July 4

Today’s Reading is from Psalm 33 to Psalm 35.

Psalm 33

1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!

    Praise befits the upright.

2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;

    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

3 Sing to him a new song;

    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,

    and all his work is done in faithfulness.

5 He loves righteousness and justice;

    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;

    he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;

    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;

    he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

    the plans of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven;

    he sees all the children of man;

14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out

    on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15 he who fashions the hearts of them all

    and observes all their deeds.

16 The king is not saved by his great army;

    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

    on those who hope in his steadfast love,

19 that he may deliver their soul from death

    and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;

    he is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart is glad in him,

    because we trust in his holy name.

22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

    even as we hope in you.

Psalm 34

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;

    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

    let the humble hear and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

    and 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,

    and their faces shall never be ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

    and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps

    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

    for those who fear him have no lack!

10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;

    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11 Come, O children, listen to me;

    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 What man is there who desires life

    and loves many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil

    and your lips from speaking deceit.

14 Turn away from evil and do good;

    seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous

    and his ears toward their cry.

16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

    and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

    and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20 He keeps all his bones;

    not one of them is broken.

21 Affliction will slay the wicked,

    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;

    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Psalm 35

Of David.

1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;

    fight against those who fight against me!

2 Take hold of shield and buckler

    and rise for my help!

3 Draw the spear and javelin

    against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

    “I am your salvation!”

4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor

    who seek after my life!

Let them be turned back and disappointed

    who devise evil against me!

5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,

    with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

6 Let their way be dark and slippery,

    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

7 For without cause they hid their net for me;

    without cause they dug a pit for my life.

8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

    let him fall into it—to his destruction!

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

    exulting in his salvation.

10 All my bones shall say,

    “O Lord, who is like you,

delivering the poor

    from him who is too strong for him,

    the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

11 Malicious witnesses rise up;

    they ask me of things that I do not know.

12 They repay me evil for good;

    my soul is bereft.

13 But I, when they were sick—

    I wore sackcloth;

    I afflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed with head bowed on my chest.

14     I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

    I bowed down in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

    they gathered together against me;

wretches whom I did not know

    tore at me without ceasing;

16 like profane mockers at a feast,

    they gnash at me with their teeth.

17 How long, O Lord, will you look on?

    Rescue me from their destruction,

    my precious life from the lions!

18 I will thank you in the great congregation;

    in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19 Let not those rejoice over me

    who are wrongfully my foes,

and let not those wink the eye

    who hate me without cause.

20 For they do not speak peace,

    but against those who are quiet in the land

    they devise words of deceit.

21 They open wide their mouths against me;

    they say, “Aha, Aha!

    Our eyes have seen it!”

22 You have seen, O Lord; be not silent!

    O Lord, be not far from me!

23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,

    for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,

    according to your righteousness,

    and let them not rejoice over me!

25 Let them not say in their hearts,

    “Aha, our heart’s desire!”

Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether

    who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor

    who magnify themselves against me!

27 Let those who delight in my righteousness

    shout for joy and be glad

    and say evermore,

“Great is the Lord,

    who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

    and of your praise all the day long.