Daily Text and Bible Reading: Thursday, July 17 [Press play below]

For the director. Of David. A melody.
139.1 O Jehovah, you have searched through me, and you know me.
139.2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar.
139.3 You observe me when I travel and when I lie down; You are familiar with all my ways.
139.4 There is not a word on my tongue, But look! O Jehovah, you already know it well.
139.5 Behind and before me, you surround me; And you lay your hand upon me.
139.6 Such knowledge is beyond my comprehension. It is too high for me to reach.
139.7 Where can I escape from your spirit, And where can I run away from your face?
139.8 If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there, And if I were to make my bed in the Grave, look! you would be there.
139.9 If I would fly away with the wings of the dawn To reside by the most remote sea,
139.10 Even there your hand would lead me And your right hand would take hold of me.
139.11 If I say: “Surely darkness will conceal me!” Then the night around me would become light.
139.12 Even the darkness would not be too dark for you, But night would be as bright as the day; Darkness is the same as light to you.
139.13 For you produced my kidneys; You kept me screened off in my mother’s womb.
139.14 I praise you because in an awe-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know this very well.
139.15 My bones were not hidden from you When I was made in secret, When I was woven in the depths of the earth.
139.16 Your eyes even saw me as an embryo; All its parts were written in your book Regarding the days when they were formed, Before any of them existed.
139.17 So to me, how precious your thoughts are! O God, how vast is the sum of them!
139.18 If I try to count them, they outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
139.19 O God, if only you would slay the wicked! Then the violent men would depart from me,
139.20 Those who say things against you with evil intent; They are your adversaries who take up your name in a worthless way.
139.21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Jehovah, And loathe those who revolt against you?
139.22 I have nothing but hatred for them; They have become real enemies to me.
139.23 Search through me, O God, and know my heart. Examine me, and know my anxious thoughts.
139.24 See whether there is in me any harmful way, And lead me in the way of eternity.

For the director. A melody of David.
140.1 Rescue me, O Jehovah, from evil men; Protect me from violent men,
140.2 Those who scheme evil in their hearts And stir up conflict all day long.
140.3 They sharpen their tongue like that of a serpent; Venom of vipers is behind their lips.
(Selah)
140.4 Protect me, O Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked; Safeguard me from violent men, Those who scheme to trip me.
140.5 The haughty ones hide a trap for me; With ropes they spread out a net beside the path. They set snares for me.
(Selah)
140.6 I say to Jehovah: “You are my God. Listen, O Jehovah, to my pleas for help.”
140.7 O Jehovah the Sovereign Lord, my strong Savior, You shield my head in the day of battle.
140.8 Do not grant, O Jehovah, the desires of the wicked. Do not let their plots succeed, so that they are not exalted.
(Selah)
140.9 May the heads of those surrounding me Be covered with the evil spoken by their lips.
140.10 May burning coals rain down on them. May they be hurled into the fire, Into deep pits, never to rise again.
140.11 May the slanderer find no place on the earth. May evil pursue men of violence and strike them down.
140.12 I know that Jehovah will defend the lowly And give justice to the poor.
140.13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name; The upright will dwell before your face.

A melody of David.
141.1 O Jehovah, I call on you. Come quickly to help me. Do pay attention when I call to you.
141.2 May my prayer be as incense prepared before you, My uplifted hands like the evening grain offering.
141.3 Station a guard for my mouth, O Jehovah, Do set a watch over the door of my lips.
141.4 Do not let my heart incline to anything bad, To share in vile deeds with evil men; May I never feast on their delicacies.
141.5 Should the righteous one strike me, it would be an act of loyal love; Should he reprove me, it would be like oil on my head, Which my head would never refuse. My prayer will continue even during their calamities.
141.6 Though their judges are thrown down from the cliff, The people will pay attention to my words, for they are pleasant.
141.7 Just as when someone plows and breaks up the soil, So our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the Grave.
141.8 But my eyes look to you, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah. In you I have taken refuge. Do not take away my life.
141.9 Protect me from the jaws of the trap they have laid for me, From the snares of evildoers.
141.10 The wicked will fall into their own nets all together While I pass by safely.

Maskil. Of David when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142.1 With my voice I call to Jehovah for help; With my voice I plead with Jehovah for favor.
142.2 Before him I pour out my concern; Before him I tell about my distress
142.3 When my spirit fails within me. Then you watch my roadway. In the path where I walk, They hide a trap for me.
142.4 Look at my right hand and see That no one cares about me. There is nowhere I can flee; No one is concerned about me.
142.5 I call to you, O Jehovah, for help. I say: “You are my refuge, All I have in the land of the living.”
142.6 Pay attention to my cry for help, For I have been brought very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than I am.
142.7 Bring me out of the dungeon To praise your name. May the righteous gather around me Because you deal kindly with me.

A melody of David.
143.1 O Jehovah, hear my prayer; Listen to my plea for help. In your faithfulness and in your righteousness, answer me.
143.2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant, For no one living can be righteous before you.
143.3 For the enemy pursues me; He has crushed my life into the ground. He has caused me to dwell in darkness like those long dead.
143.4 My spirit is failing; My heart is numb within me.
143.5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all your activity; I eagerly ponder over the work of your hands.
143.6 I spread out my hands to you; I am like a parched land that thirsts for you.
(Selah)
143.7 Do answer me quickly, O Jehovah; My strength has come to an end. Do not hide your face from me, Or I will be like those going down into the pit.
143.8 Let me hear your loyal love in the morning, For I trust in you. Make known to me the way I should walk, For to you I turn.
143.9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Jehovah. I seek your protection.
143.10 Teach me to do your will, For you are my God. Your spirit is good; May it lead me on level ground.
143.11 For the sake of your name, O Jehovah, preserve me alive. In your righteousness, rescue me from distress.
143.12 In your loyal love, put an end to my enemies; Destroy all those harassing me, For I am your servant.
Of David.
144.1 May Jehovah, my Rock, be praised, Who trains my hands for battle, My fingers for warfare.
144.2 He is my loyal love and my stronghold, My secure refuge and my rescuer, My shield and the One in whom I have taken shelter, The One subduing peoples under me.
144.3 O Jehovah, what is man that you should notice him, The son of mortal man that you should pay attention to him?
144.4 Man resembles a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
144.5 O Jehovah, lower your heavens and descend; Touch the mountains and make them smoke.
144.6 Make lightning flash and scatter the enemy; Shoot your arrows and throw them into confusion.
144.7 Stretch out your hands from above; Rescue me and save me from the surging waters, From the hand of the foreigners,
144.8 Whose mouths speak lies And who raise their right hand to swear to what is false.
144.9 O God, I will sing to you a new song. I will sing praises to you, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument,
144.10 To the One who gives victory to kings, The One rescuing his servant David from the deadly sword.
144.11 Rescue me and save me from the hand of the foreigners, Whose mouths speak lies And who raise their right hand to swear to what is false.
144.12 Then our sons will be like young plants that grow up quickly, Our daughters like corner pillars carved for a palace.
144.13 Our storehouses will overflow with every kind of produce; Our flocks in our fields will multiply by the thousands, by the tens of thousands.
144.14 Our cattle, heavy with young, will suffer no mishap or miscarriage; There will be no cry of distress in our public squares.
144.15 Happy is the people for whom it is this way! Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah!