born there.

Darkness Is My Closest Friend

The bleakest psalm in the book. It begins in trouble and ends in darkness, with no turn and no resolution.

How Long Will You Hide Yourself?

Book III closes. A long recital of the covenant with David — and then the complaint that it appears to have been renounced.

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Book IV begins, with the prayer of Moses. A thousand years are as yesterday. Establish the work of our hands.

He Who Dwells in the Secret Place

Under his wings you will take refuge. A thousand may fall at your side. He will give his angels charge over you.

A Song for the Sabbath

It is good to give thanks. The righteous flourishing like the palm tree, still bearing fruit in old age.

The LORD Reigns

Five verses. Mightier than the noise of many waters — the first of the enthronement psalms answering Book III’s crisis.

Who Will Rise Up for Me?

They crush your people and afflict your heritage; they kill the widow and the foreigner and murder the fatherless. He who planted the ear, does he not hear?

Today, If You Will Hear

Come, let us worship and bow down — then the warning about hardening hearts as at Meribah.

Sing to the LORD a New Song

Declare his glory among the nations. He will judge the peoples with equity — and the trees of the forest sing for joy.

The LORD Reigns, Let the Earth Rejoice

Clouds and darkness around him, righteousness and justice the foundation of his throne.

Make a Joyful Noise

The rivers clap their hands and the hills sing together for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.

Holy Is He

Moses, Aaron and Samuel called on him — a forgiving God, though you took vengeance on their doings.

Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

Five verses. Know that the LORD is God; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

I Will Walk with Integrity

A ruler’s pledge about who he will and will not have in his household — no one who practises deceit will dwell in my house.

A Prayer of the Afflicted

When he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint. My days are like a lengthening shadow — but you remain the same.

Bless the LORD, O My Soul

Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. As far as the east is from the west. As a father has compassion, so he has compassion on those who fear him.

You Make Springs Gush Forth

Creation as a working household — the wild donkeys given drink, the storks in the fir trees, and Leviathan formed to play in the sea.

Remember His Wonders

The history retold as a catalogue of what God did — the covenant, Joseph, the plagues, the wilderness.

They Forgot

Book IV closes. The same history told from the other side — what the people did — and the repeated note that many times he delivered them anyway.

He Delivered Them Out of Their Distresses

Book V begins. Four groups — lost travellers, prisoners, the sick, and sailors — each crying out and each rescued, with the same refrain.

My Heart Is Steadfast

A composite of parts of 57 and 60. With God we will do valiantly.

Do Not Be Silent, God of My Praise

The harshest of the imprecatory psalms — and the charge underneath it: he did not remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy and broken-hearted.

A Priest Forever

The most quoted psalm in the New Testament. Sit at my right hand — and a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.

The Fear of the LORD Is the Beginning

An acrostic of ten verses on the works of God — he has given food to those who fear him.

Good Will Come to Him Who Deals Graciously

The companion acrostic, about the person rather than God — he has dispersed abroad and given to the poor.

He Raises the Poor from the Dust

He lifts the needy from the ash heap to set him with princes, and gives the barren woman a home as a joyful mother.

The Sea Saw and Fled

Eight verses on the exodus — the mountains skipping like rams, the little hills like lambs.

Not to Us

Their idols have mouths but do not speak. He is their help and their shield.

I Love the LORD

He has heard my voice. The cords of death surrounded me. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The Shortest Psalm

Two verses, and the shortest chapter in the Bible — praise him, all you nations.

The Stone the Builders Rejected

The last of the Hallel psalms. Out of my distress I called, and he set me in a large place. This is the day the LORD has made.

Your Word Is a Lamp

The longest chapter in the Bible — an acrostic of twenty-two sections, eight verses each, almost every one mentioning the law, the word, the precepts or the statutes.

I Am for Peace

The Songs of Ascents begin. Deliver me from lying lips. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.

He Will Not Let Your Foot Slip

I lift up my eyes to the hills. He who keeps you will not slumber.

Let Us Go to the House of the LORD

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Jerusalem built as a city that is compact together.

As the Eyes of Servants

Our eyes look to the LORD until he has mercy on us. We have had more than enough of contempt.

If the LORD Had Not Been on Our Side

Our soul has escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare is broken and we have escaped.

As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem

So the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forward and forever.

Those Who Sow in Tears

When the LORD brought back those who returned, we were like those who dream. They will reap in joy.

Unless the LORD Builds the House

The builders labour in vain. It is vain to rise up early and sit up late, eating the bread of anxious toil.

Your Wife Like a Fruitful Vine

A blessing on ordinary household life — you will eat the labour of your hands.

They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth

The plowers plowed on my back — and yet they have not prevailed against me.

Out of the Depths

If you kept a record of sins, who could stand? My soul waits, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Like a Weaned Child

Three verses. I do not concern myself with great matters. I have calmed and quieted my soul.

Remember David

His oath about finding a place for the LORD — and the promise that her poor will be satisfied with bread.

How Good and Pleasant

Three verses on brothers dwelling together in unity — like oil running down Aaron’s beard, like the dew of Hermon.

You Servants Who Stand by Night

The last Song of Ascents. Three verses, spoken to those keeping the night watch in the house of the LORD.

Praise the Name

He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. The idols of the nations are silver and gold.

His Loving Kindness Endures Forever

Twenty-six verses, and the refrain repeated after every single one — including “who gives food to every creature.”

By the Rivers of Babylon

There we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? — and an ending so bitter it is usually left unsung.

Though I Walk in the Midst of Trouble

Though the LORD is high, yet he looks after the lowly; but the proud he knows from afar.

You Have Searched Me

You know when I sit down and when I rise up. Where could I go from your Spirit? I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Deliver Me from Violent Men

I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.

Set a Guard Over My Mouth

Let the righteous strike me; it will be a kindness. Let my prayer be set before you like incense.

No One Cares for My Soul

In the cave. I look on my right hand and see that there is no one who is concerned for me; no one cares for my soul.

Do Not Enter into Judgment

Teach me to do your will. Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you.

What Is Man, That You Care for Him?

A royal psalm — and an ending that asks for full barns, healthy flocks, and no breaking in or going out, and no outcry in the streets.

The LORD Upholds All Who Fall

An acrostic. He is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger. He upholds all who fall, and raises up all those who are bowed down.

He Executes Justice for the Oppressed

Do not put your trust in princes. He gives food to the hungry, sets prisoners free, opens the eyes of the blind, and upholds the fatherless and widow.

He Heals the Broken-Hearted

He counts the number of the stars and calls them all by name — and binds up their wounds in the same breath.

Let Them Praise His Name

Everything called on in turn — sun and moon, sea creatures, fire and hail, mountains, trees, animals, kings, young men and maidens, old men and children.

A New Song

He takes pleasure in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.

Let Everything That Has Breath

Six verses, thirteen instruments, and no petition at all — the collection ends in praise and nothing else.