Psalm 57

Praise for God’s Protection

For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. When he fled before Saul into the cave.(A)

Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,
for I take refuge in you.
I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings
until danger passes.(B)
I call to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.[a](C)
He reaches down from heaven and saves me,
challenging the one who tramples me.(D)Selah
God sends his faithful love and truth.(E)
I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down among devouring lions—
people whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.(F)
God, be exalted above the heavens;
let your glory be over the whole earth.(G)
They prepared a net for my steps;
I was despondent.
They dug a pit ahead of me,
but they fell into it!(H)Selah

My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident.
I will sing; I will sing praises.(I)
Wake up, my soul!
Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.(J)
I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.(K)
10 For your faithful love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches the clouds.(L)
11 God, be exalted above the heavens;(M)
let your glory be over the whole earth.(N)

Footnotes

  1. 57:2 Or who avenges me

Psalm 95

Worship and Warning

Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!(A)
Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving;
let’s shout triumphantly to him in song.(B)

For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.(C)
The depths of the earth are in his hand,
and the mountain peaks are his.(D)
The sea is his; he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.(E)

Come, let’s worship and bow down;
let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker.(F)
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep under his care.[a](G)
Today, if you hear his voice:(H)
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness(I)
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.(J)
10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know my ways.”(K)
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.”(L)

Footnotes

  1. 95:7 Lit sheep of his hand

Psalm 97

The Majestic King

The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coasts and islands be glad.(A)

Clouds and total darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.(B)
Fire goes before him
and burns up his foes on every side.(C)
His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.(D)
The mountains melt like wax
at the presence of the Lord
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.(E)

The heavens proclaim his righteousness;(F)
all the peoples see his glory.(G)

All who serve carved images,
those who boast in worthless idols, will be put to shame.(H)
All the gods[a] must worship him.(I)

Zion hears and is glad,
Judah’s villages[b] rejoice
because of your judgments, Lord.(J)
For you, Lord,
are the Most High over the whole earth;
you are exalted above all the gods.(K)

10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!(L)
He protects the lives of his faithful ones;(M)
he rescues them from the power of the wicked.(N)
11 Light dawns[c][d] for the righteous,
gladness for the upright in heart.(O)
12 Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.[e](P)

Psalm 98

Praise the King

A psalm.

Sing a new song to the Lord,(Q)
for he has performed wonders;
his right hand and holy arm
have won him victory.(R)
The Lord has made his victory known;
he has revealed his righteousness
in the sight of the nations.(S)
He has remembered his love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth
have seen our God’s victory.(T)

Let the whole earth shout to the Lord;
be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.(U)
Sing to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and melodious song.(V)
With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn
shout triumphantly
in the presence of the Lord, our King.(W)

Let the sea and all that fills it,
the world and those who live in it, resound.(X)
Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains shout together for joy(Y)
before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world righteously
and the peoples fairly.(Z)

Psalm 99

The King Is Holy

The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble.
He is enthroned between the cherubim.(AA)
Let the earth quake.(AB)
The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted above all the peoples.(AC)
Let them praise your great
and awe-inspiring name.(AD)
He is holy.(AE)

The mighty King loves justice.
You have established fairness;
you have administered justice
and righteousness in Jacob.(AF)
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at his footstool.(AG)
He is holy.(AH)

Moses and Aaron were among his priests;(AI)
Samuel also was among those calling on his name.
They called to the Lord and he answered them.(AJ)
He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud;(AK)
they kept his decrees and the statutes he gave them.
Lord our God, you answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,(AL)
but an avenger of their sinful actions.(AM)

Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.(AN)

Footnotes

  1. 97:7 LXX, Syr read All his angels; Heb 1:6
  2. 97:8 Lit daughters
  3. 97:11 One Hb ms, LXX, some ancient versions read rises to shine; Ps 112:4
  4. 97:11 Lit Light is sown
  5. 97:12 Lit to the memory of his holiness

David’s Military Census

24 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel again, and he stirred up David against them to say, “Go, count the people of Israel and Judah.”(A)

So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the troops so I can know their number.”(B)

Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times more than they are(C)—while my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king want to do this?”

Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the king’s presence to register the troops of Israel.

They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer,(D) south of the town in the middle of the valley, and then proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. They went to Gilead and to the land of the Hittites[a] and continued on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. They went to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Afterward, they went to the Negev of Judah at Beer-sheba.

When they had gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. Joab gave the king the total of the registration of the troops. There were eight hundred thousand valiant armed men[b] from Israel and five hundred thousand men from Judah.(E)

10 David’s conscience troubled him(F) after he had taken a census of the troops. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I’ve done. Now, Lord, because I’ve been very foolish,(G) please take away your servant’s guilt.”

David’s Punishment

11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad,(H) David’s seer:(I) 12 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them, and I will do it to you.’”

13 So Gad went to David, told him the choices, and asked him, “Do you want three[c] years of famine to come on your land, to flee from your foes three months while they pursue you, or to have a plague in your land three days? Now, consider carefully[d] what answer I should take back to the one who sent me.”

14 David answered Gad, “I have great anxiety. Please, let us fall into the Lord’s hands because his mercies are great,(J) but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men died. 16 Then the angel extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,(K) but the Lord relented concerning the destruction(L) and said to the angel who was destroying(M) the people, “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah[e] the Jebusite.(N)

17 When David saw the angel striking the people, he said to the Lord, “Look, I am the one who has sinned; I am the one[f] who has done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let your hand be against me and my father’s family.”

David’s Altar

18 Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 David went up in obedience to Gad’s command, just as the Lord had commanded. 20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, so he went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground.

21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord, so the plague on the people may be halted.”(O)

22 Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever he wants[g] and offer it. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.(P) 23 Your Majesty, Araunah gives everything here to the king.” Then he said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

24 The king answered Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces[h] of silver. 25 He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord was receptive to prayer for the land,(Q) and the plague on Israel ended.

Footnotes

  1. 24:6 LXX; MT reads of Tahtim-hodshi; Hb obscure
  2. 24:9 Lit men of valor drawing the sword
  3. 24:13 LXX; MT reads seven; 1Ch 21:12
  4. 24:13 Lit Now, know and see
  5. 24:16 = Ornan in 1Ch 21:15–28; 2Ch 3:1
  6. 24:17 LXX reads shepherd
  7. 24:22 Lit take what is good in his eyes
  8. 24:24 Lit 50 shekels

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