Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today we conclude the group of psalms
known as the Psalms of Lament. Today's readings
are from Psalms 86, 102, 109, 139 -141, and 143.
Psalm 86, inscription, A Prayer of David. Bow
down your ear, O Lord, hear me, for I am poor
and needy. Preserve my life, for I am holy. You
are my God, save your servant who trusts in you.
Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to you all
day long. Rejoice the soul of your servant, for
to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O
Lord, are good and ready to forgive, and abundant
in mercy to all those who call upon you. Give
ear, O Lord, to my prayer, and attend to the
voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble
I will call upon you, for you will answer me.
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord,
nor are there any works like your works. All
nations whom you have made shall come and worship
before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
For you are great in the wondrous things, you
alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, I will
walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your
name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with
all my heart, and I will glorify your name forevermore.
For great is your mercy toward me, and you have
delivered my soul from the depth of Sheol. O
God, the proud have risen against me, and a mob
of violent men have sought my life, and have
not set you before them. But you, O Lord, are
a God full of compassion and gracious, longsuffering
and abundant in mercy and truth. O turn to me
and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your
servant, and save the son of your maidservant.
Show me a sign for good, that those who hate
me may see it and be ashamed, because you, Lord,
have helped me and comforted me. Psalm 102 A
prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed
and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
I am like a pelican of the wilderness, I am like
an owl of the desert. I lie awake, and I am like
a sparrow alone on a housetop. My enemies reproach
me all day long. Those who deride me swear an
oath against me, for I have eaten ashes like
bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, because
of your indignation and your wrath, for you have
lifted me up and cast me away. My days are like
a shadow that lengthens, and I wither away like
grass. But you, O Lord, shall endure forever,
and the remembrance of your name to all generations.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for the
time to favor her, yes, the set time has come.
For your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and show favor to her dust. So the nations shall
fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings
of the earth your glory. For the Lord shall build
up Zion, he shall appear in his glory, he shall
regard the prayer of the destitute. and shall
not despise their prayer this will be written
for the generation to come that a people yet
to be created may praise the lord for he looked
down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven
the lord viewed the earth to hear the groaning
of the prisoner to release those appointed to
death to declare the name of the lord in zion
and his praise in jerusalem when the peoples
are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve
the lord he weakened my strength in the way He
shortened my days. I said, O my God, do not take
me away in the midst of my days. Your years are
throughout all generations. Of old you laid down
the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the work of your hands. They will perish,
but you will endure. Yes, they will all grow
old like a garment. Like a cloak, you will change
them, and they will be changed. But you are the
same, and your years will have no end. The children
of your servants will continue, and their descendants
will be established before you. Psalm 109 Inscription
To the Chief Musician A Psalm of David Do not
keep silent, O God of my praise, for the mouth
of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful
have opened against me. They have spoken against
me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded
me with the words of hatred and fought against
me without a cause. In return for my love they
are my accusers. But I give myself to prayer.
Thus they have rewarded me evil for good and
hatred for my love. Set a wicked man over him
and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When
he is judged, let him be found guilty and let
his prayer become sin. Let his days be few and
let another take his office. Let his children
be fatherless and his wife a widow. Let his children
continually be vagabonds and beg. Let them seek
their bread also from their desolate places.
Let the creditor seize all that he has and let
strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none
to extend mercy to him. nor let there be any
to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity
be cut off, and in the generation following let
their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of
his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and
let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be continually before the Lord, that
he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
Because he did not remember to show mercy, but
persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might
even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing,
so let it come to him. As he did not delight
in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he
clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
so let it enter his body like water and like
oil into his bones. Let it be to him like the
garment which covers him, and for a belt with
which he girds himself continually. Let this
be the Lord's reward to my accusers and to those
who speak evil against my person. But you, O
God the Lord, deal with me for your name's sake,
because your mercy is good. Deliver me, for I
am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within
me. I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens.
I am shaken off like a locust. My knees are weak
through fasting, and my flesh is feeble from
lack of fatness. I also have become a reproach
to them. When they look at me, they shake their
heads. Help me, O Lord my God, O save me according
to your mercy, that they may know that this is
your hand, that you, Lord, have done it. Let
them curse, but you bless. When they arise, let
them be ashamed, but let your servant rejoice.
Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let
them cover themselves with their own disgrace
as with a mantle. I will greatly praise the Lord
with my mouth. Yes, I will praise him among the
multitude, for he shall stand at the right hand
of the poor. to save him from those who condemn
him. Psalm 139 Inscription for the Chief Musician
A Psalm of David O Lord, you have searched me
and known me. You know my sitting down and my
rising up. You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down, and
are acquainted with all my ways. For there is
not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord,
you know it altogether. You have hedged me behind
and before, and laid your hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high.
I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your
spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I
make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If
I take the wings of the morning and dwell in
the utmost parts of the sea, even there your
hand shall lead me and your right hand shall
hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall
fall on me, even the night shall be light about
me. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from
you. But the night shines as the day. The darkness
and the light are both alike to you. For you
formed my inward parts. You covered me in my
mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works,
and that my soul knows very well. My frame was
not hidden from you, when I was made in secret,
and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of
the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet
unformed. And in your book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me. When as yet there
were none of them. How precious also are your
thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of
them! If I should count them, they would be more
in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still
with you. O that you would slay the wicked, O
God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty
men, for they speak against you wickedly. Your
enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate
them, O Lord, who hate you? And do I not loathe
those who rise up against you? I hate them with
perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. Search
me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know
my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 140, Inscription, to the Chief Musician,
a Psalm of David. Deliver me, O Lord, from evil
men. Preserve me from violent men, who plan evil
things in their hearts. They continually gather
together for war. They sharpen their tongues
like a serpent. The poison of asps is under their
lips. Salah. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands
of the wicked. Preserve me from violent men who
have purposed to make my steps stumble. The proud
have hidden a snare for me and cords. They have
spread a net by the wayside. They have set traps
for me. Salah. I said to the Lord, You are my
God. Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.
O God, the Lord, the strength of my salvation.
You have covered my head in the day of battle.
Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked.
Do not further his wicked scheme, lest they be
exalted. Salah As for the head of those who surround
me, let the evil of their lips cover them. Let
burning coals fall upon them. Let them be cast
into the fire, into deep pits, that they rise
not up again. Let not a slanderer be established
in the earth. Let evil hunt the violent man to
overthrow him. I know that the Lord will maintain
the cause of the afflicted and justice for the
poor. Surely the righteous shall give thanks
to your name. The upright shall dwell in your
presence. Psalm 141 Inscription A Psalm of David
Lord, I cry out to you. Make haste to me. Give
ear to my voice when I cry out to you. Let my
prayer be set before you as incense, the lifting
up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set
a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over
the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart
to any evil thing. to practice wicked works with
men who work iniquity, and do not let me eat
of their delicacies. Let the righteous strike
me, it shall be a kindness, and let him rebuke
me, it shall be as excellent oil, let my head
not refuse it. For still my prayer is against
the deeds of the wicked. Their judges are overthrown
by the sides of the cliff, and they hear my words,
for they are sweet. Our bones are scattered at
the mouth of the grave, as when one plows and
breaks up the earth. But my eyes are upon you,
O God the Lord. In you I take refuge. Do not
leave my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares
they have laid for me, and from the traps of
the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall
into their own nets, while I escape safely. Psalm
143 Inscription A Psalm of David Hear my prayer,
O Lord. Give ear to my supplications. In your
faithfulness answer me, and in your righteousness.
My soul longs for you like a thirsty land. Salah.
Answer me speedily, O Lord. My spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me, lest I be like
those who go down into the pit. Cause me to hear
your loving kindness in the morning, for in you
do I trust. Cause me to know the way in which
I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies. In you I
take shelter. Teach me to do your will, for you
are my God. Your spirit is good. Lead me in the
land of uprightness. Revive me, O Lord, for your
name's sake. For your righteousness' sake, bring
my soul out of trouble. In your mercy, cut off
my enemies and destroy all those who afflict
my soul. For I am your servant. 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.