¶ Intro / Opening
A reading from the Book of Psalms.
¶ Praising God's Majesty and Justice
A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to your name Old Most High. To declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, are you Have made me glad by your work. At the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O Lord? Your thoughts are very deep.
The stupid man cannot know, the fool cannot understand this, that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evil doers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. But you, O Lord, are on high forever. For behold your enemies, O Lord, for behold your enemies shall perish. All evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox.
You have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies. My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord, they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age. They are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
The Lord reigns. He is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed. He has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old. You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. Your decrees are very trustworthy. Holiness befits your house.
O Lord forevermore.
¶ Pleading for Divine Justice and Help
O Lord, God of Vengeance, O God of Vengeance, shine forth, rise up, O Judge of the earth. Repay to the proud what they deserve. O Lord, how long shall the wicked how long shall the wicked exalt? They pour out their arrogant words, all the evildoers boast. They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless. And they say, The Lord does not see, the god of Jacob does not perceive.
Understand, O Dulus of the people, fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge, the Lord, knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, to give him rest from days of trouble until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the Lord will not forsake his people, he will not abandon his heritage, for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evil doers? If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence, when I thought my foot slipped. Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. He will bring back on them their iniquity, and wipe them out for their wickedness. The Lord our God will wipe them out.