Praise the LORD, O My Soul

¹Hallelujah!Praise the LORD, O my soul.

²I will praise the LORD all my life;I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your trust in princes,in mortal man, who cannot save.

⁴When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground;on that very day his plans perish.

⁵Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,whose hope is in the LORD his God,

⁶the Maker of heaven and earth,the sea, and everything in them.He remains faithful forever.

⁷He executes justice for the oppressedand gives food to the hungry.The LORD sets the prisoners free,

⁸the LORD opens the eyes of the blind,the LORD lifts those who are weighed down,the LORD loves the righteous.

⁹The LORD protects foreigners;He sustains the fatherless and the widow,but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

¹⁰The LORD reigns forever,your God, O Zion, for all generations.Hallelujah!

How Many Are Your Works, O LORD!

¹Bless the LORD, O my soul!O LORD my God, You are very great;You are clothed with splendor and majesty.

²He wraps Himself in light as with a garment;He stretches out the heavens like a tent,

³laying the beams of His chambersin the waters above,making the clouds His chariot,walking on the wings of the wind.

⁴He makes the winds His messengers,flames of fire His servants.

⁵He set the earth on its foundations,never to be moved.

⁶You covered it with the deep like a garment;the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷At Your rebuke the waters fled;at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away—

⁸the mountains rose and the valleys sankto the place You assigned for them—

⁹You set a boundary they cannot cross,that they may never again cover the earth.

¹⁰He sends forth springs in the valleys;they flow between the mountains.

¹¹They give drink to every beast of the field;the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹²The birds of the air nest beside the springs;they sing among the branches.

¹³He waters the mountains from His chambers;the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.

¹⁴He makes the grass grow for the livestockand provides crops for man to cultivate,bringing forth food from the earth:

¹⁵wine that gladdens the heart of man,oil that makes his face to shine,and bread that sustains his heart.

¹⁶The trees of the LORD have their fill,the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,

¹⁷where the birds build their nests;the stork makes her home in the cypresses.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats,the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.

¹⁹He made the moon to mark the seasons;the sun knows when to set.

²⁰You bring darkness, and it becomes night,when all the beasts of the forest prowl.

²¹The young lions roar for their preyand seek their food from God.

²²The sun rises, and they withdraw;they lie down in their dens.

²³Man goes forth to his workand to his labor until evening.

²⁴How many are Your works, O LORD!In wisdom You have made them all;the earth is full of Your creatures.

²⁵Here is the sea, vast and wide,teeming with creatures beyond number,living things both great and small.

²⁶There the ships pass,and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.

²⁷All creatures look to Youto give them their food in due season.

²⁸When You give it to them,they gather it up;when You open Your hand,they are satisfied with good things.

²⁹When You hide Your face,they are terrified;when You take away their breath,they die and return to dust.

³⁰When You send Your Spirit,they are created,and You renewthe face of the earth.

³¹May the glory of the LORD endure forever;may the LORD rejoice in His works.

³²He looks on the earth,and it trembles;He touches the mountains,and they smolder.

³³I will sing to the LORD all my life;I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to Him,for I rejoice in the LORD.

³⁵May sinners vanish from the earthand the wicked be no more.Bless the LORD, O my soul.Hallelujah!

You Have Heard My Vows

¹Hear my cry, O God;attend to my prayer.

²From the ends of the earth I call out to Youwhenever my heart is faint.Lead me to the rockthat is higher than I.

³For You have been my refuge,a tower of strength against the enemy.

⁴Let me dwell in Your tent foreverand take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.Selah

⁵For You have heard my vows, O God;You have given me the inheritancereserved for those who fear Your name.

⁶Increase the days of the king’s life;may his years span many generations.

⁷May he sit enthroned in God’s presence forever;appoint Your loving devotionand Your faithfulness to guard him.

⁸Then I will ever sing praise to Your nameand fulfill my vows day by day.

The Hurtful Tongue

¹Hear, O God, my voice of complaint;preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

²Hide me from the scheming of the wicked,from the mob of workers of iniquity,

³who sharpen their tongues like swordsand aim their bitter words like arrows,

⁴ambushing the innocent in seclusion,shooting suddenly, without fear.

⁵They hold fast to their evil purpose;they speak of hiding their snares.“Who will see them?” they say.

⁶They devise injustice and say,“We have perfected a secret plan.”For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.

⁷But God will shoot them with arrows;suddenly they will be wounded.

⁸They will be made to stumble,their own tongues turned against them.All who see will shake their heads.

⁹Then all mankind will fearand proclaim the work of God;so they will ponder what He has done.

¹⁰Let the righteous rejoice in the LORDand take refuge in Him;let all the upright in heart exult.