A Protestation of Integrity

261 Judge me, O Jehovah, for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in Jehovah without wavering. 2 Examine me, O Jehovah, and prove me; Try my heart and my mind. 3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes; And I have walked in thy truth. 4 I have not sat with men of falsehood; Neither will I go in with dissemblers. 5 I hate the assembly of evil-doers, And will not sit with the wicked.

6 I will wash my hands in innocency: So will I compass thine altar, O Jehovah; 7 That I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, And tell of all thy wondrous works. 8 Jehovah, I love the habitation of thy house, And the place where thy glory dwelleth. 9 Gather not my soul with sinners, Nor my life with men of blood; 10 In whose hands is wickedness, And their right hand is full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: Redeem me, and be merciful unto me. 12 My foot standeth in an even place: In the congregations will I bless Jehovah.

The LORD Is My Light and My Salvation

271 Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh, [Even] mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear: Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident. 4 One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, And to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion: In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me; He will lift me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. And I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto Jehovah.

7 Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with my voice: Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 [When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face from me; Put not thy servant away in anger: Thou hast been my help; Cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, Then Jehovah will take me up. 11 Teach me thy way, O Jehovah; And lead me in a plain path, Because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine adversaries: For false witnesses are risen up against me, And such as breathe out cruelty. 13 [I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah In the land of the living. 14 Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, And let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for Jehovah.

A Prayer for Help and Praise for Its Answer

281 Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I call: My rock, be not thou deaf unto me; Lest, if thou be silent unto me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, When I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. 3 Draw me not away with the wicked, And with the workers of iniquity; That speak peace with their neighbors, But mischief is in their hearts. 4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings: Give them after the operation of their hands; Render to them their desert. 5 Because they regard not the works of Jehovah, Nor the operation of his hands, He will break them down and not build them up.

6 Blessed be Jehovah, Because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. 7 Jehovah is my strength and my shield; My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise him. 8 Jehovah is their strength, And he is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed. 9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: Be their shepherd also, and bear them up for ever.

The Voice of the LORD in the Storm

291 Ascribe unto Jehovah, O ye sons of the mighty, Ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength. 2 Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due unto his name; Worship Jehovah in holy array. 3 The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters: The God of glory thundereth, Even Jehovah upon many waters. 4 The voice of Jehovah is powerful; The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty. 5 The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars; Yea, Jehovah breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox. 7 The voice of Jehovah cleaveth the flames of fire. 8 The voice of Jehovah shaketh the wilderness; Jehovah shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, And strippeth the forests bare: And in his temple everything saith, Glory. 10 Jehovah sat [as King] at the Flood; Yea, Jehovah sitteth as King for ever. 11 Jehovah will give strength unto his people; Jehovah will bless his people with peace.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death

301 I will extol thee, O Jehovah; For thou hast raised me up, And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 O Jehovah my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 O Jehovah, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing praise unto Jehovah, O ye saints of his, And give thanks to his holy memorial [name]. 5 For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a life-time: Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy [cometh] in the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved. 7 Thou, Jehovah, of thy favor hadst made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide thy face; I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, O Jehovah; And unto Jehovah I made supplication: 9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10 Hear, O Jehovah, and have mercy upon me: Jehovah, be thou my helper. 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast loosed my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 To the end that [my] glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Jehovah my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

A Profession of Trust

311 In thee, O Jehovah, do I take refuge; Let me never be put to shame: Deliver me in thy righteousness. 2 Bow down thine ear unto me; Deliver me speedily: Be thou to me a strong rock, A house of defence to save me. 3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; Therefore for thy name's sake lead me and guide me. 4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; For thou art my stronghold. 5 Into thy hand I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah, thou God of truth. 6 I hate them that regard lying vanities; But I trust in Jehovah. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy lovingkindness; For thou hast seen my affliction: Thou hast known my soul in adversities; 8 And thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast set my feet in a large place.

9 Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress: Mine eye wasteth away with grief, [yea], my soul and my body. 10 For my life is spent with sorrow, And my years with sighing: My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, And my bones are wasted away. 11 Because of all mine adversaries I am become a reproach, Yea, unto my neighbors exceedingly, And a fear to mine acquaintance: They that did see me without fled from me. 12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. 13 For I have heard the defaming of many, Terror on every side: While they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. 14 But I trusted in thee, O Jehovah: I said, Thou art my God. 15 My times are in thy hand: Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. 16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: Save me in thy lovingkindness. 17 Let me not be put to shame, O Jehovah; For I have called upon thee: Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol. 18 Let the lying lips be dumb, Which speak against the righteous insolently, With pride and contempt.

19 Oh how great is thy goodness, Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, Which thou hast wrought for them that take refuge in thee, Before the sons of men! 20 In the covert of thy presence wilt thou hide them from the plottings of man: Thou wilt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. 21 Blessed be Jehovah; For he hath showed me his marvellous lovingkindness in a strong city. 22 As for me, I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications When I cried unto thee. 23 Oh love Jehovah, all ye his saints: Jehovah preserveth the faithful, And plentifully rewardeth him that dealeth proudly. 24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All ye that hope in Jehovah.