Psalm 41

Victory in Spite of Betrayal
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

1.) Happy is one who cares for the poor;
the Lord will save him in a day of adversity.
2.) The Lord will keep him and preserve him;
he will be blessed in the land.
You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3.) The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed;
You will heal him on the bed where he lies.

4.) I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against You.”
5.) My enemies speak maliciously about me:
“When will he die and be forgotten?”
6.) When one of them comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully;
he stores up evil in his heart;
he goes out and talks.
7.) All who hate me whisper together about me;
they plan to harm me.
8.) “Lethal poison has been poured into him,
and he won’t rise again from where he lies!”
9.) Even my friend in whom I trusted,
one who ate my bread,
has raised his heel against me.

10.) But You, Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up;
then I will repay them.
11.) By this I know that You delight in me:
my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12.) You supported me because of my integrity
and set me in Your presence forever.

13.) May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen.

Psalm 39

The Fleeting Nature of Life

For the choir director, for Jeduthun.
A Davidic psalm.

1.) I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2.) I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.
3.) My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.
I spoke with my tongue:
4.) “Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short-lived I am.
5.) You, indeed, have made my days short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.Selah

6.) “Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.
7.) Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
8.) Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.
9.) I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.
10.) Remove Your torment from me;
I fade away because of the force of Your hand.
11.) You discipline a man with punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;
every man is only a vapor.Selah

12.) “Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry for help;
do not be silent at my tears.
For I am a foreigner residing with You,
a temporary resident like all my fathers.
13.) Turn Your angry gaze from me
so that I may be cheered up
before I die and am gone.”



Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Psalm 34
The Lord Delivers the Righteous

Concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech, who drove him out, and he departed.

1) will praise the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.
2) I will boast in the Lord;
the humble will hear and be glad.
3) Proclaim Yahweh’s greatness with me;
let us exalt His name together.

4) I sought the Lord, and He answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5) Those who look to Him are radiant with joy;
their faces will never be ashamed.
6) This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.
7) The Angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear Him, and rescues them.

8) Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9) You who are His holy ones, fear Yahweh,
for those who fear Him lack nothing.
10) Young lions lack food and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord
will not lack any good thing.

11) Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12) Who is the man who delights in life,
loving a long life to enjoy what is good?
13) Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceitful speech.
14) Turn away from evil and do what is good;
seek peace and pursue it.

15) The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry for help.
16) The face of the Lord is set
against those who do what is evil,
to erase all memory of them from the earth.
17) The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and delivers them from all their troubles.
18) The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
He saves those crushed in spirit.

19) Many adversities come to the one who is righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
20) He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21) Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
22) The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.


Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Psalm 30
Joy in the Morning
A psalm; a dedication song for the house.
Davidic.

1.) I will exalt You, Lord,
because You have lifted me up
and have not allowed my enemies
to triumph over me.
2.) Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
3.) Lord, You brought me up from Sheol;
You spared me from among those
going down to the Pit.

4.) Sing to Yahweh, you His faithful ones,
and praise His holy name.
5.) For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may spend the night,
but there is joy in the morning.

6.) When I was secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
7.) Lord, when You showed Your favor,
You made me stand like a strong mountain;
when You hid Your face, I was terrified.
8.) Lord, I called to You;
I sought favor from my Lord:
9.) “What gain is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise You?
Will it proclaim Your truth?
10.) Lord, listen and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my helper.”

11.) You turned my lament into dancing;
You removed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12.) so that I can sing to You and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise You forever.




Holman Christian Standard Bible
(HCSB) Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Psalm 28
My Strength
Davidic.

1.) Lord, I call to You;
my rock, do not be deaf to me.
If You remain silent to me,
I will be like those going down to the Pit.
2.) Listen to the sound of my pleading
when I cry to You for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward Your holy sanctuary.

3.) Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with the evildoers,
who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors
while malice is in their hearts.
4.) Repay them according to what they have done--
according to the evil of their deeds.
Repay them according to the work of their hands;
give them back what they deserve.
5.) Because they do not consider
what the Lord has done
or the work of His hands,
He will tear them down and not rebuild them.

6.) May the Lord be praised,
for He has heard the sound of my pleading.
7.) The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and I praise Him with my song.

8.) The Lord is the strength of His people;
He is a stronghold of salvation for His anointed.
9.) Save Your people, bless Your possession,
shepherd them, and carry them forever.



Holman Christian Standard Bible
(HCSB) Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Psalm 27

My Stronghold
Davidic.

1.) The Lord is my light and my salvation--
whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom should I be afraid?
2.) When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
3.) Though an army deploys against me,
my heart is not afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
still I am confident.

4.) I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking Him in His temple.
5.) For He will conceal me in His shelter
in the day of adversity;
He will hide me under the cover of His tent;
He will set me high on a rock.
6.) Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;
I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

7.) Lord, hear my voice when I call;
be gracious to me and answer me.
8.) My heart says this about You,
“You are to seek My face.”
Lord, I will seek Your face.
9.) Do not hide Your face from me;
do not turn Your servant away in anger.
You have been my helper;
do not leave me or abandon me,
God of my salvation.
10.) Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord cares for me.

11.) Because of my adversaries,
show me Your way, Lord,
and lead me on a level path.
12.) Do not give me over to the will of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing violence.

13.) I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
14.) Wait for the Lord;
be strong and courageous.
Wait for the Lord.

Psalm 23

The Good Shepherd
A Davidic psalm.

1.) The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I lack.
2.) He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3.) He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths
for His name’s sake.
4.) Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.

5.) You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6.) Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
as long as I live.


Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Psalm 22

For the choir director: according to “The Deer of the Dawn. A Davidic psalm.

1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from my deliverance
and from my words of groaning?
2 My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer,
by night, yet I have no rest.
3 But You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
they trusted, and You rescued them.
5 They cried to You and were set free;
they trusted in You and were not disgraced.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by people.
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they sneer and shake their heads:
8 “He relies on the Lord;
let Him rescue him;
let the Lord deliver him,
since He takes pleasure in him.”

9 You took me from the womb,
making me secure while at my mother’s breast.
10 I was given over to You at birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.

11 Do not be far from me, because distress is near
and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong ones of Bashan encircle me.
13 They open their mouths against me--
lions, mauling and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed;
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.
15 My strength is dried up like baked clay;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You put me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they piercedg my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
peopleh look and stare at me.
18 They divided my garments among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.

19 But You, Lord, don’t be far away.
My strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my only life from the power of these dogs.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me
from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;
I will praise You in the congregation.
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
All you descendants of Israel, revere Him!
24 For He has not despised or detested
the torment of the afflicted.
He did not hide His face from him
but listened when he cried to Him for help.

25 I will give praise in the great congregation
because of You;
I will fulfill my vows
before those who fear You.
26 The humble will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise Him.
May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth will remember
and turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will bow down before You,
28 for kingship belongs to the Lord;
He rules over the nations.
29 All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down;
all those who go down to the dust
will kneel before Him--
even the one who cannot preserve his life.
30 Their descendants will serve Him;
the next generation will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and tell a people yet to be born
about His righteousness--
what He has done.

Psalm 21

The King’s Victory
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

1.) Lord, the king finds joy in Your strength.
How greatly he rejoices in Your victory!
2.) You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not denied the request of his lips.Selah
3.) For You meet him with rich blessings;
You place a crown of pure gold on his head.
4.) He asked You for life, and You gave it to him--
length of days forever and ever.
5.) His glory is great through Your victory;
You confer majesty and splendor on him.
6.) You give him blessings forever;
You cheer him with joy in Your presence.
7.) For the king relies on the Lord;
through the faithful love of the Most High
he is not shaken.

8.) Your hand will capture all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.
9.) You will make them burn
like a fiery furnace when you appear;
the Lord will engulf them in His wrath,
and fire will devour them.
10.) You will wipe their descendants from the earth
and their offspring from the human race.
11.) Though they intend to harm you
and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail.
12.) Instead, you will put them to flight
when you aim your bow at their faces.

13.) Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
we will sing and praise Your might.


Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Psalm 18
Praise for Deliverance

For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1.) I love You, Lord, my strength.
2.) The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my mountain where I seek refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3.) I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was saved from my enemies.

4.) The ropes of death were wrapped around me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
5.) The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6.) I called to the Lord in my distress,
and I cried to my God for help.
From His temple He heard my voice,
and my cry to Him reached His ears.

7.) Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they shook because He burned with anger.
8.) Smoke rose from His nostrils,
and consuming fire came from His mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.
9.) He parted the heavens and came down,
a dark cloud beneath His feet.
10.) He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11.) He made darkness His hiding place,
dark storm clouds His canopy around Him.
12.) From the radiance of His presence,
His clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
13.) The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High projected His voice.
14.) He shot His arrows and scattered them;
He hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
15.) The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed,
at Your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

Sunday Sermon

Guest Speaker Austin on Missions

Psalm 17
A Prayer for Protection
A Davidic prayer.

1.) Lord, hear a just cause;
pay attention to my cry;
listen to my prayer--
from lips free of deceit.
2.) Let my vindication come from You,
for You see what is right.
3.) You have tested my heart;
You have examined me at night.
You have tried me and found nothing evil;
I have determined that my mouth will not sin.
4.) Concerning what people do:
by the word of Your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5.) My steps are on Your paths;
my feet have not slipped.

6.) I call on You, God,
because You will answer me;
listen closely to me; hear what I say.
7.) Display the wonders of Your faithful love,
Savior of all who seek refuge
from those who rebel against Your right hand.
8.) Protect me as the pupil of Your eye;
hide me in the shadow of Your wings
9.) from the wicked who treat me violently,
my deadly enemies who surround me.

10.) They have become hardened;
their mouths speak arrogantly.
11.) They advance against me; now they surround me.
They are determined
to throw me to the ground.
12.) They are like a lion eager to tear,
like a young lion lurking in ambush.

13.) Rise up, Lord!
Confront him; bring him down.
With Your sword, save me from the wicked.
14.) With Your hand, Lord, save me from men,
from men of the world
whose portion is in this life:
You fill their bellies with what You have in store;
their sons are satisfied,
and they leave their surplus to their children.

15.) But I will see Your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with Your presence.


(Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Psalm 16

1) Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.
2) I said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good besides You.
3) As for the holy people who are in the land,
they are the noble ones.
All my delight is in them.
4) The sorrows of those who take another god
for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
and I will not speak their names with my lips.

5) Lord, You are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
You hold my future.
6) The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

7) I will praise the Lord who counsels me--
even at night my conscience instructs me.
8) I keep the Lord in mind always.
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

9) Therefore my heart is glad
and my spirit rejoices;
my body also rests securely.
10) For You will not abandon me to Sheol;
You will not allow Your Faithful One to see decay.
11) You reveal the path of life to me;
in Your presence is abundant joy;
in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.

Psalm 14
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director. Davidic.

1) The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2) The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
3) All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.

4) Will evildoers never understand?
They consume My people as they consume bread;
they do not call on the Lord.

5) Then they will be filled with terror,
for God is with those who are righteous.
6) You sinners frustrate the plans of the afflicted,
but the Lord is his refuge.

7) Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Psalm 13
A Plea for Deliverance
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

1) Lord, how long will You forget me?
Forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2) How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?

3) Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
4) My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

5) But I have trusted in Your faithful love;
my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.
6) I will sing to the Lord
because He has treated me generously.

Psalm 12
Oppression by the Wicked
For the choir director: according to Sheminith. A Davidic psalm.

1.) Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;
the loyal have disappeared from the human race.
2.) They lie to one another;
they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.
3.) May the Lord cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaks boastfully.
4.) They say, “Through our tongues we have power;
our lips are our own—who can be our master?”

5.) “Because of the oppression of the afflicted
and the groaning of the poor,
I will now rise up,” says the Lord.
“I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.”

6.) The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.

7.) You, Lord, will guard us;
You will protect us from this generation forever.
8.) The wicked wander everywhere,
and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.

Psalm 11
Refuge in the Lord
For the choir director. Davidic.

1) I have taken refuge in the Lord.
How can you say to me,
“Escape to the mountain like a bird!
2) For look, the wicked string the bow;
they put the arrow on the bowstring
to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
3) When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”

4) The Lord is in His holy temple;
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes watch; He examines everyone.
5) The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked.
He hates the lover of violence.
6) He will rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked;
a scorching wind will be their portion.
7) For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.
The upright will see His face.

Psalm 10

1) Lord, why do You stand so far away?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
2) In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

3) For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;
the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord.
4) In all his scheming,
the wicked arrogantly thinks:
“There is no accountability,
since God does not exist.”
5) His ways are always secure;
Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight;
he scoffs at all his adversaries.
6) He says to himself, “I will never be moved--
from generation to generation without calamity.”
7) Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.
8) He waits in ambush near the villages;
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;
9) he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize the afflicted;
he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.
10) So he is oppressed and beaten down;
the helpless fall because of his strength.
11) He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He hides His face and will never see.”

12) Rise up, Lord God! Lift up Your hand.
Do not forget the afflicted.
13) Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”
14) But You Yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into Your hands.
The helpless entrusts himself to You;
You are a helper of the fatherless.
15) Break the arm of the wicked and evil person;
call his wickedness into account
until nothing remains of it.

16) The Lord is King forever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land.
17) Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,
18) doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.

Psalm 9
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Celebration of God’s Justice
1) I will thank Yahweh with all my heart;
I will declare all Your wonderful works.
2) I will rejoice and boast about You;
I will sing about Your name, Most High.

3) When my enemies retreat,
they stumble and perish before You.
4) For You have upheld my just cause;
You are seated on Your throne as a righteous judge.
5) You have rebuked the nations:
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have erased their name forever and ever.
6) The enemy has come to eternal ruin;
You have uprooted the cities,
and the very memory of them has perished.

7) But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
He has established His throne for judgment.
8) He judges the world with righteousness;
He executes judgment on the nations with fairness.
9) The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
10) Those who know Your name trust in You
because You have not abandoned
those who seek You, Yahweh.

11) Sing to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
proclaim His deeds among the nations.
12) For the One who seeks an accounting
for bloodshed remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13) Be gracious to me, Lord;
consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me.
Lift me up from the gates of death,
14) so that I may declare all Your praises.
I will rejoice in Your salvation
within the gates of Daughter Zion.

15) The nations have fallen into the pit they made;
their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.
16) The Lord has revealed Himself;
He has executed justice,
striking down the wicked
by the work of their hands.Higgaion. Selah

17) The wicked will return to Sheol--
all the nations that forget God.
18) For the oppressed will not always be forgotten;
the hope of the afflicted will not perish forever.

19) Rise up, Lord! Do not let man prevail;
let the nations be judged in Your presence.
20) Put terror in them, Lord;
let the nations know they are only men.Selah

God’s Glory, Man’s DignityFor the choir director: on the Gittith. A Davidic psalm.

1 Yahweh, our Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!
You have covered the heavens with Your majesty.
2) Because of Your adversaries,
You have established a stronghold
from the mouths of children and nursing infants
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3) When I observe Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You set in place,
4) what is man that You remember him,
the son of man that You look after him?
5) You made him little less than God
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6) You made him lord over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet
7) all the sheep and oxen,
as well as the animals in the wild,
8) the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea
that pass through the currents of the seas.
9) Yahweh, our Lord, how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!

Psalm 6
A Prayer for Mercy
For the choir director: with stringed instruments, according to Sheminith.
A Davidic psalm.

1.) Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger;
do not discipline me in Your wrath.
2.) Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking;
3.) my whole being is shaken with terror.
And You, Lord—how long?

4.) Turn, Lord! Rescue me;
save me because of Your faithful love.
5.) For there is no remembrance of You in death;
who can thank You in Sheol?

6.) I am weary from my groaning;
with my tears I dampen my pillow
and drench my bed every night.
7.) My eyes are swollen from grief;
they grow old because of all my enemies.

8.) Depart from me, all evildoers,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9.) The Lord has heard my plea for help;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10.) All my enemies will be ashamed and shake with terror;
they will turn back and suddenly be disgraced.

NOTE: This is a sermon in response to the tragedy at Newtown, Connecticut. We are mourning as a nation over this loss and the evil we saw.

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

1 Yahweh my God, I seek refuge in You;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me
2 or they will tear me like a lion,
ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.

3 Yahweh my God, if I have done this,
if there is injustice on my hands,
4 if I have done harm to one at peace with me
or have plundered my adversary without cause,
5 may an enemy pursue and overtake me;
may he trample me to the ground
and leave my honor in the dust.Selah

6 Rise up, Lord, in Your anger;
lift Yourself up against the fury of my adversaries;
awake for me;
You have ordained a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of peoples gather around You;
take Your seat on high over it.
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
vindicate me, Lord,
according to my righteousness and my integrity.

9 Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous.
The One who examines the thoughts and emotions
is a righteous God.
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows His wrath every day.

12 If anyone does not repent,
God will sharpen His sword;
He has strung His bow and made it ready.
13 He has prepared His deadly weapons;
He tips His arrows with fire.

14 See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,
conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.
15 He dug a pit and hollowed it out
but fell into the hole he had made.
16 His trouble comes back on his own head,
and his violence falls on the top of his head.

17 I will thank the Lord for His righteousness;
I will sing about the name of Yahweh the Most High.

Psalm 3

Confidence in Troubled Times
A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom.

1.) Lord, how my foes increase!
There are many who attack me.
2.) Many say about me,
“There is no help for him in God.”Selah

3.) But You, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the One who lifts up my head.
4.) I cry aloud to the Lord,
and He answers me from His holy mountain.Selah

5.) I lie down and sleep;
I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
6.) I am not afraid of the thousands of people
who have taken their stand against me on every side.

7.) Rise up, Lord!
Save me, my God!
You strike all my enemies on the cheek;
You break the teeth of the wicked.
8.) Salvation belongs to the Lord;
may Your blessing be on Your people.Selah