Psalms and Proverbs in a Month – read today’s “Psalms and Proverbs in a Month” excerpt
reading plan entry for day #18
Psalm 83 (WEBP)
A song. A Psalm by Asaph.
[1] God, don’t keep silent.
Don’t keep silent,
and don’t be still, God.
[2] For, behold, your enemies are stirred up.
Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.
[3] They conspire with cunning against your people.
They plot against your cherished ones.
[4] “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation,
that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
[5] For they have conspired together with one mind.
They form an alliance against you.
[6] The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab, and the Hagrites;
[7] Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
[8] Assyria also is joined with them.
They have helped the children of Lot.
Selah.[9] Do to them as you did to Midian,
as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
[10] who perished at Endor,
who became as dung for the earth.
[11] Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
[12] who said, “Let’s take possession of God’s pasture lands.”
[13] My God, make them like tumbleweed,
like chaff before the wind.
[14] As the fire that burns the forest,
as the flame that sets the mountains on fire,
[15] so pursue them with your tempest,
and terrify them with your storm.
[16] Fill their faces with confusion,
that they may seek your name, Yahweh.
[17] Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever.
Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
[18] that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh,
are the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 84 (WEBP)
For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
[1] How lovely are your dwellings,
Yahweh of Armies!
[2] My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh.
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
[3] Yes, the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young,
near your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God.
[4] Blessed are those who dwell in your house.
They are always praising you.
Selah.[5] Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.
[6] Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs.
Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.
[7] They go from strength to strength.
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
[8] Yahweh, God of Armies, hear my prayer.
Listen, God of Jacob.
Selah.[9] Behold, God our shield,
look at the face of your anointed.
[10] For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
[11] For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield.
Yahweh will give grace and glory.
He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
[12] Yahweh of Armies,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.
Psalm 85 (WEBP)
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
[1] Yahweh, you have been favorable to your land.
You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.
[2] You have forgiven the iniquity of your people.
You have covered all their sin.
Selah.[3] You have taken away all your wrath.
You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.
[4] Turn us, God of our salvation,
and cause your indignation toward us to cease.
[5] Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you draw out your anger to all generations?
[6] Won’t you revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
[7] Show us your loving kindness, Yahweh.
Grant us your salvation.
[8] I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, his saints;
but let them not turn again to folly.
[9] Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
[10] Mercy and truth meet together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
[11] Truth springs out of the earth.
Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
[12] Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good.
Our land will yield its increase.
[13] Righteousness goes before him,
and prepares the way for his steps.
Psalm 86 (WEBP)
A Prayer by David.
[1] Hear, Yahweh, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
[2] Preserve my soul, for I am godly.
You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you.
[3] Be merciful to me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
[4] Bring joy to the soul of your servant,
for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.
[5] For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.
[6] Hear, Yahweh, my prayer.
Listen to the voice of my petitions.
[7] In the day of my trouble I will call on you,
for you will answer me.
[8] There is no one like you among the gods, Lord,
nor any deeds like your deeds.
[9] All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord.
They shall glorify your name.
[10] For you are great, and do wondrous things.
You are God alone.
[11] Teach me your way, Yahweh.
I will walk in your truth.
Make my heart undivided to fear your name.
[12] I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart.
I will glorify your name forever more.
[13] For your loving kindness is great toward me.
You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.°
[14] God, the proud have risen up against me.
A company of violent men have sought after my soul,
and they don’t hold regard for you before them.
[15] But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
[16] Turn to me, and have mercy on me!
Give your strength to your servant.
Save the son of your servant.
[17] Show me a sign of your goodness,
that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed,
because you, Yahweh, have helped me, and comforted me.Psalm 86:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.
Psalm 87 (WEBP)
A Psalm by the sons of Korah; a Song.
[1] His foundation is in the holy mountains.
[2] Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
[3] Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God.
Selah.[4] I will record Rahab° and Babylon among those who acknowledge me.
Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia:
“This one was born there.”
[5] Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her;”
the Most High himself will establish her.
[6] Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples,
“This one was born there.”
Selah.[7] Those who sing as well as those who dance say,
“All my springs are in you.”Psalm 87:4 Rahab is a reference to Egypt.
Proverbs 18 (WEBP)
[1] A man who isolates himself pursues selfishness,
and defies all sound judgment.
[2] A fool has no delight in understanding,
but only in revealing his own opinion.
[3] When wickedness comes, contempt also comes,
and with shame comes disgrace.
[4] The words of a man’s mouth are like deep waters.
The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.
[5] To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good,
nor to deprive the innocent of justice.
[6] A fool’s lips come into strife,
and his mouth invites beatings.
[7] A fool’s mouth is his destruction,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
[8] The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels:
they go down into a person’s innermost parts.
[9] One who is slack in his work
is brother to him who is a master of destruction.
[10] Yahweh’s name is a strong tower:
the righteous run to him, and are safe.
[11] The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.
[12] Before destruction the heart of man is proud,
but before honor is humility.
[13] He who answers before he hears,
that is folly and shame to him.
[14] A man’s spirit will sustain him in sickness,
but a crushed spirit, who can bear?
[15] The heart of the discerning gets knowledge.
The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
[16] A man’s gift makes room for him,
and brings him before great men.
[17] He who pleads his cause first seems right—
until another comes and questions him.
[18] The lot settles disputes,
and keeps strong ones apart.
[19] A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city.
Disputes are like the bars of a fortress.
[20] A man’s stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth.
With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
[21] Death and life are in the power of the tongue;
those who love it will eat its fruit.
[22] Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing,
and obtains favor of Yahweh.
[23] The poor plead for mercy,
but the rich answer harshly.
[24] A man of many companions may be ruined,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.