To The Word – Day 222

₁Praise the LORD!

Happy is the person who honours the LORD,

who takes pleasure in obeying his commands.

₂The good man's children will be powerful in the land;

his descendants will be blessed.

₃His family will be wealthy and rich,

and he will be prosperous for ever.

₄Light shines in the darkness for good people,

for those who are merciful, kind, and just.

₅Happy is the person who is generous with his loans,

who runs his business honestly.

₆A good person will never fail;

he will always be remembered.

₇He is not afraid of receiving bad news;

his faith is strong, and he trusts in the LORD.

₈He is not worried or afraid;

he is certain to see his enemies defeated.

₉He gives generously to the needy,

and his kindness never fails;

he will be powerful and respected.

₁₀The wicked see this and are angry;

they glare in hate and disappear;

their hopes are gone for ever.

₁Praise the LORD!

You servants of the LORD,

praise his name!

₂May his name be praised,

now and for ever.

₃From the east to the west

praise the name of the LORD!

₄The LORD rules over all nations;

his glory is above the heavens.

₅There is no one like the LORD our God.

He lives in the heights above,

₆but he bends down

to see the heavens and the earth.

₇He raises the poor from the dust;

he lifts the needy from their misery

₈and makes them companions of princes,

the princes of his people.

₉He honours the childless wife in her home;

he makes her happy by giving her children.

Praise the LORD!

₁When the people of Israel left Egypt,

when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land,

₂Judah became the Lord's holy people,

Israel became his own possession.

₃The Red Sea looked and ran away;

the River Jordan stopped flowing.

₄The mountains skipped like goats;

the hills jumped about like lambs.

₅What happened, Sea, to make you run away?

And you, O Jordan, why did you stop flowing?

₆You mountains, why did you skip like goats?

You hills, why did you jump about like lambs?

₇Tremble, earth, at the Lord's coming,

at the presence of the God of Jacob,

₈who changes rocks into pools of water

and solid cliffs into flowing springs.

₁To you alone, O LORD, to you alone,

and not to us, must glory be given

because of your constant love and faithfulness.

₂Why should the nations ask us,

“Where is your God?”

₃Our God is in heaven;

he does whatever he wishes.

₄Their gods are made of silver and gold,

formed by human hands.

₅They have mouths, but cannot speak,

and eyes, but cannot see.

₆They have ears, but cannot hear,

and noses, but cannot smell.

₇They have hands, but cannot feel,

and feet, but cannot walk;

they cannot make a sound.

₈May all who made them and who trust in them

become like the idols they have made.

₉Trust in the LORD, you people of Israel.

He helps you and protects you.

₁₀Trust in the LORD, you priests of God.

He helps you and protects you.

₁₁Trust in the LORD, all you that worship him.

He helps you and protects you.

₁₂The LORD remembers us and will bless us;

he will bless the people of Israel

and all the priests of God.

₁₃He will bless everyone who honours him,

the great and the small alike.

₁₄May the LORD give you children —

you and your descendants!

₁₅May you be blessed by the LORD,

who made heaven and earth!

₁₆Heaven belongs to the LORD alone,

but he gave the earth to the human race.

₁₇The LORD is not praised by the dead,

by any who go down to the land of silence.

₁₈But we, the living, will give thanks to him

now and for ever.

Praise the LORD!

₁I love the LORD, because he hears me;

he listens to my prayers.

₂He listens to me

every time I call to him.

₃The danger of death was all round me;

the horrors of the grave closed in on me;

I was filled with fear and anxiety.

₄Then I called to the LORD,

“I beg you, LORD, save me!”

₅The LORD is merciful and good;

our God is compassionate.

₆The LORD protects the helpless;

when I was in danger, he saved me.

₇Be confident, my heart,

because the LORD has been good to me.

₈The LORD saved me from death;

he stopped my tears

and kept me from defeat.

₉And so I walk in the presence of the LORD

in the world of the living.

₁₀I kept on believing, even when I said,

“I am completely crushed,”

₁₁even when I was afraid and said,

“No one can be trusted.”

₁₂What can I offer the LORD

for all his goodness to me?

₁₃I will bring a wine offering to the LORD,

to thank him for saving me.

₁₄In the assembly of all his people

I will give him what I have promised.

₁₅How painful it is to the LORD

when one of his people dies!

₁₆I am your servant, LORD;

I serve you, just as my mother did.

You have saved me from death.

₁₇I will give you a sacrifice of thanksgiving

and offer my prayer to you.

_18-19In the assembly of all your people,

in the sanctuary of your Temple in Jerusalem,

I will give you what I have promised.

Praise the LORD!

₁Praise the LORD, all nations!

Praise him, all peoples!

₂His love for us is strong

and his faithfulness is eternal.

Praise the LORD!