Praise to the Creator and Preserver

331 Sing for joy in the Lord , O you righteous ones ; Praise is becoming to the upright . 2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre ; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings . 3 Sing to Him a new song ; Play skillfully with a shout of joy . 4 For the word of the Lord is upright , And all His work is done in faithfulness . 5 He loves righteousness and justice ; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord . 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made , And by the breath of His mouth all their host . 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap ; He lays up the deeps in storehouses . 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord ; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 9 For He spoke , and it was done ; He commanded , and it stood fast. 10 The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations ; He frustrates the plans of the peoples . 11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever , The plans of His heart from generation to generation .

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord , The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance . 13 The Lord looks from heaven ; He sees all the sons of men ; 14 From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth , 15 He who fashions the hearts of them all , He who understands all their works . 16 The king is not saved by a mighty army ; A warrior is not delivered by great strength . 17 A horse is a false hope for victory ; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength . 18 Behold , the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness , 19 To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine . 20 Our soul waits for the Lord ; He is our help and our shield . 21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name . 22 Let Your lovingkindness , O Lord , be upon us, According as we have hoped in You.

Praise for Deliverance from Troubles

341 I will bless the Lord at all times ; His praise shall continually be in my mouth . 2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord ; The humble will hear it and rejoice . 3 O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together . 4 I sought the Lord , and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears . 5 They looked to Him and were radiant , And their faces will never be ashamed . 6 This poor man cried , and the Lord heard him And saved him out of all his troubles . 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them. 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good ; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 9 O fear the Lord , you His saints ; For to those who fear Him there is no want . 10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger ; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing .

11 Come , you children , listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord . 12 Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good ? 13 Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit . 14 Depart from evil and do good ; Seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry . 16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers , To cut off the memory of them from the earth . 17 The righteous cry , and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles . 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted e And saves those who are crushed in spirit . 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous , But the Lord delivers him out of them all . 20 He keeps all his bones , Not one of them is broken . 21 Evil shall slay the wicked , And those who hate the righteous will be condemned . 22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants , And none e of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned .

Paul's Defense before Felix

241 After five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders , with an attorney named Tertullus , and they brought charges to the governor against Paul . 2 After Paul had been summoned , Tertullus began to accuse him, saying to the governor, "S ince we have through you attained much peace , and since by your providence reforms are being carried out for this nation , 3 we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere , most excellent Felix , with all thankfulness . 4 "But, that I may not weary you any further e , I beg you to grant us, by your kindness , a brief hearing . 5 "For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world , and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes . 6 "And he even tried to desecrate the temple ; and then we arrested him. [We wanted to judge him according to our own Law . 7 "But Lysias the commander came along , and with much violence took him out of our hands , 8 ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him." 9 The Jews also joined in the attack , asserting that these things were so .

10 When the governor had nodded for him to speak , Paul responded : "K nowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation , I cheerfully make my defense , 11 since you can take note of the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship . 12 " Neither in the temple , nor in the synagogues , nor in the city itself did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot . 13 " Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me. 14 "But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers , believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets ; 15 having a hope in God , which these men cherish themselves , that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked . 16 "In view of this , I also do my best to maintain always e a blameless conscience both before God and before men . 17 "Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings ; 18 in which they found me occupied in the temple , having been purified , without e any crowd or uproar . But there were some Jews from Asia - 19 who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation , if they should have anything against me. 20 "Or else let these men themselves tell what misdeed they found when I stood before the Council , 21 other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, 'For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today .' "

22 But Felix , having a more exact knowledge about the Way , put them off , saying , "When Lysias the commander comes down , I will decide your case e ." 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom , and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him. 24 But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla , his wife who was a Jewess , and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus . 25 But as he was discussing righteousness , self-control and the judgment to come , Felix became frightened and said , "Go away for the present , and when I find time I will summon you." 26 At the same time too , he was hoping that money would be given him by Paul ; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and converse with him. 27 But after two years had passed , Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus , and wishing to do the Jews a favor , Felix left Paul imprisoned .