The Blessedness of Forgiveness

321 Happy is he who has forgiveness for his wrongdoing, and whose sin is covered. 2 Happy is the man in whom the Lord sees no evil, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I kept my mouth shut, my bones were wasted, because of my crying all through the day. 4 For the weight of your hand was on me day and night; my body became dry like the earth in summer. (Selah.) 5 I made my wrongdoing clear to you, and did not keep back my sin. I said, I will put it all before the Lord; and you took away my wrongdoing and my sin. (Selah.) 6 For this cause let every saint make his prayer to you at a time when you are near: then the overflowing of the great waters will not overtake him.

7 You are my safe and secret place; you will keep me from trouble; you will put songs of salvation on the lips of those who are round me. (Selah.) 8 I will give you knowledge, teaching you the way to go; my eye will be your guide. 9 Do not be like the horse or the ass, without sense; ... 10 The sinner will be full of trouble; but mercy will be round the man who has faith in the Lord. 11 Be glad in the Lord with joy, you upright men; give cries of joy, all you whose hearts are true.

Praise to the Creator and Preserver

331 Be glad in the Lord, O doers of righteousness; for praise is beautiful for the upright. 2 Give praise to the Lord on the corded instrument; make melody to him with instruments of music. 3 Make a new song to him; playing expertly with a loud noise. 4 For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his works are certain. 5 His delight is in righteousness and wisdom; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord. 6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the army of heaven by the breath of his mouth. 7 He makes the waters of the sea come together in a mass; he keeps the deep seas in store-houses. 8 Let the earth be full of the fear of the Lord; let all the people of the world be in holy fear of him. 9 For he gave the word, and it was done; by his order it was fixed for ever. 10 The Lord undoes the designs of the nations; he makes the thoughts of the peoples without effect. 11 The Lord's purpose is eternal, the designs of his heart go on through all the generations of man.

12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he has taken for his heritage. 13 The Lord is looking down from heaven; he sees all the sons of men; 14 From his house he keeps watch on all who are living on the earth; 15 He makes all their hearts; their works are clear to him. 16 A king's salvation is not in the power of his army; a strong man does not get free by his great strength. 17 A horse is a false hope; his great power will not make any man free from danger. 18 See, the eye of the Lord is on those in whose hearts is the fear of him, on those whose hope is in his mercy; 19 To keep their souls from death; and to keep them living in time of need. 20 Our souls are waiting for the Lord; he is our help and our salvation. 21 For in him our hearts have joy; in his holy name is our hope. 22 Let your mercy be on us, O Lord, as we are waiting for you.

Praise for Deliverance from Troubles

341 I will be blessing the Lord at all times; his praise will be ever in my mouth. 2 My soul will say great things of the Lord: the poor in spirit will have knowledge of it and be glad. 3 O give praise to the Lord with me; let us be witnesses together of his great name. 4 I was searching for the Lord, and he gave ear to my voice, and made me free from all my fears. 5 Let your eyes be turned to him and you will have light, and your faces will not be shamed. 6 This poor man's cry came before the Lord, and he gave him salvation from all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord is ever watching over those who have fear of him, to keep them safe. 8 By experience you will see that the Lord is good; happy is the man who has faith in him. 9 Keep yourselves in the fear of the Lord, all you his saints; for those who do so will have no need of anything. 10 The young lions are in need and have no food; but those who are looking to the Lord will have every good thing.

11 Come, children, give attention to me; I will be your teacher in the fear of the Lord. 12 What man has a love of life, and a desire that his days may be increased so that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from words of deceit. 14 Be turned from evil, and do good; make a search for peace, desiring it with all your heart. 15 The eyes of the Lord are on the upright, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to take away the memory of them from the earth. 17 The cry of the upright comes before the Lord, and he takes them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near the broken-hearted; he is the saviour of those whose spirits are crushed down. 19 Great are the troubles of the upright: but the Lord takes him safely out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken. 21 Evil will put an end to the sinner, and those who are haters of righteousness will come to destruction. 22 The Lord will be the saviour of the souls of his servants, and no one who has faith in him will be put to shame.

A Prayer for Rescue from Enemies

351 O Lord, be on my side against those who are judging me; be at war with those who make war against me. 2 Be a breastplate to me, and give me your help. 3 Take up your spear and keep back my attackers; say to my soul, I am your salvation. 4 Let them be overcome and put to shame who make attempts to take my soul; let those who would do me damage be turned back and made foolish. 5 Let them be like dust from the grain before the wind; let the angel of the Lord send them in flight. 6 Let their way be dark and full of danger; let them be troubled by the angel of the Lord. 7 For without cause they have put a net ready for me secretly, in which to take my soul. 8 Let destruction come on them without their knowledge; let them be taken themselves in their secret nets, falling into the same destruction. 9 And my soul will have joy in the Lord; it will be glad in his salvation. 10 All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you? The saviour of the poor man from the hands of the strong, of him who is poor and in need from him who takes his goods.

11 False witnesses got up: they put questions to me about crimes of which I had no knowledge. 12 They gave me back evil for good, troubling my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were ill I put on the clothing of sorrow: I went without food and was sad, and my prayer came back again to my heart. 14 My behaviour was as if it had been my friend or my brother: I was bent low in grief like one whose mother is dead. 15 But they took pleasure in my trouble, and came together, yes, low persons came together against me without my knowledge; they never came to an end of wounding me. 16 Like men of deceit they put me to shame; the voice of their wrath was loud against me.

17 Lord, how long will you be looking on? take my soul from their destruction, my life from the lions. 18 I will give you praise in the great meeting; I will give you honour among a strong people. 19 Do not let my haters be glad over me falsely; let not those who are against me without cause make sport of me. 20 For they do not say words of peace; in their deceit they are designing evil things against the quiet ones in the land. 21 Their mouths were open wide against me, and they said, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it. 22 You have seen this, O Lord; be not unmoved: O Lord, be not far from me. 23 Be awake, O Lord, be moved to take up my cause, my God and my Lord. 24 Be my judge, O Lord my God, in your righteousness; do not let them be glad over me. 25 Let them not say in their hearts, So we will have it: let them not say, We have put an end to him. 26 Let all those who take pleasure in my troubles be shamed and come to nothing: let those who are lifted up against me be covered with shame and have no honour. 27 Let those who are on my side give cries of joy; let them ever say, The Lord be praised, for he has pleasure in the peace of his servant. 28 And my tongue will be talking of your righteousness and of your praise all the day.