And blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation:
And uphold me with a free spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;

And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

O Lord, open thou my lips;

And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it:

Thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:

Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt

offering and whole burnt offering:

Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

PSALM 130: 1-8.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice:

Let thine ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplications.

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,

O Lord, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee,

That thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,

And in his word do I hope.

My soul looketh for the Lord,

More than watchmen look for the morning;
Yea, more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord;

For with the Lord there is mercy,

And with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel

From all his iniquities.

XVII. GOD IS GOOD TO HIS PEOPLE.

PSALM 73: 1-28.

Surely God is good to Israel,

Even to such as are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet were almost gone;

My steps had well nigh slipped.

For I was envious at the arrogant,

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no bands in their death:

But their strength is firm.

They are not in trouble as other men;

Neither are they plagued like other men.

Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;
Violence covereth them as a garment.

Their eyes stand out with fatness:

They have more than heart could wish.

They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:

They speak loftily.

They have set their mouth in the heavens,

And their tongue walketh through the earth.

Therefore his people return hither:

And waters of a full cup are wrung out by them.

And they say, How doth God know?

And is there knowledge in the Most High?

Behold, these are the wicked;

And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.

Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,

And washed my hands in innocency;

For all the day long have I been plagued,

And chastened every morning.

If I had said, I will speak thus;

Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy chil

dren.

When I thought how I might know this,
It was too painful for me;

Until I went into the sanctuary of God,

And considered their latter end.

Surely thou settest them in slippery places:

Thou castest them down to destruction.

How are they become a desolation in a moment!

They are utterly consumed with terrors.

As a dream when one awaketh;

So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

For my heart was grieved,

And I was pricked in my reins:

So brutish, was I, and ignorant;

I was as a beast before thee.

Nevertheless I am continually with thee:

Thou hast holden my right hand.

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

My flesh and my heart faileth:

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:

Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
But it is good for me to draw near unto God:

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all thy works.

XVIII. LONGING FOR GOD'S HOUSE.

PSALM 84: 1-12.

How amiable are thy tabernacles,

O Lord of hosts!

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God.

Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house,

And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,

Even thine altars, O Lord of hosts,

My King, and my God.

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house:

They will be still praising thee.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;

In whose heart are the high ways to Zion.

Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of

springs;

Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings.

They go from strength to strength,

Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer:

Give ear, O God of Jacob.

Behold, O God our shield,

And look upon the face of thine anointed.

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.

I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and a shield:

The Lord will give grace and glory:

No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts,

Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

PSALM 27:1-6.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh,

Even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.
Though an host should encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear:

Though war should rise against me,

Even then will I be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the day of trouble he shall keep me secretly in his pavilion: In the covert of his tabernacle shall he hide me;

He shall lift me up upon a rock.

And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round

about me;

And I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

PSALM 89:1-18.

XIX. THE KING OF GLORY.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever:

With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all genera

tions.

For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever;

Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

I have made a covenant with my chosen,

I have sworn unto David my servant;

Thy seed will I establish for ever,

And build up thy throne to all generations.

And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord;
Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can be compared unto the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto the Lord,
A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones,
And to be feared above all them that are round about him?
O Lord God of hosts,

Who is a mighty one, like unto thee, O jah?

And thy faithfulness is round about thee.

Thou rulest the pride of the sea:

When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain;

Thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength.

The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine:

The world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

The north and the south, thou hast created them:

Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy name.

Thou hast a mighty arm:

Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.