Study Desk

A Davidic prayer.

Listen, Lord , and answer me, for I am poor and needy.^(a)

Protect my life, for I am faithful.^(b) You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.^(c)

Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to You all day long.^(d)

Bring joy to Your servant's life, because I turn to You, Lord.^(e)

For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive,^(f) rich in faithful love to all who call on You.^(g)

Lord , hear my prayer; listen to my plea for mercy.^(h)

I call on You in the day of my distress, for You will answer me.⁽ⁱ⁾

Lord, there is no one like You among the gods, and there are no works like Yours.^(j)

All the nations You have made will come and bow down before You, Lord, and will honor Your name.^(k)

For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.^(l)

Teach me Your way, Yahweh, and I will live by Your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.^(m)

I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor Your name forever.⁽ⁿ⁾

For Your faithful love for me is great, and You deliver my life from the depths of Sheol.^(o)

God, arrogant people have attacked me; a gang of ruthless men seeks my life. They have no regard for You.^(p)

But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.^(q)

Turn to me and be gracious to me. Give Your strength to Your servant; save the son of Your female servant.^(r)

Show me a sign of Your goodness; my enemies will see and be put to shame because You, Lord , have helped and comforted me.^(s)

A psalm of the sons of Korah. A song.

His foundation is on the holy mountains.^(a)

The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.^(b)

Glorious things are said about you, city of God.^(c) Selah

"I will mention those who know Me: Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush— each one was born there."^(d)

And it will be said of Zion, "This one and that one were born in her." The Most High Himself will establish her.^(e)

When He registers the peoples, the Lord will record, "This one was born there."^(f) Selah

Singers and dancers alike will say, "My whole source of joy is^[a] in you."^(g)

A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.^(a)

Lord , God of my salvation, I cry out before You day and night.^(b)

May my prayer reach Your presence; listen to my cry.^(c)

For I have had enough troubles, and my life is near Sheol.^(d)

I am counted among those going down to the Pit.^(e) I am like a man without strength,^(f)

abandoned^[a] among the dead. I am like the slain lying in the grave,^(g) whom You no longer remember, and who are cut off from Your care.^[b](h)

You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit, in the darkest places, in the depths.⁽ⁱ⁾

Your wrath weighs heavily on me;^(j) You have overwhelmed me with all Your waves.^(k) Selah

You have distanced my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them.^(l) I am shut in and cannot go out.

My eyes are worn out from crying.^(m) Lord , I cry out to You all day long;⁽ⁿ⁾ I spread out my hands to You.^(o)

Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?^(p) Selah

Will Your faithful love be declared in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?^(q)

Will Your wonders be known in the darkness or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?^(r)

But I call to You for help, Lord ; in the morning my prayer meets You.^(s)

Lord , why do You reject me?^(t) Why do You hide Your face from me?^(u)

From my youth, I have been afflicted and near death. I suffer Your horrors; I am desperate.^(v)

Your wrath sweeps over me; Your terrors destroy me.^(w)

They surround me like water all day long; they close in on me from every side.^(x)

You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me; darkness is my only friend.^[c](y)

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.^(a)

I will sing about the Lord 's faithful love forever;^(b) I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations with my mouth.^(c)

For I will declare, "Faithful love is built up forever; You establish Your faithfulness in the heavens."^(d)

The Lord said, "I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David My servant:

‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.'"^(e) Selah

Lord , the heavens praise Your wonders^(f)— Your faithfulness also— in the assembly of the holy ones.^(g)

For who in the skies can compare with the Lord ? Who among the heavenly beings^[a] is like the Lord ?^(h)

God is greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, more awe-inspiring than^[b] all who surround Him.⁽ⁱ⁾

Lord God of Hosts, who is strong like You, Lord ?^(j) Your faithfulness surrounds You.

You rule the raging sea; when its waves surge, You still them.^(k)

You crushed Rahab like one who is slain;^(l) You scattered Your enemies with Your powerful arm.^(m)

The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours. The world and everything in it—You founded them.⁽ⁿ⁾

North and south—You created them.^(o) Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.^(p)

You have a mighty arm; Your hand is powerful; Your right hand is lifted high.^(q)

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;^(r) faithful love and truth go before You.^(s)

Happy are the people who know the joyful shout;^(t) Yahweh, they walk in the light of Your presence.^(u)

They rejoice in Your name all day long, and they are exalted by Your righteousness.^(v)

For You are their magnificent strength;^(w) by Your favor our horn is exalted.^(x)

Surely our shield^[c] belongs to the Lord , our king to the Holy One of Israel.^(y)

You once spoke in a vision to Your loyal ones and said: "I have granted help to a warrior; I have exalted one chosen^[d] from the people.^(z)

I have found David My servant; I have anointed him with My sacred oil.^(aa)

My hand will always be with him, and My arm will strengthen him.^(ab)

The enemy will not afflict^[e] him; no wicked man will oppress him.^(ac)

I will crush his foes before him and strike those who hate him.^(ad)

My faithfulness and love will be with him, and through My name his horn will be exalted.^(ae)

I will extend his power to the sea and his right hand to the rivers.^(af)

He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father,^(ag) my God, the rock of my salvation.'^(ah)

I will also make him My firstborn, greatest of the kings of the earth.^(ai)

I will always preserve My faithful love for him, and My covenant with him will endure.^(aj)

I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as heaven lasts.^[f](ak)

If his sons forsake My instruction and do not live by My ordinances,^(al)

if they dishonor My statutes and do not keep My commands,^(am)

then I will call their rebellion to account with the rod, their sin with blows.^(an)

But I will not withdraw My faithful love from him or betray My faithfulness.^(ao)

I will not violate My covenant or change what My lips have said.^(ap)

Once and for all I have sworn an oath by My holiness; I will not lie to David.^(aq)

His offspring will continue forever, his throne like the sun before Me,^(ar)

like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky."^(as) Selah

But You have spurned and rejected him; You have become enraged with Your anointed.^(at)

You have repudiated the covenant with Your servant; You have completely dishonored his crown.^[g](au)

You have broken down all his walls; You have reduced his fortified cities to ruins.^(av)

All who pass by plunder him;^(aw) he has become an object of ridicule to his neighbors.^(ax)

You have lifted high the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.^(ay)

You have also turned back his sharp sword and have not let him stand in battle.^(az)

You have made his splendor^[h] cease and have overturned his throne.^(ba)

You have shortened the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame.^(bb) Selah

How long, Lord ? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your anger keep burning like fire?^(bc)

Remember how short my life is. Have You created everyone for nothing?^(bd)

What man can live and never see death? Who can save himself from the power of Sheol?^(be) Selah

Lord, where are the former acts of Your faithful love that You swore to David in Your faithfulness?^(bf)

Remember, Lord, the ridicule against Your servants— in my heart I carry abuse from all the peoples—

how Your enemies have ridiculed, Lord , how they have ridiculed every step of Your anointed.^(bg)

May the Lord be praised forever. Amen and amen.^(bh)