The Living Bible (189 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
How lovely is your Temple, O Lord of the armies of heaven.
2
I long, yes, faint with longing to be able to enter your courtyard and come near to the Living God.
3
Even the sparrows and swallows are welcome to come and nest among your altars and there have their young, O Lord of heaven’s armies, my King and my God!
4
How happy are those who can live in your Temple, singing your praises.
5
Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps.
6
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains!
7
They will grow constantly in strength, and each of them is invited to meet with the Lord in Zion.
8
O Jehovah, God of the heavenly armies, hear my prayer! Listen, God of Israel.
9
O God, our Defender and our Shield, have mercy on the one you have anointed as your king.
*
10
A single day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a doorman of the Temple of my God than live in palaces
*
of wickedness.
11
For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths.
*
12
O Lord of the armies of heaven, blessed are those who trust in you.
Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on this land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel,
*
2
and forgiven the sins of your people—yes, covered over each one,
3
so that all your wrath, your blazing anger, is now ended.
4
Now bring us back to loving you,
*
O Lord, so that your anger will never need rise against us again.
5
(Or will you be always angry—on and on to distant generations?)
6
Oh, revive us! Then your people can rejoice in you again.
7
Pour out your love and kindness on us, Lord, and grant us your salvation.
8
I am listening carefully to all the Lord is saying—for he speaks peace to his people, his saints, if they will only stop their sinning.
9
Surely his salvation is near to those who reverence him; our land will be filled with his glory.
10
Mercy and truth have met together. Grim justice
*
and peace have kissed!
11
Truth rises from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12
Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings on the land, and it yields its bountiful crops.
13
Justice goes before him to make a pathway for his steps.
*
Bend down and hear my prayer, O Lord, and answer me, for I am deep in trouble.
2
Protect me from death, for I try to follow all your laws. Save me, for I am serving you and trusting you.
3
Be merciful, O Lord, for I am looking up to you in constant hope.
4
Give me happiness, O Lord, for I worship only you.
5
O Lord, you are so good and kind, so ready to forgive, so full of mercy for all who ask your aid.
6
Listen closely to my prayer, O God. Hear my urgent cry.
7
I will call to you whenever trouble strikes, and you will help me.
8
Where among the heathen gods is there a god like you? Where are their miracles?
9
All the nations—and you made each one—will come and bow before you, Lord, and praise your great and holy name.
10
For you are great and do great miracles. You alone are God.
11
Tell me where you want me to go and I will go there. May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name.
12
With all my heart I will praise you. I will give glory to your name forever,
13
for you love me so much! You are constantly so kind! You have rescued me from deepest hell.
14
O God, proud and insolent men defy me; violent, godless men are trying to kill me.
15
But you are merciful and gentle, Lord, slow in getting angry, full of constant loving-kindness and of truth;
16
so look down in pity and grant strength to your servant and save me.
17
Send me a sign of your favor. When those who hate me see it, they will lose face because you help and comfort me.
High on his holy mountain stands Jerusalem,
*
the city of God, the city he loves more than any other!
3
O city of God, what wondrous tales are told of you!
4
Nowadays when I mention among my friends the names of Egypt and Babylonia, Philistia and Tyre, or even distant Ethiopia, someone boasts that he was born in one or another of those countries.
5
But someday the highest honor will be to be a native of Jerusalem! For the God above all gods will personally bless this city.
6
When he registers her citizens, he will place a check mark beside the names of those who were born here.
7
And in the festivals they’ll sing, “All my heart is in Jerusalem.”
O Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have wept before you day and night.
2
Now hear my prayers; oh, listen to my cry,
3
for my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.
4
They say my life is ebbing out—a hopeless case.
5
They have left me here to die, like those slain on battlefields from whom your mercies are removed.
6
You have thrust me down to the darkest depths.
7
Your wrath lies heavy on me; wave after wave engulfs me.
8
You have made my friends to loathe me, and they have gone away. I am in a trap with no way out.
9
My eyes grow dim with weeping. Each day I beg your help; O Lord, I reach my pleading hands to you for mercy.
10
Soon it will be too late! Of what use are your miracles when I am in the grave? How can I praise you then?
11
Can those in the grave declare your loving-kindness? Can they proclaim your faithfulness?
12
Can the darkness speak of your miracles? Can anyone in the Land of Forgetfulness talk about your help?
13
O Lord, I plead for my life and will keep on pleading day by day.
14
O Jehovah, why have you thrown my life away? Why are you turning your face from me and looking the other way?
15
From my youth I have been sickly and ready to die. I stand helpless before your terrors.
16
Your fierce wrath has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have cut me off.
17
They flow around me all day long.
18
Lover, friend, acquaintance—all are gone. There is only darkness everywhere.