May 27: Psalm 147; Luke 19-20

Praise Yah!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.
Yahweh builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He is the One who heals the brokenhearted
And who binds up their wounds,
Who counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them.
Great is our Lord and abundant in power;
His discernment is infinite.
Yahweh helps up the afflicted;
He brings down the wicked to the ground.

Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God on the lyre.
He is the One who covers the heavens with clouds,
The One who provides rain for the earth,
The One who makes grass to sprout on the mountains,
Who gives to the animal its food,
And to the young ravens which call out.
He does not delight in the might of the horse;
He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.
Yahweh is pleased with those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness.

May 26: Psalm 146; Luke 17-18

Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh, O my soul!
I will praise Yahweh throughout my life;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Do not trust in nobles,
In merely a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his plans perish.
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in Yahweh his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever;
Who does justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
Yahweh sets the prisoners free.

May 24: Psalm 144; Luke 12-13

O Yahweh, what is man, that You know him?
Or the son of man, that You think of him?
Man is like a breath;
His days are like a passing shadow.
O Yahweh, bow Your heavens, and come down;
Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Send out Your arrows and confuse them.
Send forth Your hand from on high;
Set me free and deliver me out of many waters,
Out of the hand of foreigners
Whose mouth speaks worthlessness,
And whose right hand is a right hand of lying.
O God, I will sing a new song to You;
Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
•••

How blessed are the people for whom God is Yahweh!

May 23: Psalm 143; Luke 10-11

O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
And do not enter into judgment with Your slave,
For no one living is righteous in Your sight.
•••

Answer me quickly, O Yahweh, my spirit wastes away;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.
•••

Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
For the sake of Your name, O Yahweh, revive me.
In Your righteousness bring my soul out of distress.
And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies
And cause all those who assail my soul to perish,
For I am Your slave.

May 22: Psalm 142; Luke 8-9

I cried out to You, O Yahweh;
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
Give heed to my cry of lamentation,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are too strong for me.
Bring my soul out of prison,
To give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will encircle me,
For You will deal bountifully with me.”

May 21: Psalm 141; Luke 6-7

O Yahweh, I call upon You; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to You!
May my prayer be established as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds in wickedness
With men who are workers of iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

Let the righteous smite me in lovingkindness and reprove me;
It is oil upon the head;
Let not my head refuse it,
For still my prayer is against their evil deeds.
Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the cliff,
And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.
As when one plows and splits open the earth,
Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

For my eyes are toward You, O Yahweh, O Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not pour out my soul to death.
Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the snares of workers of iniquity.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
As for myself—meanwhile, I am passing by.

May 18: Psalm 138; 2Kings 23:31-25

I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
I will worship toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth, O Yahweh, will give You thanks,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
And they will sing of the ways of Yahweh,
For great is the glory of Yahweh.
For Yahweh is high,
Yet He sees the lowly,
But the one who exalts himself He knows from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of distress, You will revive me;
You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
Yahweh will accomplish what concerns me;
O Yahweh, Your lovingkindness endures forever;
Do not fail the works of Your hands.