July 13

Today’s Reading is from Psalm 81 to Psalm 87.

Psalm 81

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph.

1 Sing aloud to God our strength;

    shout for joy to the God of Jacob!

2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine,

    the sweet lyre with the harp.

3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,

    at the full moon, on our feast day.

4 For it is a statute for Israel,

    a rule of the God of Jacob.

5 He made it a decree in Joseph

    when he went out over the land of Egypt.

I hear a language I had not known:

6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden;

    your hands were freed from the basket.

7 In distress you called, and I delivered you;

    I answered you in the secret place of thunder;

    I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!

    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

9 There shall be no strange god among you;

    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.

10 I am the Lord your God,

    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;

    Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,

    to follow their own counsels.

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me,

    that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 I would soon subdue their enemies

    and turn my hand against their foes.

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him,

    and their fate would last forever.

16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 82

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 God has taken his place in the divine council;

    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

2 “How long will you judge unjustly

    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;

    maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

4 Rescue the weak and the needy;

    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

    they walk about in darkness;

    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 I said, “You are gods,

    sons of the Most High, all of you;

7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,

    and fall like any prince.”

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;

    for you shall inherit all the nations!

Psalm 83

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, do not keep silence;

    do not hold your peace or be still, O God!

2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;

    those who hate you have raised their heads.

3 They lay crafty plans against your people;

    they consult together against your treasured ones.

4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;

    let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”

5 For they conspire with one accord;

    against you they make a covenant—

6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

    Moab and the Hagrites,

7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

    Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8 Asshur also has joined them;

    they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah

9 Do to them as you did to Midian,

    as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,

10 who were destroyed at En-dor,

    who became dung for the ground.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

    all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves

    of the pastures of God.”

13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,

    like chaff before the wind.

14 As fire consumes the forest,

    as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,

15 so may you pursue them with your tempest

    and terrify them with your hurricane!

16 Fill their faces with shame,

    that they may seek your name, O Lord.

17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;

    let them perish in disgrace,

18 that they may know that you alone,

    whose name is the Lord,

    are the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 84

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,

    O Lord of hosts!

2 My soul longs, yes, faints

    for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

    to the living God.

3 Even the sparrow finds a home,

    and the swallow a nest for herself,

    where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

    my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

    ever singing your praise! Selah

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

6 As they go through the Valley of Baca

    they make it a place of springs;

    the early rain also covers it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength;

    each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

9 Behold our shield, O God;

    look on the face of your anointed!

10 For a day in your courts is better

    than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

    the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

    from those who walk uprightly.

12 O Lord of hosts,

    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Psalm 85

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;

    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;

    you covered all their sin. Selah

3 You withdrew all your wrath;

    you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

    and put away your indignation toward us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6 Will you not revive us again,

    that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

    and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

    for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

    but let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

    that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

    righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

    and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,

    and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

    and make his footsteps a way.

Psalm 86

A Prayer of David.

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,

    for I am poor and needy.

2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;

    save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.

3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,

    for to you do I cry all the day.

4 Gladden the soul of your servant,

    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

    abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;

    listen to my plea for grace.

7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,

    for you answer me.

8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,

    nor are there any works like yours.

9 All the nations you have made shall come

    and worship before you, O Lord,

    and shall glorify your name.

10 For you are great and do wondrous things;

    you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord,

    that I may walk in your truth;

    unite my heart to fear your name.

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,

    and I will glorify your name forever.

13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;

    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me;

    a band of ruthless men seeks my life,

    and they do not set you before them.

15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me;

    give your strength to your servant,

    and save the son of your maidservant.

17 Show me a sign of your favor,

    that those who hate me may see and be put to shame

    because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalm 87

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song.

1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;

2     the Lord loves the gates of Zion

    more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

3 Glorious things of you are spoken,

    O city of God. Selah

4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;

    behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—

    “This one was born there,” they say.

5 And of Zion it shall be said,

    “This one and that one were born in her”;

    for the Most High himself will establish her.

6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,

    “This one was born there.” Selah

7 Singers and dancers alike say,

    “All my springs are in you.”