“Praise YHWH, all you nations; glorify Him, all you peoples!

For His lovingkindness is great toward us,

and the truth of YHWH is everlasting. 

Praise Yah!”

(Psalm 117)

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OUR COLOURED TEXT

Our text is coloured to highlight Deity, promises, blessings, prophecies, praise, salvation, judgment and emphasis.  This is to encourage an analytical eye while studying the psalms.

COLOUR  SCHEME:

ORANGE for Names, titles & attributes of God.      

GREEN for blessings, promises & answered prayer.     

RED for salvation & deliverance.    

MAJENTA for worship, praise & thanksgiving. 

PURPLE for Messianic passages.    

DARK BLUE for prophetic passages. 

BROWN for warnings, discipline, & judgments,

BLUE for general text or emphasis.     

 

Suggested memory verses - the verse number is indicated in red.

 

PSALM 107

YHWH Delivers from Trouble and Distress.

The psalmist presents four word pictures of the redeemed of the LORD ….

1. Wanderers in the desert guided to a city, and their souls satisfied. (4-9)

2. Prisoners released from their dungeons of misery and despair. (10-16)

3. Sin-afflicted souls healed and delivered from their distresses. (17-22)

4. Sailors, at their wits’ end, saved from their peril in the storm. (23-32)

The psalm concludes with a description of God’s mercy and kindness. (33-43)

 The “mercy and kindness” of Yahweh, is expressed in the opening and

final verses, and in each of the four word pictures.

 

1    Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good;

      for His mercy and kindness is everlasting.

2    Let the redeemed of YHWH say so -

      those He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,

3    and gathered from the lands,

      from east and from west, from north and from the south.

 

4    They wandered in the wilderness, in a desolate way;

      they did not find a city to dwell in.

5    Hungry and thirsty,

      their soul fainted within them.

6    Then they cried out to YHWH in their trouble;

      He delivered them from their distress.

7    He led them by a right and straight way,

      to go to a city where they could settle.

8    Let them give thanks to YHWH for His mercy and kindness,

      and for His wonders to the sons of men!

9    For He has satisfied the longing soul,

      and filled the hungry soul with goodness.

 

10  Some dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,

      prisoners in misery and chains -

11  because they had rebelled against the words of God,

      and despised the counsel of the Most High.

12  Therefore He humbled their heart with labour.

      They stumbled, and there was no one to help.

13  Then they cried out to YHWH in their trouble;

      and He saved them from their distress.

14  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

      and broke their chains in pieces.

15  Let them give thanks to YHWH for His mercy and kindness,

      and for His wonders to the sons of men!

16  For He has broken gates of bronze,

      and He has cut through the bars of iron.

 

17  Fools, because of their transgression,

      and because of their iniquities, they were afflicted.

18  Their soul loathed all kinds of food;

      and they drew near to the gates of death.

19  Then they cried out to YHWH in their trouble;

      He saved them out of their distress.

20  He sent His word and healed them,

      and delivered them from their destructions.

21  Let them give thanks to YHWH for His mercy and kindness,

      and for His wonders to the sons of men!

22  Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,

      and tell of His works with joyful singing.

 

23  Those who go down to the sea in ships,

      who do business on great waters;

24  they have seen the works of YHWH,

      and His wonders in the deep.

25  For He commands and stirs up a tempest

      that lifts up the waves of the sea.

26  They rise up to the heavens, they go down to the depths;

      their soul melts in their perilous trouble.

27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man;

      all their wisdom is swallowed up - they are at their wits' end.

28  Then they cry out to YHWH in their trouble,

      and He brings them out of their distress.

29  He causes the storm to be still,

      so that the waves are hushed.

30  Then they rejoice because the waves are quite;

      and so He guides them to their desired haven.

31  Let them give thanks to YHWH for His mercy and kindness,

      and for His wonders to the sons of men!

32  Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,

      and praise Him in the council of the elders.

 

33  He turns rivers become a wilderness,

      and the springs of water become dry ground.

34  A fruitful land becomes a salty waste,

      because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

35  He turns a wilderness into a pool of water,

      and a dry land into springs of water;

36  and He causes the hungry to dwell there,

      so that they may build a city to inhabit;

37  and they sow fields and plant vineyards,

      that they may gather a fruitful harvest.

38  He blesses them and they multiply greatly;

      and He does not let their cattle decrease.

 

39  For when they are diminished and bowed down

      through oppression, evil calamity, and sorrow,

40  He pours contempt upon princes,

      and causes them to wander in a pathless waste.

41  But He sets the needy securely on high, away from affliction,

      and makes their families like a flock.

42  The upright see it, and rejoice;

      but all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.

43  Whoever is wise will observe these things;

      and they will understand the mercy and kindness of YHWH.  r

 

                                                                                               

PSALM 108

In Elohim, We Shall Do Valiantly

David praises Yahweh, and prays for deliverance for himself and his people.

He expresses confidence that God controls the nations,

and that He will tread down Israel’s enemies.

(vv 1-5 are identical  to Psalm 57:7-11; and vv 6-13 are identical to Psalm 60:5-10)

A Song, a Psalm of David

 

1    My heart is steadfast, O God;

      I sing, yes I sing praises, with my glory - with my whole being.

2    Awake, harp and lyre;

      I will awaken the dawn!

3    I will give thanks to You, O YHWH, among the peoples;

      and I will praise You among the nations.

4    For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens;

      and Your truth reaches to the clouds.

5    Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,

      and let Your truth be above all the earth,

6    that those You love may be delivered.

      Save with Your Right Hand, and answer me!

 

7    God has spoken in His holiness: "I exult,

      I parcel out Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.

8    Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;

      and Ephraim is My helmet - the protection of My head;

      Judah is My scepter - My lawgiver;

9    Moab is My washbowl; upon Edom I cast My shoe;

      and over Philistia I shout aloud."

 

10  Who will bring me into the fortified city?
      Who will lead me to Edom?

11  Have you not rejected us, O God?
      And you do not go forth with our armies, O God!

12  Give us help from the adversary,

      for the deliverance of man is useless.

13  In God we will do valiantly;

      for it is He who will tread down our enemies.   r

 

 

PSALM 109

Let Them Curse, But YHWH, You bless

In this psalm David invokes God’s judgment on his false accusers,

and especially on an unnamed enemy. (1-20). He prays for deliverance, and

praises Yahweh who gives righteous judgment towards the wicked,

and who stands at the right hand of the needy to save.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 

1    O God of my praise! Do not be silent,

2    for the mouth of the wicked,

      and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me;

      they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

3    They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,

      and they attack me without a cause.

4    In return for my love they accuse me;

      but I give myself to prayer.

5    They repay me evil for good,

      and hatred for my love.

 

6    Appoint a wicked man over him,

      and let an accuser stand at his right hand.

7    When he is judged, let him be found guilty;

      and let his prayer become sin.

8    Let his days be few;

      let another take his office.

9    Let his children be fatherless,

      and his wife a widow.

10  Let his children wander about; yes, let them beg

      and seek sustenance from out of their desolate places.

11  Let the creditor seize all that he has;

      and let strangers plunder his labour.

12  Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,

      nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.

13  Let his descendants be cut off,

      and their name be blotted out in the next generation.

 

14  Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before YHWH,

      and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15  Let them be before YHWH continually,

      that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

16  because he did not remember to show kindness,

      but pursued and hounded the poor, the needy,

      and the broken-hearted in order to slay them.

17  He also loved cursing, so let it come upon him;

      and as he did not delight in blessing,

      so let it be far from him.

18  He has put cursing on like his garment,

      so let it enter his body like water,

      and like oil into his bones.

19  Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself,

      and as a belt that he always fastens around him.

20  Let this be the reward of my accusers from YHWH,

      and of those who speak evil against me.

 

21  But You, O YHWH, Master,

      deal well with me for Your Name's sake.

      Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me,

22  for I am poor and needy,

      and my heart is wounded within me.

23  I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens;

      I am shaken off like a locust.

24  My knees are weak through fasting,

      and my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.

25  And I, I have become a reproach to them;

      when they see me, they shake their heads.

 

26  Help me, O YHWH my God;

      save me according to Your lovingkindness,

27  and let them know that this is Your Hand.

      You, YHWH, You have done it!

 

28  They may curse, but You will bless!

      When they arise, they will be put to shame,

      but Your servant will rejoice.

29  My accusers will be clothed with shame,

      and covered with their disgrace as with a robe.

 

30  I will greatly extol YHWH with my mouth;

      and in the midst of many I will praise Him,

31  for He stands at the right hand of the needy,

      to save him from those who judge his soul.   r

 

 

PSALM 110

The Messiah: Priest, King & Judge

This Messianic psalm is one of the most quoted in the New Testament.

It pictures the Messiah as King, as Priest, and Warrior-Judge.

A Psalm of David

 

1    ^YHWH says to my Master,    

      'Sit at My right hand,

      until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'^

      [Matt. 22:44. Heb. 1:13. Col. 3:1. Heb. 10:12. 12:2]

2    ^YHWH will send the sceptre of Your strength from Zion,            

      saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies!'^ [Rom. 11:26]

3    ^Your people will be willing and give themselves as

      free-will offerings in the day of Your power,

      in the splendours of holiness.^ [Rom. 12:1]

      From the womb, from the morning,

      Your youth will be as the dew to You.

 

4    ^YHWH has sworn and will not change His mind,

      'You are a priest forever,

      according to the order of Malkitzedek.'^ [Heb. 5:6. 7:21]

 

5    ^YHWH  the Lord at Your right hand

      will shatter kings in the Day of His wrath.

6    He will judge among the nations;

      He will fill them with dead bodies,

      He will smite the head of the whole, wide earth.^  [Rev. 6:17. 10:11-21]

7    He will drink from the brook by the wayside.

      Therefore He will lift up the head.   r

 

 

PSALM 111

The Wonderful Works of YHWH

The psalmist resolves to praise Yahweh in the company of the upright,

because of His majesty, power, righteousness, wonders, provision, truth, justice,

precepts, salvation, covenant, and His holy, awesome Name.

This is an acrostic psalm in which each of the 22 lines begins with

a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

 

1    HalleluYah!

      I thank YHWH with all my heart,

      in the company of the upright and in the assembly.

2    Great are the works of YHWH;

      they are studied by all who delight in them.

3    Splendid and majestic is His work;

      and His righteousness endures forever.

4    He has made His wonders to be remembered;

      YHWH is gracious and compassionate.

5    He has given food to those who stand in awe of Him;

      He remembers His covenant forever.

6    He has shown His people the power of His works,

      in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

 

7    The works of His hands are truth and justice;

      all His precepts are sure.

8    They are upheld forever and ever;

      they are performed in truth and uprightness.

9    He has sent redemption to His people;

      He has ordained His covenant for ever.

      Holy and awesome is His Name.

 

10  To stand in awe of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom;

      a good understanding have all those who do His commandments;

      His praise endures forever.    r

 

 

PSALM 112

Blessed is He Who Stands in Awe of YHWH

This is an acrostic psalm similar to the preceding psalm.

Here we see the blessings of the righteous, and the judgment on the wicked.

 

1    HalleluYah!

      How blessed is the man who stands in awe of YHWH,

      who has found great delight in His commands.

2    His descendants will be mighty on earth;

      the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3    Wealth and riches are in his house,      

      and his righteousness endures forever.

4    Light has risen in the darkness for the upright,

      the gracious, compassionate and righteous.

5    A good man is gracious and lends;

      he maintains his cause with justice.

6    For he will never be shaken;

      the righteous will be remembered for ever.

 

7    He will not be afraid of an evil report;

      his heart is steadfast, trusting in YHWH.

8    His heart is upheld, he will not be afraid,

      while he looks on his adversaries.

9    He has distributed and given to the poor;

      his righteousness endures forever;

      his horn will be exalted in honour.

 

10  The wicked will see it and be vexed;

      he will gnash his teeth and melt away;

      the desire of the wicked will perish.   r

PSALM 113

The Condescending Grace of YHWH

Psalms 113 to 188 are a group of psalms that are traditionally sung

at the Passover; the first two before the meal, and the remaining four after.

This hymn praises Yahweh because He is exalted on high,

and yet condescends  to raise up the poor and needy.

 

1    HalleluYah!

      Praise, O servants of YHWH.

      Praise the Name of YHWH.

2    Blessed be the Name of YHWH,

      from this time onwards, and for ever.

3    From the rising of the sun to its setting,

      the Name of YHWH is praised.

4    YHWH is high above all nations;

      His glory is above the heavens.

 

5    Who is like YHWH our God,

      who is enthroned on high,

6    who stoops down to look on

      the things that are in heaven and in the earth?

7    He raises the poor from the dust,

      and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

8    to make them sit with princes,

      with the princes of His people.

9    He causes the barren woman to dwell in the house

      as a joyful mother of children.

      HalleluYah!    r

 

 

PSALM 114

Tremble, O Earth, Before the Sovereign Master

This psalm commemorates God’s mighty deeds in the Exodus.

                                                                                                     

1    When Israel went forth from Egypt,

      the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

2    Judah became His sanctuary,

      Israel His dominion.

3    The sea saw it and fled;

      the Jordan turned back.

4    The mountains skipped like rams,

      the hills like lambs.

5    What ails you, O sea, that you flee?

      O Jordan, that you turn back?

6    O mountains, that you skip like rams?

      O hills, like lambs?

 

7    Tremble, O earth, before the Sovereign Master,

      at the Presence of the God of Jacob,

8    who turned the rock into a pool of water,

      the flint into a fountain of water.   r

 

 

PSALM 115

To YHWH be the Glory!

This psalm contrasts the sovereign God to impotent idols.

It then calls on Israel to trust in Yahweh, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, 

who blesses the small and the great who stand in awe of Him.

 

1    Not to us, O YHWH, not to us,

      but to Your Name give glory

      because of Your lovingkindness,

      because of Your truth.

2    Why should the nations say,

      "Where, now, is their God?"

3    But our God is in the heavens;

      He does whatever He pleases.

4    Their idols are silver and gold,

      the work of man’s hands.

5    They have mouths, but they do not speak;

      they have eyes, but they do not see;

6    they have ears, but they do not hear;

      they have noses, but they do not smell;

7    they have hands, but they do not handle;

      they have feet, but they do not walk;

      nor do they mutter through their throat.

8    Those who make them will become like them -

      everyone who trusts in them.

 

9    O Israel, trust in YHWH!

      He is their Help and their Shield.

10  O house of Aaron, trust in YHWH!

      He is their Help and their Shield.

11  You who stand in awe of YHWH, trust in YHWH!

      He is their Help and their Shield.

12  YHWH has been mindful of us; He blesses us;

      He blesses the house of Israel;

      He blesses the house of Aaron.

13  He blesses those who stand in awe of YHWH;

      the small and great alike.

 

14  May YHWH give you increase,

      you and your children.

15  You are blessed by YHWH,

      the Maker of heaven and earth.

16  The heavens are the heavens of YHWH;

      but the earth He has given to the sons of men.

17  The dead do not praise Yah,

      nor do any who go down into silence.

18  But as for us, we bless Yah

      from this time onwards, and for ever.

      HalleluYah!   r

 

 

PSALM 116

Lifting up the Cup of Salvation

The psalmist expresses his love for Yahweh, who has delivered him

from distress. He rejoices in salvation, and resolves to pay

his vows to the LORD in the presence of God’s people.

 

1    I love YHWH because He has heard

      my voice and my supplications.

2    Because He has inclined His ear to me,

      I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

3    The cords of death were around me,

      and the terrors of Sheol came upon me;

      I found distress and sorrow.

4    Then I called upon the Name of YHWH:

      "O YHWH, I implore You, deliver my life!"

 

5    YHWH is gracious and righteous;

      yes, our God is compassionate.

6    YHWH preserves the simple;

      I was brought low, and He saved me.

7    Return to your rest, O my soul,

      for YHWH has dealt bountifully with you.

8    For You have rescued my soul from death,

      my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.

9    I shall walk before YHWH in the land of the living.

10  I believed even when I said,

      "I am greatly afflicted."

11  I said in my haste, "All men are liars."

 

12  What shall I render to YHWH

      for all His benefits toward me?

13  I will lift up the cup of salvation,

      and call upon the Name of YHWH.

14  I will pay my vows to YHWH,

      now, in the presence of all His people.

 

15  Precious in the sight of YHWH

      is the death of His devout, set-apart people.

 

16  O YHWH, I am truly Your servant,

      I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid,

      You have loosed my bonds and set me free.

17  I offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

      and call upon the Name of YHWH.

18  I will pay my vows to YHWH,

      now, in the presence of all His people,

19  in the courts of the House of YHWH;

      in your midst, O Jerusalem.

      HalleluYah!    r

 

 

PSALM 117

Let Everyone Praise YHWH

This is a call to praise Yahweh.

It is the shortest, and the central chapter in the Bible.

 

1    Praise YHWH, all you nations;

      glorify Him, all you peoples!

2    For His lovingkindness is great toward us,

      and the truth of YHWH is everlasting.

      Praise Yah!    r

 

 

 

PSALM 118

This is the Day YHWH Has Made

This song of jubilant thanksgiving was sung by worshipers

going up in procession to the Temple. It praises God, whose Right Hand

does valiantly, for His everlasting lovingkindness and salvation.

A prophetic section (22-29) anticipates the great day when

the Messiah becomes the Head Stone, and brings light and salvation.

 

1    Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good;

      for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

2    Let Israel now say,

      "His lovingkindness is everlasting."

3    Let the house of Aaron now say,

      "His lovingkindness is everlasting."

4    Let those who stand in awe of YHWH now say,

      "His lovingkindness is everlasting."

 

5    I called upon Yah in my distress;

      Yah answered me in a broad place.

6    YHWH is for me; I will not fear!

      What can man do to me?

7    YHWH is for me among those who help me;

      therefore I look on those hating me.

8    It is better to take refuge in YHWH

      than to trust in man.

9    It is better to take refuge in YHWH

      than to put confidence in princes.

 

10  All nations surrounded me;

      but in the Name of YHWH I will surely cut them off.

11  They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;

      but in the Name of YHWH I will surely cut them off.

12  They surrounded me like bees;

      they were extinguished like burning thorns;

      in the Name of YHWH I will surely cut them off.

13  You pushed me violently that I might fall,

      but YHWH helped me.

14  Yah is my Strength and Song,

      and He has become my Salvation.

 

15  The voice of joyful shouting and salvation

      is in the tents of the righteous;

      the Right Hand of YHWH does valiantly.

16  The Right Hand of YHWH is exalted;

      the Right Hand of YHWH does valiantly.

17  I shall not die, but live,

      and tell of the works of Yah.

18  Yah has chastened me severely,

      but He has not given me over to death.

 

19  Open to me the gates of righteousness;

      I will enter through them;

      I will give thanks to Yah.

20  This is the gate of YHWH;

      the righteous enter through it.

21  I thank You, for You have answered me;

      and have become my Salvation.

 

22  ^The stone which the builders rejected

      has become the head of the corner – the cornerstone or capstone.

23  This is from YHWH - it is His doing;

      it is marvellous in our eyes.^  [Matt 21:42. Acts 4:11. 1 Pet 2:7]

24  This is the day YHWH has made;

      we will rejoice and be glad in it.

25  O YHWH, save us, I implore You;

      O YHWH, I implore You, cause us to prosper!

 

26  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHWH;

      we have blessed you from the House of YHWH.

27  YHWH is God, and He has given us light.

      Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

28  You are my God, and I praise You.

      You are my God, I exalt You.

29  Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good;

      for His lovingkindness is everlasting.   r

 

 

END OF PSALMS BOOK FIVE – (Part 1 of 3)