Psalm 120-124
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 120
Prayer for Deliverance from Slanderers
A Song of Ascents.
1 In my distress I cry to the Lord,
that he may answer me:(A)
2 “Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.”
3 What shall be given to you?
And what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!(B)
5 Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech,
that I must live among the tents of Kedar.(C)
6 Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace,
but when I speak,
they are for war.
Psalm 121
Assurance of God’s Protection
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(D)
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.(E)
4 He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.(F)
6 The sun shall not strike you by day
nor the moon by night.(G)
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.(H)
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.(I)
Psalm 122
Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”(J)
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.(K)
4 To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(L)
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.(M)
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.(N)
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.(O)
Psalm 123
Supplication for Mercy
A Song of Ascents.
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!(P)
2 As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.(Q)
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.(R)
4 Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.(S)
Psalm 124
Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—(T)
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;(U)
4 then the flood would have swept us away;
the torrent would have gone over us;(V)
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.(W)
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.(X)
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(Y)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.