The Living Bible (189 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
How lovely is your Temple, O Lord of the armies of heaven.
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I long, yes, faint with longing to be able to enter your courtyard and come near to the Living God.
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Even the sparrows and swallows are welcome to come and nest among your altars and there have their young, O Lord of heaven’s armies, my King and my God!
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How happy are those who can live in your Temple, singing your praises.
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Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps.
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When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains!
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They will grow constantly in strength, and each of them is invited to meet with the Lord in Zion.
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O Jehovah, God of the heavenly armies, hear my prayer! Listen, God of Israel.
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O God, our Defender and our Shield, have mercy on the one you have anointed as your king.
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A single day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a doorman of the Temple of my God than live in palaces
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of wickedness.
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For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths.
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O Lord of the armies of heaven, blessed are those who trust in you.
Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on this land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel,
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and forgiven the sins of your people—yes, covered over each one,
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so that all your wrath, your blazing anger, is now ended.
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Now bring us back to loving you,
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O Lord, so that your anger will never need rise against us again.
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(Or will you be always angry—on and on to distant generations?)
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Oh, revive us! Then your people can rejoice in you again.
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Pour out your love and kindness on us, Lord, and grant us your salvation.
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I am listening carefully to all the Lord is saying—for he speaks peace to his people, his saints, if they will only stop their sinning.
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Surely his salvation is near to those who reverence him; our land will be filled with his glory.
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Mercy and truth have met together. Grim justice
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and peace have kissed!
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Truth rises from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
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Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings on the land, and it yields its bountiful crops.
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Justice goes before him to make a pathway for his steps.
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Bend down and hear my prayer, O Lord, and answer me, for I am deep in trouble.
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Protect me from death, for I try to follow all your laws. Save me, for I am serving you and trusting you.
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Be merciful, O Lord, for I am looking up to you in constant hope.
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Give me happiness, O Lord, for I worship only you.
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O Lord, you are so good and kind, so ready to forgive, so full of mercy for all who ask your aid.
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Listen closely to my prayer, O God. Hear my urgent cry.
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I will call to you whenever trouble strikes, and you will help me.
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Where among the heathen gods is there a god like you? Where are their miracles?
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All the nations—and you made each one—will come and bow before you, Lord, and praise your great and holy name.
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For you are great and do great miracles. You alone are God.
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Tell me where you want me to go and I will go there. May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name.
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With all my heart I will praise you. I will give glory to your name forever,
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for you love me so much! You are constantly so kind! You have rescued me from deepest hell.
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O God, proud and insolent men defy me; violent, godless men are trying to kill me.
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But you are merciful and gentle, Lord, slow in getting angry, full of constant loving-kindness and of truth;
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so look down in pity and grant strength to your servant and save me.
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Send me a sign of your favor. When those who hate me see it, they will lose face because you help and comfort me.
High on his holy mountain stands Jerusalem,
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the city of God, the city he loves more than any other!
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O city of God, what wondrous tales are told of you!
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Nowadays when I mention among my friends the names of Egypt and Babylonia, Philistia and Tyre, or even distant Ethiopia, someone boasts that he was born in one or another of those countries.
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But someday the highest honor will be to be a native of Jerusalem! For the God above all gods will personally bless this city.
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When he registers her citizens, he will place a check mark beside the names of those who were born here.
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And in the festivals they’ll sing, “All my heart is in Jerusalem.”
O Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have wept before you day and night.
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Now hear my prayers; oh, listen to my cry,
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for my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.
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They say my life is ebbing out—a hopeless case.
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They have left me here to die, like those slain on battlefields from whom your mercies are removed.
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You have thrust me down to the darkest depths.
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Your wrath lies heavy on me; wave after wave engulfs me.
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You have made my friends to loathe me, and they have gone away. I am in a trap with no way out.
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My eyes grow dim with weeping. Each day I beg your help; O Lord, I reach my pleading hands to you for mercy.
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Soon it will be too late! Of what use are your miracles when I am in the grave? How can I praise you then?
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Can those in the grave declare your loving-kindness? Can they proclaim your faithfulness?
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Can the darkness speak of your miracles? Can anyone in the Land of Forgetfulness talk about your help?
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O Lord, I plead for my life and will keep on pleading day by day.
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O Jehovah, why have you thrown my life away? Why are you turning your face from me and looking the other way?
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From my youth I have been sickly and ready to die. I stand helpless before your terrors.
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Your fierce wrath has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have cut me off.
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They flow around me all day long.
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Lover, friend, acquaintance—all are gone. There is only darkness everywhere.
