Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Continuing with the Psalms of Lament,
today's readings are from Psalms 25 through 28,
as well as Psalm 31. Psalm 25, inscription, A
Psalm of David. To you, O Lord, I lift up my
soul. O my God, I trust in you. Let me not be
ashamed. Let not my enemies triumph over me.
Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed.
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without
cause. Show me your ways, O Lord. Teach me your
path. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for
you are the God of my salvation. On you I wait
all the day. Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies
and your lovingkindness, for they are from of
old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor
my transgressions. According to your mercy, remember
me. For your goodness' sake, O Lord. Good and
upright is the Lord. Therefore he teaches sinners
in the way. The humble he guides in justice,
and the humble he teaches his way. All the paths
of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep
his covenant and his testimonies. For your name's
sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall
he teach in the way he chooses. He himself shall
dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall
inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is
with those who fear him, and he will show them
his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord.
For he shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn
yourself to me and have mercy on me, for I am
desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart
have enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses.
Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive
all my sins. Consider my enemies, for they are
many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. Keep
my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed,
for I put my trust in you. Let integrity and
uprightness preserve me, for I await for you.
Redeem Israel, O God, out of all their troubles.
Psalm 26, inscription, a Psalm of David. Vindicate
me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity.
I have also trusted in the Lord, I shall not
slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me. Try my
mind and my heart, for your loving kindness is
before my eyes, and I have walked in your truth.
I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will
I go in with hypocrites. I have hated the assembly
of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked.
I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will
go about your altar, O Lord, that I may proclaim
with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all
your wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation
of your house and the place where your glory
dwells. Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor
my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands
is a sinister scheme. Psalm 27, inscription,
A Psalm of David. Though an army may encamp against
me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise
against me, in this I will be confident. One
thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I
seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. For
in a time of trouble He shall hide me in His
pavilion, in the secret place of His tabernacle.
He shall hide me, He shall set me high upon a
rock, and now my head shall be lifted up above
my enemies all around me. Therefore I will offer
sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. I will sing,
yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O
Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also
upon me and answer me. When you said, Seek my
face, my heart said to you, Your face, Lord,
I will see. Do not hide your face from me. Do
not turn your servant away in anger. You have
been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation. When my father and my
mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care
of me. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me
in a smooth path because of my enemies. Do not
deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for
false witnesses have risen against me, and such
as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart
unless I had believed that I would see the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on
the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen
your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 28,
Inscription, A Psalm of David To you I will cry,
O Lord, my rock. Do not be silent to me. Lest,
if you are silent to me, I become like those
who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my
supplications when I cry to you, when I lift
up my hands toward your holy sanctuary. Do not
take me away with the wicked and with the workers
of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors,
but evil is in their hearts. Give them according
to their deeds and according to the wickedness
of their endeavors. Give them according to the
work of their hands. Render to them what they
deserve, because they do not regard the works
of the Lord. nor the operation of his hands.
He shall destroy them and not build them up.
Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the
voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength
and my shield. My heart trusted in him, and I
am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
and with my song I will praise him. The Lord
is their strength, and he is the saving refuge
of his anointed. Save your people and bless your
inheritance. Shepherd them also and bear them
up forever. Psalm 31, Inscription to the chief
musician, a psalm of David. I have hated those
who regard useless idols, but I trust in the
Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy,
for you have considered my trouble. You have
known my soul in adversities, and have not shut
me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set
my feet in a wide place. Have mercy on me, O
Lord, for I am in trouble. My eye wastes away
with grief. Yes, my soul and my body. For my
life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity, and
my bones waste away. I am a reproach among all
my enemies, and especially among my neighbors,
and I am repulsive to my acquaintances. Those
who see me outside flee from me. I am forgotten,
like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken
vessel, for I hear the slander of many. Fear
is on every side. While they take counsel together
against me, they scheme to take away my life.
But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord. I say,
you are my God. My times are in your hand. Deliver
me from the hand of my enemies, and from those
who persecute me. Make your face shine upon your
servant. Save me for your mercy's sake. Do not
let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called
upon you. Let the wicked be ashamed. Let them
be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be
put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly
and contemptuously against the righteous. O how
great is your goodness, which you have laid up
for those who fear you, which you have prepared
for those who trust in you, in the presence of
the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret
place of your presence. From the plots of men
you shall keep them secretly in a pavilion, from
the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for
he has shown me his marvelous kindness in a strong
city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from
before your eyes. Nevertheless, you heard the
voice of my supplications when I cried out to
you. O love the Lord, O you his saints! For the
Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays
the proud person. Be of good courage, and he
shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope
in the Lord. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.