1 I cry with my voice to the Lord,
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord,
2 I pour out my complaint before him,
I tell my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit is faint,
thou knowest my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
4 I look to…
1 Lord, I call upon Thee, hear me. Hear me, O Lord.
Lord, I call upon Thee, hear me.
Receive the voice of my prayer, when I call upon Thee.
Hear me, O Lord.
2 Let my prayer arise, in Thy sight as incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice.
…
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men,
2 who plan evil things in their heart,
and stir up wars continually.
3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,
and under their lips is the poison of vipers.
4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
…
This diary entry is longer than usual, but it’s Father Alexander Schmemann’s moving reflection on Psalm 139 in the context of asking the question, what does it mean to believe in God?
I do not so much arrive consciously, deductively, or rationally at faith in God, but rather I find faith within…
1 I give Thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing Thy praise;
2 I bow down toward Thy holy temple
and give thanks to Thy name for Thy steadfast love and Thy faithfulness;
for Thou hast exalted above everything
Thy name and thy word.
3 On the day I called, Thou didst answer me,
my strength of soul…
1 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget…
Alleluia!
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures for ever.
2 O give thanks to the God of gods,
for His mercy endures for ever.
3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for His mercy endures for ever;
4 to Him who alone does great wonders,
for His mercy endures for ever;
5 to Him who by…
Praise the Lord! [LXX=Alleluia!]
1 Praise the name of the Lord,
O servants of the Lord,
2 you that stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God!
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to His name, for He is gracious!
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His own possession.
5…
1 Come, bless the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place,
and bless the Lord!
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!
This short psalm ends the…
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
running down upon the beard,
upon the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the…
8 Arise, O Lord, and go to Thy resting place,
Thou and the ark of Thy might.
9 Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let Thy saints shout for joy.
11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which He will not turn back:
“One of the…
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a [weaned] child quieted at its mother’s breast;
like a child that is quieted is my soul.
3 O…
1 Out of the depths I cry to Thee, O Lord!
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Thy ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
3 If Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with Thee,
that Thou mayest be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in His word I…
1 “Sorely have they afflicted me from my youth,”
let Israel now say—
2 “Sorely have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be…
1 Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,
who walks in His ways!
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Lo, thus shall the man be…
1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
so he gives to his beloved sleep.3 Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit…
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
[or brought back those who returned to Zion]
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
we…
1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
so the Lord is round about his people,
from this time forth and for evermore.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
upon the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the…
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
let Israel now say—
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
5…
1 To Thee I lift up my eyes,
O Thou who art enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till He have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have…