The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV
Page 269
144The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting;
Give me understanding, and I shall live.
ק QOPH
145I cry out with my whole heart;
Hear me, O LORD!
I will keep Your statutes.
146I cry out to You;
Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.
147iI rise before the dawning of the morning,
And cry for help;
I hope in Your word.
148jMy eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word.
149Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness;
O LORD, revive me according to Your justice.
150They draw near who follow after wickedness;
They are far from Your law.
151You are knear, O LORD,
And all Your commandments are truth.
152Concerning Your testimonies,
I have known of old that You have founded them lforever.
ר RESH
153mConsider my affliction and deliver me,
For I do not forget Your law.
154nPlead my cause and redeem me;
Revive me according to Your word.
155Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.
15629Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
157Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
Yet I do not oturn from Your testimonies.
158I see the treacherous, and pam disgusted,
Because they do not keep Your word.
159Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.
160The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
שׁ SHIN
161qPrinces persecute me without a cause,
But my heart stands in awe of Your word.
162I rejoice at Your word
As one who finds great treasure.
163I hate and abhor lying,
But I love Your law.
164Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
165rGreat peace have those who love Your law,
And 30nothing causes them to stumble.
166sLORD, I hope for Your salvation,
And I do Your commandments.
167My soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I love them exceedingly.
168I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
tFor all my ways are before You.
ת TAU
169Let my cry come before You, O LORD;
uGive me understanding according to Your word.
170Let my 31supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
171vMy lips shall utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
172My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
173Let Your hand become my help,
For wI have chosen Your precepts.
174xI long for Your salvation, O LORD,
And yYour law is my delight.
175Let my soul live, and it shall praise You;
And let Your judgments help me.
176zI have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.
Psalm 120
Plea for Relief from Bitter Foes
A Song of Ascents.
1In amy distress I cried to the LORD,
And He heard me.
2Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.
3What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
4Sharp arrows of the 1warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!
5Woe is me, that I dwell in bMeshech,
cThat I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
7I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.
Psalm 121
God the Help of Those Who Seek Him
A Song of Ascents.
1I aWILL lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2bMy help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
3cHe will not allow your foot to 1be moved;
dHe who keeps you will not slumber.
4Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5The LORD is your 2keeper;
The LORD is eyour shade fat your right hand.
6gThe sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7The LORD shall 3preserve you from all evil;
He shall hpreserve your soul.
8The LORD shall ipreserve4 your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Psalm 122
The Joy of Going to the House of the LORD
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1I WAS glad when they said to me,
a“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
2Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3Jerusalem is built
As a city that is bcompact together,
4cWhere the tribes go up,
The tribes of the LORD,
1To dthe Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5eFor thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6fPray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9Because of the house of the LORD our God
I will gseek your good.
Psalm 123
Prayer for Relief from Contempt
A Song of Ascents.
1Unto You aI lift up my eyes,
O You bwho dwell in the heavens.
2Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
cSo our eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
3Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 124
The LORD the Defense of His People
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1“IF it had not been the LORD who was on our aside,”
bLet Israel now say—
2“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
3Then they would have cswallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
4Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have 1gone over our soul;
5Then the swollen waters
Would have 2gone over our soul.”
6Blessed be the LORD,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
7dOur soul has escaped eas a bird from the snare of the 3fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8fOur help is in the name of the LORD,
gWho made heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
The LORD the Strength of His People
A Song of Ascents
.
1Those who trust in the LORD
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the LORD surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
3For athe scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.
4Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
5As for such as turn aside to their bcrooked ways,
The LORD shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.
cPeace be upon Israel!
Psalm 126
A Joyful Return to Zion
A Song of Ascents.
1When athe LORD brought back 1the captivity of Zion,
bWe were like those who dream.
2Then cour mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the 2nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
3The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
4Bring back our captivity, O LORD,
As the streams in the South.
5dThose who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
6He who continually goes 3forth weeping,
Bearing 4seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again 5with erejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 127
Laboring and Prospering with the LORD
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
1Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless athe LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To beat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
3Behold, cchildren are a heritage from the LORD,
dThe fruit of the womb is a ereward.
4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5fHappy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
gThey shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Psalm 128
Blessings of Those Who Fear the LORD
A Song of Ascents.
1Blessed ais every one who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.
2bWhen you eat the 1labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be cwell with you.
3Your wife shall be dlike a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your echildren flike olive plants
All around your table.
4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.
5gThe LORD bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
6Yes, may you hsee your children’s children.
iPeace be upon Israel!
Psalm 129
Song of Victory over Zion’s Enemies
A Song of Ascents.
1“MANY a time they have aafflicted1 me from bmy youth,”
cLet Israel now say—
2“Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3The plowers plowed on my back;
They made their furrows long.”
4The LORD is righteous;
He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.
5Let all those who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned back.
6Let them be as the dgrass on the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up,
7With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Nor he who binds sheaves, his 2arms.
8Neither let those who pass by them say,
e“The blessing of the LORD be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the LORD!”
Psalm 130
Waiting for the Redemption of the LORD
A Song of Ascents.
1Out aof the depths I have cried to You, O LORD;
2Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
3bIf You, LORD, should 1mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could cstand?
4But there is dforgiveness with You,
That eYou may be feared.
5fI wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
And gin His word I do hope.
6hMy soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
7iO Israel, hope in the LORD;
For jwith the LORD there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8And kHe shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
Psalm 131
Simple Trust in the LORD
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1LORD, my heart is not 1haughty,
Nor my eyes 2lofty.
aNeither do I 3concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too 4profound for me.
2Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
bLike a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3cO Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 132
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.
1LORD, remember David
And all his afflictions;
2How he swore to the LORD,
aAnd vowed to bthe Mighty One of Jacob:
3“Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
4I will cnot give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5Until I dfind a place for the LORD,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6Behold, we heard of it ein Ephrathah;
fWe found it gin the fields of 1the woods.
7Let us go into His tabernacle;
hLet us worship at His footstool.
8iArise, O LORD, to Your resting place,
You and jthe ark of Your strength.
9Let Your priests kbe clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
10For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your 2Anointed.
11lThe LORD has sworn in truth to David;
He will not turn from it:
“I will set upon your throne mthe 3fruit of your body.
12If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”
13nFor the LORD has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His 4dwelling place:
14“Thiso is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15pI will abundantly bless her 5provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16qI will also clothe her priests with salvation,
rAnd her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17sThere I will make the 6horn of David grow;
tI will prepare a lamp for My 7Anointed.
18His enemies I will uclothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
Psalm 133
Blessed Unity of the People of God
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For abrethren to dwell together in unity!
2It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3It is like the dew of bHermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For cthere the LORD commanded the blessing—
Life forevermore.
Psalm 134
Praising the LORD in His House at Night
A Song of Ascents.
1Behold, bless the LORD,
All you servants of the LORD,
Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!
2aLift up your hands in the sanctuary,
And bless the LORD.
3The LORD who made heaven and earth
Bless you from Zion!
Psalm 135
Praise to God in Creation and Redemption
1Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD;
aPraise Him, O you servants of the LORD!
2bYou who stand in the house of the LORD,
In cthe courts of the house of our God,
3Praise the LORD, for dthe LORD is good;
Sing praises to His name, efor it is pleasant.
4For fthe LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His 1special treasure.
5For I know that gthe LORD is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
6hWhatever the LORD pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
7iHe causes the 2vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
jHe makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His ktreasuries.
8lHe 3destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
4Both of man and beast.
9mHe sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
nUpon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10oHe defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
11Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And pall the kingdoms of Canaan—
12qAnd gave their land as a 5heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
13rYour name, O LORD, endures forever,
Your fame, O LORD, throughout all generations.
14sFor the LORD will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.
15tThe idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.