Psalms – Godly Emotions

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:6) Wisdom for life is condensed into the six verses that comprise the first chapter in the Book of Psalms. This psalm captures poetically and passionately the...

7“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You …’” 12Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge...

But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. Psalm 3:3 This is the first of what we call lament psalms. While some laments are communal, expressing to God Israel’s concerns and emotions, Psalm 3 is an individual lament...

In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety. (Ps 4:8) This psalm can be seen as a lament because of David’s need for relief from his distress and his need for God’s grace (vs. 1), the complaint about those who...

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my groaning. Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray. (Psalm 5:1–2) Conflict is a universal problem we all experience. Leaders, even good ones, stand in the firing line of people’s...

1O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath. 2Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. 3And my soul is greatly dismayed; but You, O Lord—how long? This psalm is a heart-wrenching...

O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, or he will tear my soul like a lion, dragging me away, while there is none to deliver. (Psalm 7:1–2) The historical setting for this psalm of lament is...

1O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! 2From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful...

10And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. "I will give … I will tell … I will be glad … I will sing …” David is a man of determination and action. For him, the spiritual life is not...

12Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted. This psalm of lament begins with a question for God, “Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?” Who among us hasn’t reverberated with a similar cry of the heart? Where is God when we need Him?...

The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men … For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face. (Ps. 11:4, 7) The Bible is all about God, first and...

6The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. 7You, O Lord, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever. What a person says matters. Words reveal either a godly heart or a...

5But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me. "How long, O Lord?” That is how this psalm begins, though it ends with a faithful expression of trust...

1The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. What David attributes to evil people in Psalm 10:4, he assigns to fools in Psalm 14. They both embrace and assert the...

1O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? 2He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. Psalm 15 is an instructional sonnet of wisdom, akin to what we read in Psalm 1. But, like those of...

1Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. 2I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.” While this psalm begins with a lament, the tone quickly turns positive, even to praise. In his need for help, David’s knowledge of and heart...

1Hear a just cause, O Lord, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. 2Let my judgment come forth from Your presence; let Your eyes look with equity. What is a godly response when we incur unjust suffering or conflict? How...

1“I love You, O Lord, my strength.” 2The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from...

 1The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands … 7The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. This psalm could actually be two standalone...

1May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high! 2May He send you help from the sanctuary and support you from Zion! Many of the psalms seem relatively obscure, simple collections of spiritual...

1O Lord, in Your strength the king will be glad, and in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice! 2You have given him his heart’s desire, and You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. This psalm closely aligns with the previous one, Psalm 20....

1My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning … 21Save me from the lion’s mouth; from the horns of the wild oxen You answer me. 22I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will...

1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want … 6Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. One of the most well-known passages of Scripture, this psalm has brought comfort to...

1The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it … 3Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? … 10Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. This ode of...

 1To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 2O my God, in You I trust, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies exult over me. The ancient world used shaming as a final weapon to prove the victorious superiority of one combatant over another. Rome was famous...

1Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 2Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. As in all the lament psalms, the outward need is laid out, but here, David focuses on his...

 1The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? … 4One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the...

1To You, O Lord, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit … 7The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my...

1Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in holy array … 11The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace....

5For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning … 11You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness … Suffering...

1In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed; in Your righteousness deliver me. 2Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me. 3For You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name’s sake You...

1How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! … 11Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy,...

 1Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright. 2Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. 3Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy. This descriptive praise...

0A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed … 😯 taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! … 18The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed...

1Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. 2Take hold of buckler and shield and rise up for my help. 3Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”...

1Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes … 10O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the...

1Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. 2For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. 3Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4Delight yourself in the Lord; and...

23The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. 24When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. 25I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or...

1O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath, and chasten me not in Your burning anger … 21Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me! 22Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation! When bad stuff happens, one reaction that people of faith fall into...

 2I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, and my sorrow grew worse … 7”And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You … 13Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more. This psalm reflects an individual...

1I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry … 17Since I am afflicted and needy, let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. Patience and suffering go together in the believer’s life;...

1How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. 2The Lord will protect him and keep him alive, and he shall be called blessed upon the earth; and do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. 3The Lord will...

1As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. 2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? There are spiritually dry seasons of life when doubt vies with faith in controlling one’s...

1Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! … 4I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God. Who of us hasn’t suffered from...

3For by their own sword they did not possess the land, and their own arm did not save them, but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, for You favored them … 9Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, and do not go out with...

1 My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 2 You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever. This psalm is a love song, as the...

1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling...

1O clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with the voice of joy 2For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth … 6Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises… 7… Sing praises with a skillful psalm....

1Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain. 2Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great King.  3God, in her palaces, has made Himself known as a...

1Hear this, all peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 2both low and high, rich and poor together. 3My mouth will speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will be understanding. 4I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle on...

22“Now consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver. 23He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” The last two verses of...

1Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before...

0For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 1Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me...

1Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? … 8But as for me … I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever. 9I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones....

1The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” they are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good … 6Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores His captive people, let Jacob rejoice,...

1Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your power. 2Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth … 4Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul. Many of David’s psalms reflect his thoughts and experiences while...

16As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me … 22Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. 23 … I will trust in You. This classical lament psalm has encouraged believers...

1Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; fighting all day long he oppresses me. 2My foes have trampled upon me all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. 3When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. 4In God, whose word I...

1Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by … 5Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let Your glory be above all the earth. If you have ever felt...

1Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?... 10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;...

1Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me …17O my strength, I will sing praises to You; for God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness. Life is hard—and the Old Testament gives us...

1O God, You have rejected us. You have broken us; You have been angry; O, restore us. … 12Through God we shall do valiantly, and it is He who will tread down our adversaries. God’s promises of victory did not always come easily for David. The inscription...

1 Hear my cry, O God; give heed to my prayer. 2From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint … 8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may pay my vows day by day. David calls out to God for help because of his adverse...

1My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. 2He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken … 5My soul, wait in silence for God only … God is! That’s a complete sentence. So what? Even the demons...

1O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. In our most difficult times of struggle, our darkest moments of fear and extreme discomfort, spiritual...

1Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. 2Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, from the tumult of those who do iniquity, 3who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrow...

1There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, and to You the vow will be performed … 11You have crowned the year with Your bounty, and Your paths drip with fatness. 12The pastures of the wilderness drip, and the hills gird themselves with...

1Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; 2sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious. 3Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. 4“All the earth will worship You,...

1God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us— Selah. 2That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. We take for granted that God is glorified in creation, but that by itself is a limited view of His...

1Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him … 3But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness … 24They have seen Your procession, O God, the procession of my God, my...

24b “May Your burning anger overtake them … 28a “May they be blotted out of the book of life.” Popular Christianity tends to shy away from passages like Psalm 69, where God is requested to hand down judgment and condemnation on unbelievers: “May Your burning...

24b “May Your burning anger overtake them … 28a “May they be blotted out of the book of life.” Many theologians see in this psalm a description not just of David but of the ultimate innocent sufferer, Jesus Christ. Dishonored, He bore the reproach of all...

1O God, hasten to deliver me; O Lord, hasten to my help! This psalm is virtually identical to Psalm 40:13-17. Besides minor differences, the references to Yahweh in the earlier psalm are sometimes replaced with God (Elohim) in Psalm 70 and vice versa....

1In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be ashamed. 2In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline Your ear to me and save me … 9Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails. The line of demarcation...

 1Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s son … 18Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. 19And blessed be His glorious name forever; and may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and...

1Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! 2But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. 3For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked … 17Until I came into the sanctuary of God;...

1O God, why have You rejected us forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? … 19Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever. This is one of the sad songs in the...

1We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For Your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works … 10And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up. Pride is ubiquitous in this fallen world and it comes...

 1God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel. 2His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion. 3There He broke the flaming arrows, the shield and the sword and the weapons of war. Selah. Nothing rouses people like a national victory...

1My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; my voice rises to God, and He will hear me. 2In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; in the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; my soul refused to be comforted. 3When I remember God, then I am...

 1Listen … incline your ears … 4btell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. From the beginning of creation, God has shown Himself to be gracious—which, among other things, sets Him apart...

1O God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance; They have defiled Your holy temple; They have laid Jerusalem in ruins … 5How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? This psalm gives a contemporary update on the previous...

 19O Lord God of hosts, restore us; cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. The bitter longing of their hearts throbbed unremittingly. The prophets proclaimed God’s severe judgment on Israel, both ahead of time as a warning and during...

1Sing for joy to God our strength; shout joyfully to the God of Jacob …13“Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! The call to sing for joy (vss. 1-5) arises from a survey of God’s work and intention for believers (vss. 6-16)....

3Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. 4Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. This short psalm needs careful unpacking to understand and then to apply it as a blessing to our lives....

1O God, do not remain quiet; do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. 2aFor behold, Your enemies … 17Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, and let them be humiliated and perish, 18that they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, are the...

 1How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! 2My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Those who love the Lord want more of His presence in their lives both now and to come....

1O Lord, You showed favor to Your land; You restored the captivity of Jacob. 2You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin … 6Will You not Yourself revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? The prayer of this psalm can be...

1Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy … 17Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me. King David was a man whose heart aligned closely with...

1His foundation is in the holy mountains. 2The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwelling places of Jacob. 3Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah. Jerusalem is a magnificent city, but this psalm isn’t focusing on its...

1O LORD, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before You. 2Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry! 3For my soul has had enough troubles, and my life has drawn near to Sheol. What value is there in reading this...

1I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; to all generations I will make known Your [God’s] faithfulness with my mouth … 38But You have cast off and rejected, You have been full of wrath against Your anointed … 49Where are Your former...

14O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, and the years we have seen evil. How do you talk about God’s existence before there was...

1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” Inscribed on sympathy cards and beloved by many believers during times of grief,...

1It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night, Starting our day with gratitude and praise is good, the Hebrew word denoting that which is...

1The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. Two kinds of praises come from the heart of the believer who is caught up with the greatness...

 1O Lord, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth! 2Rise up, O Judge of the earth, render recompense to the proud. 3How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult? … 19When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations...

6Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, 8ado not harden your hearts…” A call to worship beckons the...

1Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Praise and worship are the ultimate purpose of our being created in God’s image. In a world of Christian...

1The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. 12Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, and give thanks to His holy name. Themes repeat throughout the psalms—this is understandable when one considers the common themes of life and...

1O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him … 9…He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. God will come to...

 1The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake! 2The Lord is great in Zion, and He is exalted above all the peoples. 3Let them praise Your great and awesome name; Holy is He. We can learn much about God as...

1Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. 2Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. The common theme of Psalms 95 through 100 is the invitation to worship and sing praise to the Lord. He is extolled in lofty, poetic form, with the...

1I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to You, O Lord, I will sing praises. 2I will give heed to the blameless way. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. 3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate...

0A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord. The inscription in verse 0 sums up this psalm. There are times we all can relate to these feelings. The Hebrew word for “complaint” means to rehearse or repeatedly go...

1Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Spiritual growth comes through knowing God and learning to praise Him. Lest we become redundant or vainly repetitious in our worship and praise with minimal vocabulary, we find...

1Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty … 24O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions. This psalm gives God the blessing of...

 1Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples. 2Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders. 3Glory in His holy name; let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. While the previous psalm (104)...

 1Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting … 4Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people; visit me with Your salvation … The trilogy of Psalms 104, 105, and 106 puts forward an overriding...

1Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. 2Let the redeemed of the Lord say so … We live in a universe designed and saturated with the gratuity of God. All things exist because the Lord created everything out of His...

1My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul. 2Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn! 3I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations. We believe, from a NT...

1O God of my praise, do not be silent! … 30With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord; and in the midst of many I will praise Him. 31For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul. This individual lament...

1The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The NT quotes, refers to, and alludes to this psalm more than any other passage in the OT. Jesus Christ saw the cryptic messianic application to Himself,...

1Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly. Pure praise describes the Lord’s character in the way He interacts with His creation. Some praise focuses on what God has specifically done...

1Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments. Psalms 111 and 112 are connected by theme and literary markers (similar wording and the use of acrostics). Both begin with “Praise the Lord.” The latter...

7Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob, 8who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of water. This psalm speaks to geographical features of creation as one would talk to a person. In verse 5, the writer addresses...

1Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. This psalm is a polemic, that is, an argument that trusting in anything other than Yahweh God is worthless. He alone is a real deity, and He...

1I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications. 2Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. This psalm is a beautiful expression of personal love for and devotion to the Lord. It begins with a...

1Praise the Lord, all nations; laud Him, all peoples! 2For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord! This shortest chapter in the Book of Psalms (only two verses) is a golden nugget, not to be passed...

22The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. 23This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Imagine being a pilgrim marching with a crowd of...

1How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. 2How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart. Psalm 119 is an opus maximus on the Law of God, a magnificent retinue of praise for the...

1In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He answered me. 2Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. This psalm begins with the collection of psalms that all start with the inscription “Songs of Ascents” (Pss. 120-134). Jewish pilgrims...

1I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? 2My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. What a beautiful song of trust! This psalm offers words of faith in the Lord rather than complaints over life's troubles. But...

Leadership is important. History highlights leaders who impacted their world. When I speak about leaders in the church, I don’t just mean pastors. The people of God desperately need visionary leaders, not only within formal administrative structures or in...

1I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” … 6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.” Life for the ancient Israelites centered around Jerusalem and the temple, which was called “the house of the Lord.”...

1To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! Lies, mocking, disrespect—who of us has not had others verbally taunt us, looking down their noses at us, treating us as inferior and making our lives difficult? People in the ancient world...

8Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Disrespect and verbal taunts can escalate to intentional harm. In the ancient world, conflicts were often settled with physical violence. Today, the harm may be emotional distress, financial...

1Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. 2As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever. This short psalm expresses confidence in the Lord and asks for...

1When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream … 4Restore our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South. This is a psalm of hope for the Jewish people. It looks back on their rescue after 70 years of captivity in...

1Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. The Lord is necessary—that should go without saying. He is the first cause; nothing exists that He has not created (John...

 1How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. 2When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy and it will be well with you. This is a happy psalm. It is a wisdom psalm. These two descriptions go hand in hand. We read...

3 Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me. 4 The Lord is righteous; He has cut in two the cords of the wicked. Psalm 129 is a simple song of trust. While the bulk of this piece is about the conflicts Israel...

 1Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. 2Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. This psalm includes individual lament, confession, forgiveness, and trust. It finishes with a confidence that God will also...

 1O Lord, my heart is not proud nor my eyes haughty; nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Academics, armchair theologians, and the average thinking Christian wrestle with understanding and reconciling God’s sovereignty...

7Let us go into His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool. This psalm expresses a desire and commitment for God’s presence which is symbolized by a temple (also called “God’s house,’ see Psalm 134:1) in Jerusalem. While the OT portrays God’s...

1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! 2It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. 3It is like the dew of Hermon coming down...

A Song of Ascents. 1Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord, who serve by night in the house of the Lord! 2Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the Lord. 3May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth. This delightful,...

1Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; praise Him, O servants of the Lord, 2you who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! 3Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for it is lovely. A...

1Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. This is the last psalm in the collection called, by some, the Great Hallel Psalms (Pss. 120-136) as distinguished from the so-called Egyptian Hallel Psalms (Pss. 113-118). Both...

1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps. 3For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” Living...

1I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods … 8The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; do not forsake the works of Your hands. Unmitigated and exuberant praise...

1O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar … 23Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead...

1Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men 2who devise evil things in their hearts; they continually stir up wars … 12I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor. 13Surely the righteous will...

1O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! 2May my prayer be counted as incense before You; the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. David begins his lament to the Lord by asking to be heard. He does not...

 1I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. 2I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him … 7”Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name…” How can a godly person pray...

1Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness! 2And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no man living is righteous. Lament psalms like this one can sound...

1Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. 2My lovingkindness and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and He in whom I take refuge, who subdues my people under me … 15How blessed are the people...

 1I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. David overflows with lofty, unadulterated, and unqualified adulation for the Lord, not so much for...

 1Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. One of the most well-known exclamations is the celebratory “Hallelujah!” It is uttered at the report of good news or an...

 1Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant and praise is becoming. Praising God is personal and emotional—at least, it should be, according to the writer of Psalm 147. The emotive words used in verse 1 tell us that...

1Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights! Placed in the middle of the concluding series of Hallelujah psalms (145-150), this psalm offers a crescendo of praise to the Lord God. Less is said about what God has done for His...

1Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the congregation of the godly ones. Superlative praise, extolling God ‘to the max,’ is the theme of this psalm. There is nothing meager about this kind of praise. It is the antidote to an old...

1Praise the Lord … 6Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. This psalm concludes the inspired biblical collection of one hundred and fifty psalms (also called poems, songs, or chapters). The six verses of Psalm 150 are saturated with...