BOOK 5

Psalm 107

¹Thank the Lord, because he is good! His love is forever! ²That is what every person that the Lord has saved should say. The Lord saved them from their enemy. ³The Lord gathered his people together from many different countries. He brought them from east and west, north and south.* ⁴Some of them wandered in the dry desert. They were looking for a place to live, but they could not find a city. ⁵They were hungry and thirsty and growing weak. ⁶Then they called to the Lord for help. And he saved them from their troubles. ⁷God led those people straight to the city where they would live. ⁸Thank the Lord for his love, and for the amazing things he does for people. ⁹God satisfies the thirsty soul. God fills the hungry soul with good things. ¹⁰Some of God’s people were prisoners, locked behind bars in dark, dark prisons. ¹¹Why? Because those people fought against the things God said. They refused to listen to the advice from God Most-High. ¹²God made life hard for those people because of the things they did. They stumbled and fell, and there was no person to help them. ¹³Those people were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help. And he saved them from their troubles. ¹⁴God took them out of their dark prisons. God broke the ropes they were tied with. ¹⁵Thank the Lord for his love, and for the amazing things he does for people. ¹⁶{God helps us defeat our enemies.} God can break down their bronze gates. God can shatter the iron bars on their gates. ¹⁷Some people let their sins and guilt change them into foolish people. ¹⁸Those people refused to eat, and they almost died. ¹⁹They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help. And he saved them from their troubles. ²⁰God gave the command and healed them. So those people were saved from the grave. ²¹Thank the Lord for his love and for the amazing things he does for people. ²²Offer sacrifices* to the Lord to thank him for all he did. Gladly tell what the Lord has done. ²³Some people sailed in boats across the sea. Their job carried them across the great sea. ²⁴Those people saw what the Lord can do. They saw the amazing things he did at sea. ²⁵God gave the command, and a strong wind began to blow. The waves became higher and higher. ²⁶The waves lifted them high in the sky and dropped them into the deep sea. The storm was so dangerous the men lost their courage. ²⁷They were stumbling and falling like drunk men. Their skill as sailors was useless. ²⁸They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help. And he saved them from their troubles. ²⁹God stopped the storm. He calmed the waves. ³⁰The sailors were happy that the sea was calm. And God led them safely to the place they wanted to go. ³¹Thank the Lord for his love, and for the amazing things he does for people. ³²Praise God in the great assembly. Praise him when the older leaders meet together. ³³God changed rivers into a desert. God stopped springs from flowing. ³⁴God changed the fertile land and it became worthless salty land. Why? Because of the bad people who were living in that place. ³⁵God changed the desert and it became a land with pools of water. God caused springs of water to flow from dry ground. ³⁶God led hungry people to that good land. And they built a city to live in. ³⁷Those people planted seeds in their fields. They planted grapes in the field. And they had a good harvest. ³⁸God blessed those people. Their families grew. They had many, many animals. ³⁹Because of disaster and troubles, their families were small and weak. ⁴⁰God shamed and embarrassed their leaders. God let them wander through the desert where there are no roads. ⁴¹But then God rescued those poor people from their misery. And now their families are large, like flocks of sheep. ⁴²Good people see this, and they are happy. But wicked people see this, and they don’t know what to say. ⁴³If a person is wise, he will remember these things. Then he will begin to understand what God’s love really is.

south Or, “the Sea.” This is west of Israel and would refer to all the coastal areas around the Mediterranean Sea. sacrifice(s) A sacrifice was a gift to God. Usually, it was a special animal that was killed and burned on an altar.

Psalm 108

One of David’s songs of praise.

¹God, I am ready, heart and soul, to sing and play songs of praise. ²Harps and lyres,* let’s wake up the sun!* ³Lord, we will praise you among the nations. We will praise you among other people. ⁴Lord, your love is higher than the skies. Your faithfulness is higher than the highest clouds. ⁵God, rise above the heavens! Let all the world see your glory. ⁶God, do this to save your friends. Answer my prayer and use your great power to save. ⁷God spoke in his temple:* “I will win the war and be happy about the victory! {I will divide this land among my people.} I will give them Shechem. I will give them Succoth Valley. ⁸Gilead and Manasseh will be mine. Ephraim will be my helmet. Judah will be my scepter.* ⁹Moab will be a bowl for washing my feet. Edom will be a slave to carry my sandals. I {will defeat} the Philistines and shout about the victory.” ¹⁰Who will lead me into the enemy fortress? Who will lead me to fight against Edom? ¹¹God, {only you can help me do these things}. But you left us! You did not go with our army! ¹²God, please help us defeat our enemy! People can’t help us! ¹³Only God can make us strong. God can defeat our enemies!

lyres An instrument with several strings, like a harp. let’s wake up the sun This song was probably written to be sung at the temple when they offered the morning sacrifices. in his temple Or “in his holiness.” scepter A special stick. Kings and leaders carried scepters to show they were rulers.

Psalm 109

To the director.* One of David’s songs of praise.

¹God, don’t close your ears to my prayer! ²Wicked people are telling lies about me. They are saying things that are not true. ³People are saying hateful things about me. People are attacking me for no reason. ⁴I loved them, but they hate me. So now, I am praying to you, God. ⁵I did good things to those people, but they are doing bad things to me. I loved them, but they hated me. ⁶Punish my enemy for the bad things he did. Find a person to prove he is wrong. ⁷Let the judge decide my enemy did wrong and that he is guilty. Let everything my enemy says only make things worse for him. ⁸Let my enemy die soon. Let another person have his job. ⁹Make my enemy’s children orphans and his wife a widow. ¹⁰Let them lose their home and become beggars. ¹¹Let the people my enemy owes money to take everything he owns. Let strangers take everything he worked for. ¹²I hope no person is kind to my enemy. I hope no person shows mercy to his children. ¹³Destroy my enemy completely. Let the next generation remove his name from everything. ¹⁴I hope the Lord is reminded of the sins of my enemy’s father. And I hope his mother’s sins are never erased. ¹⁵I hope the Lord remembers those sins forever. And I hope he forces people to forget my enemy completely. ¹⁶Why? Because that evil man never did anything good. He never loved anyone He made life hard for poor, helpless people. ¹⁷That evil man loved to ask for bad things to happen to other people. So let those bad things happen to him. That evil man never asked for good things to happen to people. So don’t let good things happen to him. ¹⁸Let curses be his clothes. Let curses be the water he drinks. Let curses be the oil on his body. ¹⁹Let curses be the clothes they wrap around that evil man. And let curses be the belt around his waist. ²⁰I hope the Lord does all those things to my enemy. I hope the Lord does those things to the people who are trying to kill me. ²¹Lord, you are my Master. So treat me in a way that brings honor to your name. You have such great love, so save me. ²²I am only a poor, helpless man. I am truly sad, my heart is broken. ²³I feel like my life is over, like long shadows at the end of a day. I feel like a bug someone brushed away. ²⁴My knees are weak because I am hungry. I am losing weight and becoming thin. ²⁵Bad people insult me. They look at me and shake their heads. ²⁶Lord my God, help me! Show your true love and save me! ²⁷Then those people will know that you helped me. Then they will know that it was your power that helped me. ²⁸Those bad people curse me, but you can bless me, Lord. They attacked me, so defeat them. Then I, your servant, will be happy. ²⁹Embarrass my enemies! Let them wear their shame like a coat. ³⁰I thank the Lord. I praise him in front of many people. ³¹Why? Because the Lord stands by helpless people. God saves them from other people who try to condemn them to death.

director Or, “performer.”