Psalms 137-139

Psalm 137

¹By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

²There on the willows we hung our harps,

³for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

⁴How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?

⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.

⁶May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

⁷Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

⁸O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

⁹Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Psalm 138

¹Of David. I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises.

²I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else.

³On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.

⁴All the kings of the earth will give You thanks, O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth.

⁵They will sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.

⁶Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.

⁷If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.

⁸The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands.

Psalm 139

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

²You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

³You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

⁵You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

⁷Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,

¹⁰even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—

¹²even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

¹³For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

¹⁷How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

¹⁸If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

²⁰who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.