Meet Halle Campbell

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David.

1  Hear my prayer, O LORD;
    give ear to my pleas for mercy!
    In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2  Enter not into judgment with your servant,
    for no one living is righteous before you.

3  For the enemy has pursued my soul;
    he has crushed my life to the ground;
    he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4  Therefore my spirit faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.

5  I remember the days of old;
    I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
6  I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

7  Answer me quickly, O LORD!
    My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
    lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8  Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.

9  Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD!
    I have fled to you for refuge. ^{1 143:9 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts To you I have covered}
10  Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
    on level ground!

11  For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life!
    In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12  And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
    and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
    for I am your servant.

My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

1  Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
2  he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples ^{2 144:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people} under me.

3  O LORD, what is man that you regard him,
    or the son of man that you think of him?
4  Man is like a breath;
    his days are like a passing shadow.

5  Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down!
    Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
6  Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    send out your arrows and rout them!
7  Stretch out your hand from on high;
    rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand of foreigners,
8  whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

9  I will sing a new song to you, O God;
    upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10  who gives victory to kings,
    who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
11  Rescue me and deliver me
    from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

12  May our sons in their youth
    be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
    cut for the structure of a palace;
13  may our granaries be full,
    providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
    and ten thousands in our fields;
14  may our cattle be heavy with young,
    suffering no mishap or failure in bearing; ^{3 144:14 Hebrew with no breaking in or going out}
may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
15  Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
    Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

Great Is the LORD

^{4 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet} A Song of Praise. Of David.

1  I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
2  Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
3  Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.

4  One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
5  On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6  They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
7  They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8  The LORD is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9  The LORD is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10  All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
    and all your saints shall bless you!
11  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
12  to make known to the children of man your ^{5 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line} mighty deeds,
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The LORD is faithful in all his words
    and kind in all his works.] ^{6 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll)}
14  The LORD upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
15  The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
16  You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17  The LORD is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.
18  The LORD is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
19  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.
20  The LORD preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.

21  My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

1  Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2  I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3  Put not your trust in princes,
    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4  When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.

5  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6  who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7      who executes justice for the oppressed,
    who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8      the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the LORD loves the righteous.
9  The LORD watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10  The LORD will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

He Heals the Brokenhearted

1  Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, ^{7 147:1 Or for he is beautiful} and a song of praise is fitting.
2  The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3  He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4  He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
5  Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
6  The LORD lifts up the humble; ^{8 147:6 Or afflicted}
    he casts the wicked to the ground.

7  Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
8  He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
9  He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
10  His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11  but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

12  Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
13  For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
14  He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15  He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
16  He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
17  He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
18  He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19  He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and rules ^{9 147:19 Or and just decrees} to Israel.
20  He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his rules. ^{10 147:20 Or his just decrees}
Praise the LORD!

Praise the Name of the LORD

1  Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!
2  Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his hosts!

3  Praise him, sun and moon,
    praise him, all you shining stars!
4  Praise him, you highest heavens,
    and you waters above the heavens!

5  Let them praise the name of the LORD!
    For he commanded and they were created.
6  And he established them forever and ever;
    he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. ^{11 148:6 Or it shall not be transgressed}

7  Praise the LORD from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all deeps,
8  fire and hail, snow and mist,
    stormy wind fulfilling his word!

9  Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
10  Beasts and all livestock,
    creeping things and flying birds!

11  Kings of the earth and all peoples,
    princes and all rulers of the earth!
12  Young men and maidens together,
    old men and children!

13  Let them praise the name of the LORD,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his majesty is above earth and heaven.
14  He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his saints,
    for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the LORD!

Sing to the LORD a New Song

1  Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2  Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3  Let them praise his name with dancing,
    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4  For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.
5  Let the godly exult in glory;
    let them sing for joy on their beds.
6  Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
7  to execute vengeance on the nations
    and punishments on the peoples,
8  to bind their kings with chains
    and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9  to execute on them the judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the LORD!

Let Everything Praise the LORD

1  Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens! ^{12 150:1 Hebrew expanse (compare Genesis 1:68)}
2  Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!

3  Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
4  Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
5  Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!