Psalm 84 (Amplified Version)

¹HOW LOVELY are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! ²My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God. ³Yes, the sparrow has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young–even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

⁴Oh how fortunate and to be envied are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long. Calmly think of that!

⁵And how fortunate and to be envied is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. ⁶Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs; the early rain also fills the pools with blessings. ⁷They go from strength to strength, increasing in victorious power; each of them appears before God in Zion.

⁸O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah! ⁹Behold our shield, the king as Your agent, O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed! ¹⁰For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else; I would rather be a doorkeeper and stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell at ease in the tents of wickedness. ¹¹For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows present grace and favor and future glory–honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹²O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]!

Psalm 16 (New Living Translation)

¹ Keep me safe, O God,
for I have come to you for refuge.

² I said to the Lord, “You are my Master!
Every good thing I have comes from you.”
³ The godly people in the land
are my true heroes!
I take pleasure in them!
⁴ Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods.
I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood
or even speak the names of their gods.

⁵ Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine.
⁶ The land you have given me is a pleasant land.
What a wonderful inheritance!

⁷ I will bless the Lord who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

⁹ No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
¹⁰ For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
¹¹ You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.

Psalm 82 (Amplified Version)

¹GOD STANDS in the assembly of the representatives of God; in the midst of the judges He gives judgment as among the gods.

²How long will you judges judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Calmly think of that!

³Do justice to the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the afflicted and needy.

⁴Deliver the poor and needy; rescue them out of the hand of the wicked.

⁵The judges know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in the darkness of complacent satisfaction; all the foundations of the earth the fundamental principles upon which rests the administration of justice are shaking.

⁶I said, You are gods since you judge on My behalf, as My representatives; indeed, all of you are children of the Most High.

⁷But you shall die as men and fall as one of the princes.

⁸Arise, O God, judge the earth! For to You belong all the nations.

Psalm 95 (New International Version)

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

² Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

³ For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.

⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.

⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

⁷ for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if you hear his voice,

⁸ do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, ^[a]
as you did that day at Massah ^[b] in the desert,

⁹ where your fathers tested and tried me,
though they had seen what I did.

¹⁰ For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.”

¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,
“They shall never enter my rest.”

Psalm 81 (New Living Translation)

¹ Sing praises to God, our strength.
Sing to the God of Jacob.
² Sing! Beat the tambourine.
Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
³ Blow the ram’s horn at new moon,
and again at full moon to call a festival!
⁴ For this is required by the decrees of Israel;
it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.
⁵ He made it a law for Israel
when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

The Lord said,
⁶ “Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
⁷ You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
I answered out of the thundercloud
and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.
Interlude

⁸ “Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
O Israel, if you would only listen to me!
⁹ You must never have a foreign god;
you must not bow down before a false god.
¹⁰ For it was I, the Lord your God,
who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

¹¹ “But no, my people wouldn’t listen.
Israel did not want me around.
¹² So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,
living according to their own ideas.
¹³ Oh, that my people would listen to me!
Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
¹⁴ How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;
they would be doomed forever.
¹⁶ But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”

Psalm 80

“O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory. Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us! Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved” (Psalm 80:2-3)

Psalm 79

⁶ Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;

⁷ for they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his homeland.

⁸ Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.

⁹ Help us, O God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.

¹⁰ Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

Psalm 78

Listen, dear friends, to God’s truth, bend your ears to what I tell you.
I’m chewing on the morsel of a proverb;
I’ll let you in on the sweet old truths,
Stories we heard from our fathers,
counsel we learned at our mother’s knee.
We’re not keeping this to ourselves,
we’re passing it along to the next generation—
God’s fame and fortune,
the marvelous things he has done.

Psalm 77

¹ I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.

² When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands
and my soul refused to be comforted.

¹ I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might,
I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens.

^2-6 I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord;
my life was an open wound that wouldn’t heal.
When friends said, “Everything will turn out all right,”
I didn’t believe a word they said.
I remember God—and shake my head.
I bow my head—then wring my hands.
I’m awake all night—not a wink of sleep;
I can’t even say what’s bothering me.
I go over the days one by one,
I ponder the years gone by.

^11-12 Once again I’ll go over what God has done,
lay out on the table the ancient wonders;
I’ll ponder all the things you’ve accomplished,
and give a long, loving look at your acts.

^13-15 O God! Your way is holy!
No god is great like God!
You’re the God who makes things happen;
you showed everyone what you can do—
You pulled your people out of the worst kind of trouble

I WILL cry to God with my voice,
even to God with my voice,
and He will give ear and hearken to me.

Psalm 75:1

We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds.

We thank you, God, we thank you— your Name is our favorite word;  your mighty works are all we talk about.

WE GIVE praise and thanks to You, O God, we praise and give thanks; Your wondrous works declare that Your Name is near and they who invoke Your Name rehearse Your wonders.