Chapter 41

PSALM 89. _Misericordias Domini_.

My song shall be alway of the loving-kindness of the Lord: with my mouth will I ever be shewing thy truth from one generation to another.

2 For I have said, Mercy shall be set up for ever: thy truth shalt thou stablish in the heavens.

3 I have made a covenant with my chosen: I have sworn unto David my servant;

4 Thy seed will I stablish for ever: and set up thy throne from one generation to another.

5 O Lord, the very heavens shall praise thy wondrous works: and thy truth in the congregation of the saints.

6 For who is he among the clouds: that shall be compared unto the Lord?

7 And what is he among the gods: that shall be like unto the Lord?

8 God is very greatly to be feared in the council of the saints: and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him.

9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like unto thee: thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side.

10 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: thou stillest the waves thereof when they arise.

11 Thou hast subdued Egypt, and destroyed it: thou hast scattered thine enemies abroad with thy mighty arm.

12 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: thou hast laid the foundation of the round world, and all that therein is.

13 Thou hast made the north and the south: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy Name.

14 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

15 Righteousness and equity are the habitation of thy seat: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

16 Blessed is the people, O Lord, that can rejoice in thee: they shall walk in the light of thy countenance.

17 Their delight shall be daily in thy Name: and in thy righteousness shall they make their boast.

18 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy loving-kindness thou shalt lift up our horns.

19 For the Lord is our defence: the Holy One of Israel is our King.

20 Thou spakest sometime in visions unto thy saints, and saidst: I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

21 I have found David my servant: with my holy oil have I anointed him.

22 My hand shall hold him fast: and my arm shall strengthen him.

23 The enemy shall not be able to do him violence: the son of wickedness shall not hurt him.

24 I will smite down his foes before his face: and plague them that hate him.

25 My truth also and my mercy shall be with him: and in my Name shall his horn be exalted.

26 I will set his dominion also in the sea: and his right hand in the floods.

27 He shall call me, Thou art my Father: my God, and my strong salvation.

28 And I will make him my first-born: higher than the kings of the earth.

29 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore: and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

30 His seed also will I make to endure for ever: and his throne as the days of heaven.

31 But if his children forsake my law: and walk not in my judgements;

32 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments: I will visit their offences with the rod, and their sin with scourges.

33 Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him: nor suffer my truth to fail.

34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips: I have sworn once by my holiness, that I will not fail David.

35 His seed shall endure for ever: and his seat is like as the sun before me.

36 He shall stand fast for evermore as the moon: and as the faithful witness in heaven.

37 But thou hast abhorred and forsaken thine Anointed: and art displeased at him.

38 Thou hast broken the covenant of thy servant: and cast his crown to the ground.

39 Thou hast overthrown all his hedges: and broken down his strong holds.

40 All they that go by spoil him: and he is become a reproach to his neighbours.

41 Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies: and made all his adversaries to rejoice.

42 Thou hast taken away the edge of his sword: and givest him not victory in the battle.

43 Thou hast put out his glory: and cast his throne down to the ground.

44 The days of his youth hast thou shortened: and covered him with dishonour.

45 Lord, how long wilt thou hide thyself, for ever: and shall thy wrath burn like fire?

46 O remember how short my time is: where fore hast thou made all men for nought?

47 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death: and shall he deliver his soul from the hand of hell?

48 Lord, where are thy old loving-kindnesses: which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?

49 Remember, Lord, the rebuke that thy servants have: and how I do bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people;

50 Wherewith thine enemies have blasphemed thee, and slandered the footsteps of thine Anointed: Praised be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

DAY 18 MORNING PRAYER

PSALM 90. _Domine, refugium_.

Lord, thou hast been our refuge: from one generation to another.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made: thou art God from everlasting, and world without end.

3 Thou turnest man to destruction: again thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men.

4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday: seeing that is past as a watch in the night.

5 As soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep: and fade away suddenly like the grass.

6 In the morning it is green, and groweth up: but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.

7 For we consume away in thy displeasure: and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.

8 Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee: and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

9 For when thou art angry all our days are gone: we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.

10 The days of our age are threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years: yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.

11 But who regardeth the power of thy wrath: for even thereafter as a man feareth, so is thy displeasure.

12 So teach us to number our days: that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

13 Turn thee again, O Lord, at the last: and be gracious unto thy servants.

14 O satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon: so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

15 Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us: and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity.

16 Shew thy servants thy work: and their children thy glory.

17 And the glorious majesty of the Lord our God be upon us: prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, O prosper thou our handy-work.

PSALM 91. _Qui habitat_.

Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the most High: shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope, and my strong hold: my God, in him will I trust.

3 For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter: and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe under his feathers: his faith fulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night: nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness: nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold: and see the reward of the ungodly.

9 For thou, Lord, art my hope: thou hast set thine house of defence very high.

10 There shall no evil happen unto thee: neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee in their hands: that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him up, because he hath known my Name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and bring him to honour.

16 With long life will I satisfy him: and shew him my salvation.

PSALM 92. _Bonum est confiteri_.

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord: and to sing praises unto thy Name, O most Highest;

2 To tell of thy loving-kindness early in the morning: and of thy truth in the night-season;

3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the lute: upon a loud instrument, and upon the harp.

4 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works: and I will rejoice in giving praise for the operations of thy hands.

5 O Lord, how glorious are thy works: thy thoughts are very deep.

6 An unwise man doth not well consider this: and a fool doth not understand it.

7 When the ungodly are green as the grass, and when all the workers of wickedness do flourish: then shall they be destroyed for ever; but thou, Lord, art the most Highest for evermore.

8 For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, lo, thine enemies shall perish: and all the workers of wickedness shall be destroyed.

9 But my horn shall be exalted like the horn of an unicorn: for I am anointed with fresh oil.

10 Mine eye also shall see his lust of mine enemies: and mine ear shall hear his desire of the wicked that arise up against me.

11 The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree: and shall spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus.

12 Such as are planted in the house of the Lord: shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God.

13 They also shall bring forth more fruit in their age: and shall be fat and well-liking.

14 That they may shew how true the Lord my strength is: and that there is no unrighteousness in him.

DAY 18 EVENING PRAYER

PSALM 93. _Dominus regnavit_.

The Lord is King, and hath put on glorious apparel: the Lord hath put on his apparel, and girded himself with strength.

2 He hath made the round world so sure: that it cannot be moved.

3 Ever since the world began hath thy seat been prepared: thou art from everlasting.

4 The floods are risen, O Lord, the floods have lift up their voice: the floods lift up their waves.

5 The waves of the sea are mighty, and rage horribly: but yet the Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier.

6 Thy testimonies, O Lord, are very sure: holiness becometh thine house for ever.

PSALM 94. _Dem ultionum_.

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, thou God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.

2 Arise, thou Judge of the world: and reward the proud after their deserving.

3 Lord, how long shall the ungodly: how long shall the ungodly triumph?

4 How long shall all wicked doers speak so disdainfully: and make such proud boasting?

5 They smite down thy people, O Lord: and trouble thine heritage.

6 They murder the widow and the stranger: and put the fatherless to death.

7 And yet they say, Tush, the Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

8 Take heed, ye unwise among the people: O ye fools, when will ye understand?

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear: or he that made the eye, shall he not see?

10 Or he that nurtureth the heathen: it is he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he punish?

11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man: that they are but vain.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord: and teachest him in thy law;

13 That thou mayest give him patience in time of adversity: until the pit be digged up for the ungodly.

14 For the Lord will not fail his people: neither will he forsake his inheritance;

15 Until righteousness turn again unto judgement: all such as are true in heart shall follow it.

16 Who will rise up with me against the wicked: or who will take my part against the evil-doers?

17 If the Lord had not helped me: it had not failed but my soul had been put to silence.

18 But when I said, My foot hath slipt: thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

19 In the multitude of the sorrows that I had in my heart: thy comforts have refreshed my soul.

20 Wilt thou have any thing to do with the stool of wickedness: which imagineth mischief as a law?

21 They gather them together against the soul of the righteous: and condemn the innocent blood.

22 But the Lord is my refuge: and my God is the strength of my confidence.

23 He shall recompense them their wickedness, and destroy them in their own malice: yea, the Lord our God shall destroy them.

DAY 19 MORNING PRAYER

PSALM 95. _Venite, exultemus_.

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving: and shew ourselves glad in him with psalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God: and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are all the corners of the earth: and the strength of the hills is his also.

5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands prepared the dry land.

6 O come, let us worship and fall down: and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7 For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

8 To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts: as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

9 When your fathers tempted me: proved me, and saw my works.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said: It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways;

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath: that they should not enter into my rest.

PSALM 96. _Cantate Domino_.

O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the whole earth.

2 Sing unto the Lord, and praise his Name: be telling of his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his honour unto the heathen: and his wonders unto all people.

4 For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised: he is more to be feared than all gods.

5 As for all the gods of the heathen, they are but idols: but it is the Lord that made the heavens.

6 Glory and worship are before him: power and honour are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people: ascribe unto the Lord worship and power.

8 Ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto his Name: bring presents, and come into his courts.

9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: let the whole earth stand in awe of him.

10 Tell it out among the heathen that the Lord is King: and that it is he who hath made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved; and how that he shall judge the people righteously.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad: let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is.

12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord.

13 For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: and with righteousness to judge the world, and the people with his truth.

PSALM 97. _Dominus regnavit_.

The Lord is King, the earth may be glad thereof: yea, the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof.

2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgement are the habitation of his seat.

3 There shall go a fire before him: and burn up his enemies on every side.

4 His lightnings gave shine unto the world: the earth saw it, and was afraid.

5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord: at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens have declared his righteousness: and all the people have seen his glory.

7 Confounded be all they that worship carved images, and that delight in vain gods: worship him, all ye gods.

8 Sion heard of it, and rejoiced: and the daughters of Judah were glad, because of thy judgements, O Lord.

9 For thou, Lord, art higher than all that are in the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.

10 O ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing which is evil: the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints; he shall deliver them from the hand of the ungodly.

11 There is sprung up a light for the righteous: and joyful gladness for such as are true-hearted.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous: and give thanks for a remembrance of his holiness.

DAY 19 EVENING PRAYER

PSALM 98. _Cantate Domino_.

O sing unto the Lord a new song: for he hath done marvellous things.

2 With his own right hand, and with his holy arm: hath he gotten himself the victory.

3 The Lord declared his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

4 He hath remembered his mercy and truth toward the house of Israel: and all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God.

5 Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands: sing, rejoice, and give thanks.

6 Praise the Lord upon the harp: sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.

7 With trumpets also and shawms: O shew yourselves joyful before the Lord the King.

8 Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is: the round world, and they that dwell therein.

9 Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord: for he is come to judge the earth.

10 With righteousness shall he judge the world: and the people with equity.

PSALM 99. _Dominus regnavit_.

The Lord is King, be the people never so unpatient: he sitteth between the cherubims, be the earth never so unquiet.

2 The Lord is great in Sion: and high above all people.

3 They shall give thanks unto thy Name: which is great, wonderful, and holy.

4 The King's power loveth judgement; thou hast prepared equity: thou hast executed judgement and righteousness in Jacob.

5 O magnify the Lord our God: and fall down before his footstool, for he is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among such as call upon his Name: these called upon the Lord, and he heard them.

7 He spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar: for they kept his testimonies, and the law that he gave them.

8 Thou heardest them, O Lord our God: thou forgavest them, O God, and punishedst their own inventions.

9 O magnify the Lord our God, and worship him upon his holy hill: for the Lord our God is holy.

PSALM 100. _Jubilate Deo_.

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song.

2 Be ye sure that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

3 O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name.

4 For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is ever lasting: and his truth endureth from generation to generation.

PSALM 101. _Misericordiam et judicium_.

My song shall be of mercy and judgement: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.

2 O let me have understanding: in the way of godliness.

3 When wilt thou come unto me: I will walk in my house with a perfect heart.

4 I will take no wicked thing in hand; I hate the sins of unfaithfulness: there shall no such cleave unto me.

5 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.

6 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour: him will I destroy.

7 Whoso hath also a proud look and high stomach: I will not suffer him.

8 Mine eyes look upon such as are faithful in the land: that they may dwell with me.

9 Whoso leadeth a godly life: he shall be my servant.

10 There shall no deceitful person dwell in my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

11 I shall soon destroy all the ungodly that are in the land: that I may root out all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.

DAY 20 MORNING PRAYER

PSALM 102. _Domine, exaudi_.

Hear my prayer, O Lord: and let my crying come unto thee.

2 Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble: incline thine ear unto me when I call; O hear me, and that right soon.

3 For my days are consumed away like smoke: and my bones are burnt up as it were a fire-brand.

4 My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass: so that I forget to eat my bread.

5 For the voice of my groaning: my bones will scarce cleave to my flesh.

6 I am become like a pelican in the wilderness: and like an owl that is in the desert.

7 I have watched, and am even as it were a sparrow: that sitteth alone upon the house-top.

8 Mine enemies revile me all the day long: and they that are mad upon me are sworn together against me.

9 For I have eaten ashes as it were bread: and mingled my drink with weeping;

10 And that because of thine indignation and wrath: for thou hast taken me up, and cast me down.

11 My days are gone like a shadow: and I am withered like grass.

12 But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever: and thy remembrance throughout all generations.

13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion: for it is time that thou have mercy upon her, yea, the time is come.

14 And why? thy servants think upon her stones: and it pitieth them to see her in the dust.

15 The heathen shall fear thy Name, O Lord: and all the kings of the earth thy majesty;

16 When the Lord shall build up Sion: and when his glory shall appear;

17 When he turneth him unto the prayer of the poor destitute: and despiseth not their desire.

18 This shall be written for those that come after: and the people which shall be born shall praise the Lord.

19 For he hath looked down from his sanctuary: out of the heaven did the Lord behold the earth;

20 That he might hear the mournings of such as are in captivity: and deliver the children appointed unto death;

21 That they may declare the Name of the Lord in Sion: and his worship at Jerusalem;

22 When the people are gathered together: and the kingdoms also, to serve the Lord.

23 He brought down my strength in my journey: and shortened my days.

24 But I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of mine age: as for thy years, they endure throughout all generations.

25 Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

27 And as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

28 The children of thy servants shall continue: and their seed shall stand fast in thy sight

PSALM 103. _Benedic, anima mea_.

Praise the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me praise his holy Name.

2 Praise the Lord, O my soul: and forget not all his benefits;

3 Who forgiveth all thy sin: and healeth all thine infirmities;

4 Who saveth thy life from destruction: and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness;

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things: making thee young and lusty as an eagle.

6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgement: for all them that are oppressed with wrong.

7 He shewed his ways unto Moses: his works unto the children of Israel.

8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: long-suffering, and of great goodness.

9 He will not alway be chiding: neither keepeth he his anger for ever.

10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins: nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses.

11 For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth: so great is his mercy also toward them that fear him.

12 Look how wide also the east is from the west: so far hath he set our sins from us.

13 Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children: even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him.

14 For he knoweth whereof we are made: he remembereth that we are but dust

15 The days of man are but as grass: for he flourisheth as a flower of the field.

16 For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone: and the place thereof shall know it no more.

17 But the merciful goodness of the Lord endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear him: and his righteousness upon children's children;

18 Even upon such as keep his covenant: and think upon his commandments to do them.

19 The Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven: and his kingdom ruleth over all.