Part 108

138:16. Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.

138:17. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.

138:18. I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with thee.

138:19. If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:

138:20. Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain.

Because you say in thought, etc. . .Depart from me, you wicked, who plot against the servants of God, and think to cast them out of the cities of their habitation; as if they have received them in vain, and to no purpose.

138:21. Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies?

138:22. I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.

I have hated them. . .Not with an hatred of malice, but a zeal for the observance of God's commandments; which he saw were despised by the wicked, who are to be considered enemies to God.

138:23. Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.

138:24. And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.

Psalms Chapter 139

Eripe me, Domine.

A prayer to be delivered from the wicked.

139:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David.

139:2. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: rescue me from the unjust man.

139:3. Who have devised iniquities in their hearts: all the day long they designed battles.

139:4. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: the venom of asps is under their lips.

139:5. Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked: and from unjust men deliver me. Who have proposed to supplant my steps:

139:6. The proud have hidden a net for me. And they have stretched out cords for a snare: they have laid for me a stumblingblock by the wayside.

139:7. I said to the Lord: Thou art my God: hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication.

139:8. O Lord, Lord, the strength of my salvation: thou hast overshadowed my head in the day of battle.

139:9. Give me not up, O Lord, from my desire to the wicked: they have plotted against me; do not thou forsake me, lest they should triumph.

139:10. The head of them compassing me about: the labour of their lips shall overwhelm them.

139:11. Burning coals shall fall upon them; thou wilt cast them down into the fire: in miseries they shall not be able to stand.

139:12. A man full of tongue shall not be established in the earth: evil shall catch the unjust man unto destruction.

139:13. I know that the Lord will do justice to the needy, and will revenge the poor.

139:14. But as for the just, they shall give glory to thy name: and the upright shall dwell with thy countenance.