³ How long will you assail a person,
    will you batter your victim, all of you,
    as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴ Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
    They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
    but inwardly they curse.Selah

⁵ For God alone my soul waits in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷ On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us.Selah

⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath,
    those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
    they are together lighter than a breath.
¹⁰ Put no confidence in extortion,
    and set no vain hopes on robbery;
    if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
¹² and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
according to their work.

³ Jerusalem—built as a city
    that is bound firmly together.
⁴ To it the tribes go up,
    the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
    to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
⁵ For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
    the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
⁷ Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.”
⁸ For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

³ For the enemy has pursued me,
    crushing my life to the ground,
    making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
⁴ Therefore my spirit faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.

⁵ I remember the days of old,
    I think about all your deeds,
    I meditate on the works of your hands.
⁶ I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.Selah

⁷ Answer me quickly, O Lord;
    my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
    or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
⁸ Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
    for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.

⁹ Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
    I have fled to you for refuge.^[a]
10 Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
    on a level path.

¹¹ For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.
In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
¹² In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
and destroy all my adversaries,
for I am your servant.

⁵ By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
    O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas.
⁶ By your^[a] strength you established the mountains;
    you are girded with might.
⁷ You silence the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples.
⁸ Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it,
    you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
    you provide the people with grain,
    for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
    and blessing its growth.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they shout and sing together for joy.

Prayer:

Eternal God, you never fail to give us each day all that we ever need, and even more.  Give us such joy in living and such peace in serving Christ, that we may gratefully make use of all your blessings, and joyfully seek our risen Lord in everyone we meet.  In Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.