A Prayer for Deliverance

701 To the chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David: to bring to remembrance. Make haste, O God, to deliver me; Jehovah, [hasten] to my help. 2 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion that seek after my soul; let them be turned backward and confounded that take pleasure in mine adversity; 3 Let them turn back because of their shame that say, Aha! Aha! 4 Let all those that seek thee be glad and rejoice in thee, and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified! 5 But I am afflicted and needy: make haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help and my deliverer: O Jehovah, make no delay.

The Prayer of an Old Man

711 In thee, Jehovah, do I trust: let me never be ashamed. 2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and rescue me; incline thine ear unto me, and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. 4 My God, rescue me out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5 For thou art my hope, O Lord Jehovah, my confidence from my youth. 6 On thee have I been stayed from the womb; from the bowels of my mother thou didst draw me forth: my praise shall be continually of thee. 7 I have been as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge. 8 My mouth shall be filled with thy praise, with thy glory, all the day. 9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. 10 For mine enemies speak against me, and they that watch for my soul consult together, 11 Saying, God hath forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver. 12 O God, be not far from me; my God, hasten to my help. 13 Let them be ashamed, let them be consumed, that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.

14 But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise thee yet more and more. 15 My mouth shall declare thy righteousness, [and] thy salvation all the day: for I know not the numbers [thereof]. 16 I will go in the might of the Lord Jehovah; I will recall thy righteousness, thine alone. 17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I proclaimed thy marvellous works: 18 Now also, when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have proclaimed thine arm unto [this] generation, thy might to every one that is to come. 19 And thy righteousness, O God, reacheth on high, thou who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee? 20 Thou, who hast shewn us many and sore troubles, wilt revive us again, and wilt bring us up again from the depths of the earth; 21 Thou wilt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. 22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, my God; unto thee will I sing psalms with the harp, thou holy One of Israel. 23 My lips shall exult when I sing psalms unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. 24 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day; for they shall be ashamed, for they shall be brought to confusion, that seek my hurt.

The Reign of the Righteous King

721 O God, give the king thy judgments, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.

2 He will judge thy people with righteousness, and thine afflicted with judgment. 3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills, by righteousness. 4 He will do justice to the afflicted of the people; he will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor. 5 They shall fear thee as long as sun and moon endure, from generation to generation. 6 He shall come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. 7 In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon be no more. 8 And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9 The dwellers in the desert shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer tribute: 11 Yea, all kings shall bow down before him; all nations shall serve him. 12 For he will deliver the needy who crieth, and the afflicted, who hath no helper; 13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy: 14 He will redeem their souls from oppression and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 15 And he shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; and prayer shall be made for him continually: all the day shall he be blessed. 16 There shall be abundance of corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall bloom like the herb of the earth. 17 His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and [men] shall bless themselves in him; all nations shall call him blessed.

18 Blessed be Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel, who alone doeth wondrous things! 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever! and let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen, and Amen. 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

The Fate of the Wicked

731 Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are of a pure heart. 2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped; 3 For I was envious at the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs in their death, and their body is well nourished; 5 They have not the hardships of mankind, neither are they plagued like [other] men: 6 Therefore pride encompasseth them as a neck-chain, violence covereth them [as] a garment; 7 Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart: 8 They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily: 9 They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10 Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fulness are wrung out to them. 11 And they say, How can God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High? 12 Behold, these are the wicked, and they prosper in the world: they heap up riches. 13 Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency: 14 For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

15 If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children. 16 When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes; 17 Until I went into the sanctuaries of God; [then] understood I their end. 18 Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins. 19 How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image.

21 When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins, 22 Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was [as] a beast with thee. 23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand; 24 Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me. 25 Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever. 27 For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee. 28 But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may declare all thy works.