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A Nation Asks for Forgiveness

(A) We will celebrate
    and praise you, Lord!
You are good to us,
    and your love never fails.
No one can praise you enough
for all the mighty things
    you have done.
You bless those people
who are honest and fair
    in everything they do.

Remember me, Lord,
when you show kindness
    by saving your people.
Let me prosper with the rest
    of your chosen ones,
as they celebrate with pride
    because they belong to you.

We and our ancestors
    have sinned terribly.
(B) When they were in Egypt,
    they paid no attention
to your marvelous deeds
    or your wonderful love.
And they turned against you
    at the Red Sea.[a]

But you were true to your name,
and you rescued them to prove
    how mighty you are.
(C) You said to the Red Sea,[b]
    “Dry up!”
Then you led your people across
    on land as dry as a desert.
10 You saved all of them
11 and drowned every one
    of their enemies.
12 (D) Then your people trusted you
    and sang your praises.

13 But they soon forgot
what you had done
    and rejected your advice.
14 (E) They became greedy for food
and tested you there
    in the desert.
15 So you gave them
    what they wanted,
but later you destroyed them
    with a horrible disease.

16 (F) Everyone in camp was jealous
of Moses and of Aaron,
    your chosen priest.
17 Dathan and Abiram rebelled,
and the earth opened up
    and swallowed them.
18 Then fire broke out
and destroyed all
    of their followers.

19 (G) At Horeb your people
made and worshiped the statue
20     of a bull, instead of you,
    their glorious God.
21 You worked powerful miracles
    to save them from Egypt,
but they forgot about you
22 and the fearsome things
    you did at the Red Sea.[c]
23 You were angry and started
    to destroy them,
but Moses, your chosen leader,
    begged you not to do it.

24 (H) They would not trust
    you, Lord,
and they did not like
    the promised land.
25 They would not obey you,
and they grumbled
    in their tents.
26 So you threatened them
by saying, “I'll kill you
    out here in the desert!
27 (I) I'll scatter your children
    everywhere in the world.”

28 (J) Your people became followers
    of a god named Baal Peor,
and they ate sacrifices
    offered to the dead.[d]
29 They did such terrible things
that you punished them
    with a deadly disease.
30 But Phinehas[e] helped them,
    and the sickness stopped.
31 Now he will always
    be highly honored.

32 (K) At Meribah Spring[f]
they turned against you
    and made you furious.
33 Then Moses got into trouble
    for speaking in anger.

34 (L) Our Lord, they disobeyed you
by refusing to destroy
    the nations.
35 Instead they were friendly
with those foreigners
    and followed their customs.
36 Then they fell into the trap
    of worshiping idols.
37 (M) They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons
38     (N) and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood
of these innocent children
    and made the land filthy.
39 By doing such gruesome things,
    they also became filthy.

40 (O) Finally, Lord, you were angry
and terribly disgusted
    with your people.
41 So you put them in the power
    of nations that hated them.
42 They were mistreated and abused
    by their enemies,
43 but you saved them
    time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
and their sins caused
    their downfall.

44 You answered their prayers
    when they were in trouble.
45 You kept your agreement
    and were so merciful
46 that their enemies
    had pity on them.

47 (P) Save us, Lord God!
Bring us back
    from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout
    in praise of your holy name.

48 Lord God of Israel,
you deserve to be praised
    forever and ever.
Let everyone say, “Amen!
    Shout praises to the Lord!”

BOOK V

(Psalms 107–150)

The Lord Is Good to His People

(Q) Shout praises to the Lord!
He is good to us,
    and his love never fails.
Everyone the Lord has rescued
from trouble
    should praise him,
everyone he has brought
from the east and the west,
    the north and the south.[g]

Some of you were lost
in the scorching desert,
    far from a town.
You were hungry and thirsty
    and about to give up.
You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
At once he brought you
    to a town.
You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
To everyone who is thirsty,
    he gives something to drink;
to everyone who is hungry,
    he gives good things to eat.

10 Some of you were prisoners
suffering in deepest darkness
    and bound by chains,
11 because you had rebelled
against God Most High
    and refused his advice.
12 You were worn out
from working like slaves,
    and no one came to help.
13 You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
14 He brought you out
of the deepest darkness
    and broke your chains.

15 You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
16 He breaks down bronze gates
    and shatters iron locks.

17 Some of you had foolishly
committed a lot of sins
    and were in terrible pain.
18 The very thought of food
was disgusting to you,
    and you were almost dead.
19 You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
20 By the power of his own word,
he healed you and saved you
    from destruction.

21 You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
22 You should celebrate
    by offering sacrifices
and singing joyful songs
    to tell what he has done.

23 Some of you made a living
    by sailing the mighty sea,
24 and you saw the miracles
    the Lord performed there.
25 At his command a storm arose,
    and waves covered the sea.
26 You were tossed to the sky
    and to the ocean depths,
until things looked so bad
    that you lost your courage.
27 You staggered like drunkards
    and gave up all hope.
28 You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,
    and he rescued you.
29 He made the storm stop
    and the sea be quiet.
30 You were happy because of this,
and he brought you to the port
    where you wanted to go.

31 You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things
    he does for all of us.
32 Honor the Lord
when you and your leaders
    meet to worship.

33 If you start doing wrong,
the Lord will turn rivers
    into deserts,
34 (R) flowing streams
    into scorched land,
and fruitful fields
    into beds of salt.

35 But the Lord can also turn
    deserts into lakes
and scorched land
    into flowing streams.
36 If you are hungry,
you can settle there
    and build a town.
37 You can plant fields
and vineyards that produce
    a good harvest.
38 The Lord will bless you
with many children
    and with herds of cattle.

39 Sometimes you may be crushed
    by troubles and sorrows,
until only a few of you
    are left to survive.
40 But the Lord will take revenge
    on those who conquer you,
and he will make them wander
    across desert sands.
41 When you are suffering
    and in need,
he will come to your rescue,
and your families will grow
    as fast as a herd of sheep.
42 You will see this because
    you obey the Lord,
but everyone who is wicked
    will be silenced.

43 Be wise! Remember this
and think about the kindness
    of the Lord.

(A song and a psalm by David.)

With God on Our Side

Our God, I am faithful to you
with all my heart,
    and you can trust me.
I will sing
and play music for you
    with all that I am.
I will start playing my harps
    before the sun rises.
I will praise you, Lord,
    for everyone to hear;
I will sing hymns to you
    in every nation.
Your love reaches higher
    than the heavens,
and your loyalty extends
    beyond the clouds.

Our God, may you be honored
    above the heavens;
may your glory be seen
    everywhere on earth.
Answer my prayers
and use your powerful arm
    to give us victory.
Then the people you love
    will be safe.

Our God, from your holy place
    you made this promise:
“I will gladly divide up
    the city of Shechem
and give away Succoth Valley
    piece by piece.
The lands of Gilead
    and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is my war helmet,
and Judah is my symbol
    of royal power.
Moab is merely my washbasin,
    and Edom belongs to me.
I shout with victory
    over the Philistines.”

10 Our God, who will bring me
to the fortress
    or lead me to Edom?
11 Have you rejected us?
    You don't lead our armies.
12 Help us defeat our enemies!
    No one else can rescue us.
13 Only you give us victory
    and crush our enemies.

Footnotes

  1. 106.7 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, “Sea of Reeds,” one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta. This identification is based on Exodus 13.17—14.9, which lists the towns on the route of the Israelites before crossing the sea. In the Greek translation of the Scriptures made about 200 b.c., the “Sea of Reeds” was named “Red Sea.”
  2. 106.9 Red Sea: See the note at 106.7.
  3. 106.22 Red Sea: See the note at 106.7.
  4. 106.28 the dead: Or “lifeless idols.”
  5. 106.30 Phinehas: The grandson of Aaron, who put two people to death and kept the Lord from being angry with the rest of his people (see Numbers 25.1-13).
  6. 106.32 Meribah Spring: See the note at 81.7.
  7. 107.3 south: The Hebrew text has “sea,” probably referring to the Mediterranean Sea.

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