The Psalter or Psalms of David
The Fourteenth Day.
Morning Prayer.
Psalm 71. In te, Domine, speravi.
IN thee, O LORD, have I put my trust; let me never be put to
confusion, * but rid me and deliver me in thy righteousness;
incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
2 Be thou my stronghold, whereunto I may alway resort: * thou
hast promised to help me, for thou art my house of defence, and
my castle.
3 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the ungodly, * out
of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
4 For thou, O Lord GOD, art the thing that I long for: * thou
art my hope, even from my youth.
5 Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born: *
thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb: my praise shall
be alway of thee.
6 I am become as it were a monster unto many, * but my sure trust
is in thee.
7 O let my mouth be filled with thy praise, * that I may sing
of thy glory and honour all the day long.
8 Cast me not away in the time of age; * forsake me not when
my strength faileth me.
9 For mine enemies speak against me; * and they that lay wait
for my soul take their counsel together, saying,
10 God hath forsaken him; * persecute him, and take him, for
there is none to deliver him.
11 Go not far from me, O God; * my God, haste thee to help me.
12 Let them be confounded and perish that are against my soul;
* let them be covered with shame and dishonour that seek to do
me evil.
13 As for me, I will patiently abide alway, * and will praise
thee more and more.
14 My mouth shall daily speak of thy righteousness and salvation;
* for I know no end thereof.
15 I will go forth in the strength of the Lord GOD, * and will
make mention of thy righteousness only.
16 Thou, O God, hast taught me from my youth up until now; *
therefore will I tell of thy wondrous works.
17 Forsake me not, O God, in mine old age, when I am gray-headed,
* until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and
thy power to all them that are yet for to come.
18 Thy righteousness, O God, is very high, * and great things
are they that thou hast done: O God, who is like unto thee!
19 O what great troubles and adversities hast thou showed me
! and yet didst thou turn and refresh me; * yea, and broughtest
me from the deep of the earth again.
20 Thou hast brought me to great honour, * and comforted me on
every side:
21 Therefore will I praise thee, and thy faithfulness, O God,
playing upon an instrument of music: * unto thee will I sing
upon the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
22 My lips will be glad when I sing unto thee; * and so will
my soul whom thou hast delivered.
23 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day
long; * for they are confounded and brought unto shame that seek
to do me evil.
Psalm 72. Deus, judicium.
GIVE the King thy judgments, O God, * and thy righteousness unto
the King's son.
2 Then shall he judge thy people according unto right, * and
defend the poor.
3 The mountains also shall bring peace, * and the little hills
righteousness unto the people.
4 He shall keep the simple folk by their right, * defend the
children of the poor, and punish the wrong doer.
5 They shall fear thee, as long as the sun and moon endureth,
* from one generation to another.
6 He shall come down like the rain upon the mown grass, * even
as the drops that water the earth.
7 In his time shall the righteous flourish; * yea, and abundance
of peace, so long as the moon endureth.
8 His dominion shall be also from the one sea to the other, *
and from the River unto the world's end.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall kneel before him; *
his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall give presents;
* the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts.
11 All kings shall fall down before him; * all nations shall
do him service.
12 For he shall deliver the poor when he crieth; * the needy
also, and him that hath no helper.
13 He shall be favourable to the simple and needy, * and shall
preserve the souls of the poor.
14 He shall deliver their souls from falsehood and wrong; * and
dear shall their blood be in his sight.
15 He shall live, and unto him shall be given of the gold of
Arabia; * prayer shall be made ever unto him, and daily shall
he be praised.
16 There shall be an heap of corn in the earth, high upon the
hills ; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: * and they
of the city shall flourish like grass upon the earth.
17 His Name shall endure for ever; his Name shall remain under
the sun among the posterities, which shall be blessed in him;
* and all the nations shall praise him.
18 Blessed be the LORD God, even the God of Israel, * which only
doeth wondrous things;
19 And blessed be the Name of his majesty for ever: * and all
the earth shall be filled with his majesty. Amen, Amen.
Evening Prayer.
Psalm 73. Quam bonus Israel!
TRULY God is loving unto Israel: * even unto such as are of a
clean heart.
2 Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone, * my treadings had
well-nigh slipt.
3 And why? I was grieved at the wicked: * I do also see the ungodly
in such prosperity.
4 For they are in no peril of death; * but are lusty and strong.
5 They come in no misfortune like other folk; * neither are they
plagued like other men.
6 And this is the cause that they are so holden with pride, *
and cruelty covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell with fatness, * and they do even what they
lust.
8 They corrupt other, and speak of wicked blasphemy; * their
talking is against the Most High.
9 For they stretch forth their mouth unto the heaven, * and their
tongue goeth through the world.
10 Therefore fall the people unto them, * and thereout suck they
no small advantage.
11 Tush, say they, how should God perceive it? * is there knowledge
in the Most High?
12 Lo, these are the ungodly, * these prosper in the world, and
these have riches in possession:
13 And I said, Then have I cleansed my heart in vain, * and washed
my hands in innocency.
14 All the day long have I been punished, * and chastened every
morning.
15 Yea, and I had almost said even as they; * but lo, then I
should have condemned the generation of thy children.
16 Then thought I to understand this; * but it was too hard for
me,
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God: * then understood
I the end of these men;
18 Namely, how thou dost set them in slippery places, * and castest
them down, and destroyest them.
19 O how suddenly do they consume, * perish, and come to a fearful
end!
20 Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh; * so shalt thou
make their image to vanish out of the city.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, * and it went even through my reins.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant, * even as it were a beast
before thee.
23 Nevertheless, I am alway by thee; * for thou hast holden me
by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, * and after that receive
me with glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? * and there is none upon earth
that I desire in comparison of thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth; * but God is the strength of
my heart, and my portion for ever.
27 For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish; * thou hast destroyed
all them that are unfaithful unto thee.
28 But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust
in the Lord GOD, * and to speak of all thy works in the gates
of the daughter of Sion.
Psalm 74. Ut quid, Deus?
O GOD, wherefore art thou absent from us so long? * why is thy
wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 O think upon thy congregation, * whom thou hast purchased,
and redeemed of old.
3 Think upon the tribe of thine inheritance, * and Mount Sion,
wherein thou hast dwelt.
4 Lift up thy feet, that thou mayest utterly destroy every enemy,
* which hath done evil in thy sanctuary.
5 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy congregations, *
and set up their banners for tokens.
6 He that hewed timber afore out of the thick trees, * was known
to bring it to an excellent work.
7 But now they break down all the carved work thereof * with
axes and hammers.
8 They have set fire upon thy holy places, * and have defiled
the dwelling-place of thy Name, even unto the ground.
9 Yea, they said in their hearts, Let us make havoc of them altogether:
* thus have they burnt up all the houses of God in the land.
10 We see not our tokens; there is not one prophet more; * no,
not one is there among us, that understandeth any more.
11 O God, how long shall the adversary do this dishonour? * shall
the enemy blaspheme thy Name for ever?
12 Why withdrawest thou thy hand? * why pluckest thou not thy
right hand out of thy bosom to consume the enemy?
13 For God is my King of old; * the help that is done upon earth,
he doeth it himself.
14 Thou didst divide the sea through thy power; * thou brakest
the heads of the dragons in the waters.
15 Thou smotest the heads of leviathan in pieces, * and gavest
him to be meat for the people of the wilderness.
16 Thou broughtest out fountains and waters out of the hard rocks;
* thou driedst up mighty waters.
17 The day is thine, and the night is thine; * thou hast prepared
the light and the sun.
18 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; * thou hast made
summer and winter.
19 Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy hath rebuked; * and how
the foolish people hath blasphemed thy Name.
20 O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude
of the enemies; * and forget not the congregation of the poor
for ever.
21 Look upon the covenant; * for all the earth is full of darkness
and cruel habitations.
22 O let not the simple go away ashamed; * but let the poor and
needy give praise unto thy Name.
23 Arise, O God, maintain thine own cause; * remember how the
foolish man blasphemeth thee daily.
24 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: * the presumption of
them that hate thee increaseth ever more and more.
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