Psalm 19-21

This is the one we did last night:

19 The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above^[a] proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice^[b] goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect,^[c]
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules^[d] of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in your sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

This are the ones we did tonight:

20 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
    May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
² May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and give you support from Zion!
³ May he remember all your offerings
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

⁴ May he grant you your heart's desire
    and fulfill all your plans!
⁵ May we shout for joy over your salvation,
    and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with the saving might of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.

⁹ O Lord, save the king!
    May he answer us when we call.

21 O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,
    and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
² You have given him his heart's desire
    and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
³ For you meet him with rich blessings;
    you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
⁴ He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
    length of days forever and ever.
⁵ His glory is great through your salvation;
    splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
⁶ For you make him most blessed forever;^[a]
    you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord,
    and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

⁸ Your hand will find out all your enemies;
    your right hand will find out those who hate you.
⁹ You will make them as a blazing oven
    when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
    and fire will consume them.
¹⁰ You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
    and their offspring from among the children of man.
¹¹ Though they plan evil against you,
    though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
¹² For you will put them to flight;
    you will aim at their faces with your bows.

¹³ Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
    We will sing and praise your power.

psalm 18, remind me when Jaime R and I were praying for our session mates in the war college when there was lots of spirtual warfare and i use this psalm a lot for praying for my session mates

18 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴ The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;^[a]
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷ Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up from his nostrils,^[b]
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
⁹ He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
¹⁰ He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
    thick clouds dark with water.
¹² Out of the brightness before him
    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰ The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² For all his rules^[c] were before me,
    and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³ I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from my guilt.
²⁴ So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵ With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁶ with the purified you show yourself pure;
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
²⁷ For you save a humble people,
    but the haughty eyes you bring down.
²⁸ For it is you who light my lamp;
    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
²⁹ For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
³⁰ This God—his way is perfect;^[d]
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³¹ For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?—
³² the God who equipped me with strength
    and made my way blameless.
³³ He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your right hand supported me,
    and your gentleness made me great.
³⁶ You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet did not slip.
³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
    and did not turn back till they were consumed.
³⁸ I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
    they fell under my feet.
³⁹ For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs to me,^[e]
    and those who hated me I destroyed.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴² I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
    I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

⁴³ You delivered me from strife with the people;
    you made me the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
    foreigners came cringing to me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶ The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be the God of my salvation—
⁴⁷ the God who gave me vengeance
    and subdued peoples under me,
⁴⁸ who delivered me from my enemies;
    yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you rescued me from the man of violence.

⁴⁹ For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing to your name.
⁵⁰ Great salvation he brings to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.

Bedtime story

So I decided it would be a cool idea if i started to read psalms to Isabella before she goes to sleep and this are the ones we did tonight.

Psalm 16
1 preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;    I have no good apart from you.”

³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.^[b]

⁴ The sorrows of those who run after^[c] another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names on my lips.

⁵ The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷ I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.^[d]
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being^[e] rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.^[f]

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 17:

Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry!
    Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
² From your presence let my vindication come!
    Let your eyes behold the right!

³ You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,
    you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
    I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
⁴ With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
    I have avoided the ways of the violent.
⁵ My steps have held fast to your paths;
    my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    incline your ear to me; hear my words.
⁷ Wondrously show^[a] your steadfast love,
    O Savior of those who seek refuge
    from their adversaries at your right hand.

⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings,
⁹ from the wicked who do me violence,
    my deadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰ They close their hearts to pity;
    with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
¹¹ They have now surrounded our steps;
    they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
¹² He is like a lion eager to tear,
    as a young lion lurking in ambush.

¹³ Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
¹⁴ from men by your hand, O Lord,
    from men of the world whose portion is in this life.^[b]
You fill their womb with treasure;^[c]
    they are satisfied with children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.

¹⁵ As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
    when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.