Psalms 6; Psalms 8; Psalms 9; Psalms 10; Psalms 14; Psalms 16; Psalms 19; Psalms 21

1 Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed.

2 Treat me nice for a change; I'm so starved for affection. Can't you see I'm black and blue,

3 and soul? God, how long will it take for you to let up?

4 Break in, God, and break up this fight; if you love me at all, get me out of here.

5 I'm no good to you dead, am I? I can't sing in your choir if I'm buried in some tomb!

6 I'm tired of all this - so tired. My bed has been floating forty days and nights On the flood of my tears. My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears.

7 The sockets of my eyes are black holes; nearly blind, I squint and grope.

8 Get out of here, you Devil's crew: at last God has heard my sobs.

9 My requests have all been granted, my prayers are answered.

10 Cowards, my enemies disappear. Disgraced, they turn tail and run.

1 God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.

2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs That drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble.

3 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings.

4 Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?

5 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden's dawn light.

6 You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge,

7 Made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild,

8 Birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps.

9 God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world.

1 I'm thanking you, God, from a full heart, I'm writing the book on your wonders.

2 I'm whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy; I'm singing your song, High God.

3 The day my enemies turned tail and ran, they stumbled on you and fell on their faces.

4 You took over and set everything right; when I needed you, you were there, taking charge.

5 You blow the whistle on godless nations; you throw dirty players out of the game, wipe their names right off the roster.

6 Enemies disappear from the sidelines, their reputation trashed, their names erased from the halls of fame.

7 God holds the high center, he sees and sets the world's mess right.

8 He decides what is right for us earthlings, gives people their just deserts.

9 God's a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times.

10 The moment you arrive, you relax; you're never sorry you knocked.

11 Sing your songs to Zion-dwelling God, tell his stories to everyone you meet:

12 How he tracks down killers yet keeps his eye on us, registers every whimper and moan.

13 Be kind to me, God; I've been kicked around long enough. Once you've pulled me back from the gates of death,

14 I'll write the book on Hallelujahs; on the corner of Main and First I'll hold a street meeting; I'll be the song leader; we'll fill the air with salvation songs.

15 They're trapped, those godless countries, in the very snares they set, Their feet all tangled in the net they spread.

16 They have no excuse; the way God works is well-known. The cunning machinery made by the wicked has maimed their own hands.

17 The wicked bought a one-way ticket to hell.

18 No longer will the poor be nameless - no more humiliation for the humble.

19 Up, God! Aren't you fed up with their empty strutting? Expose these grand pretensions!

20 Shake them up, God! Show them how silly they look.

1 God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need you?

2 Full of hot air, the wicked are hot on the trail of the poor. Trip them up, tangle them up in their fine-tuned plots.

3 The wicked are windbags, the swindlers have foul breath.

4 The wicked snub God, their noses stuck high in the air. Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls: "Catch us if you can!" "God is dead."

5 They care nothing for what you think; if you get in their way, they blow you off.

6 They live (they think) a charmed life: "We can't go wrong. This is our lucky year!"

7 They carry a mouthful of hexes, their tongues spit venom like adders.

8 They hide behind ordinary people, then pounce on their victims.

9 They mark the luckless, then wait like a hunter in a blind; When the poor wretch wanders too close, they stab him in the back.

10 The hapless fool is kicked to the ground, the unlucky victim is brutally axed.

11 He thinks God has dumped him, he's sure that God is indifferent to his plight.

12 Time to get up, God - get moving. The luckless think they're Godforsaken.

13 They wonder why the wicked scorn God and get away with it, Why the wicked are so cocksure they'll never come up for audit.

14 But you know all about it - the contempt, the abuse. I dare to believe that the luckless will get lucky someday in you. You won't let them down: orphans won't be orphans forever.

15 Break the wicked right arms, break all the evil left arms. Search and destroy every sign of crime.

16 God's grace and order wins; godlessness loses.

17 The victim's faint pulse picks up; the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood as you put your ear to their lips.

18 Orphans get parents, the homeless get homes. The reign of terror is over, the rule of the gang lords is ended.

1 Bilious and bloated, they gas, "God is gone." Their words are poison gas, fouling the air; they poison Rivers and skies; thistles are their cash crop.

2 God sticks his head out of heaven. He looks around. He's looking for someone not stupid - one man, even, God-expectant, just one God-ready woman.

3 He comes up empty. A string of zeros. Useless, unshepherded Sheep, taking turns pretending to be Shepherd. The ninety and nine follow their fellow.

4 Don't they know anything, all these impostors? Don't they know they can't get away with this - Treating people like a fast-food meal over which they're too busy to pray?

5 Night is coming for them, and nightmares, for God takes the side of victims.

6 Do you think you can mess with the dreams of the poor? You can't, for God makes their dreams come true.

7 Is there anyone around to save Israel? Yes. God is around; God turns life around. Turned-around Jacob skips rope, turned-around Israel sings laughter.

1 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you.

2 I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you, nothing makes sense.

3 And these God-chosen lives all around - what splendid friends they make!

4 Don't just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names.

5 My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice!

6 You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!

7 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart.

8 Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

9 I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed.

10 You canceled my ticket to hell - that's not my destination!

11 Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

1 God's glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.

2 Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.

3 Their words aren't heard, their voices aren't recorded,

4 But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. God makes a huge dome for the sun - a superdome!

5 The morning sun's a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.

6 That's how God's Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.

7 The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.

8 The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes.

9 God's reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.

10 God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You'll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.

11 There's more: God's Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure.

12 Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool?

13 Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.

14 These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

1 Your strength, God, is the king's strength. Helped, he's hollering Hosannas.

2 You gave him exactly what he wanted; you didn't hold back.

3 You filled his arms with gifts; you gave him a right royal welcome.

4 He wanted a good life; you gave it to him, and then made it a long life as a bonus.

5 You lifted him high and bright as a cumulus cloud, then dressed him in rainbow colors.

6 You pile blessings on him; you make him glad when you smile.

7 Is it any wonder the king loves God? that he's sticking with the Best?

8 With a fistful of enemies in one hand and a fistful of haters in the other,

9 You radiate with such brilliance that they cringe as before a furnace. Now the furnace swallows them whole, the fire eats them alive!

10 You purge the earth of their progeny, you wipe the slate clean.

11 All their evil schemes, the plots they cook up, have fizzled - every one.

12 You sent them packing; they couldn't face you.

13 Show your strength, God, so no one can miss it. We are out singing the good news!