The Six Psalms

(As translated from the Septuagint by Fr. Leonidas Contos)

Source: Synaxis.info

Psalm 3

O Lord, why do so many taunt me? Many are those who rise up against me; Many who say to me, "There is no salvation for him in his God."

But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory: the one who lifts up my head. I cried out to the Lord in a loud voice, and from his holy mountain he heard me.

As for me, I lay down and slept. Then I awoke, for the Lord will be my help. I will not fear ten thousand people arrayed against me all around. Arise, O Lord, and save me, my God!

For you have stricken all who hated me without cause; you have shattered the sinners' teeth. This deliverance is the Lord's. Upon your people be your blessing!

Psalm 37(38)

O Lord, in your anger rebuke me not, chastise me not in your wrath. Your arrows have bored into me, and your hand weighs heavily upon me.

Because of your wrath, there is no soundness in my flesh; there is no peace in my bones because of my sins, For my iniquities have overwhelmed me: they have weighed upon me like a heavy load.

My sores have become stench and festering because of my folly. A stooping and exhausted wreck, I stumbled, mourning all the day.

My loins were burning with fever, for my life is a total mockery, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I was crushed and deeply afflicted; I roared with the groaning of my heart.

O Lord, all my longing is known to you, and my groaning is no secret to you. My heart races, my strength has left me, and even the light of my eyes has failed me.

My friends and companions approached and stood by, while my closest kinsmen kept their distance; And those who sought my life were egged on while those who wished me ill spoke lies, plotting deception all the day.

But I remained as a deaf man, and heard them not; as a dumb man, and opened not my mouth, As a man who has not heard a thing, and thus has no retort upon his lips.

In you, O Lord, I have placed my trust: you will give heed, O Lord, my God! I said, "Oh, that my foes cease to gloat over me who bluster mightily when my feet stumble."

As for me, I am ready to be scourged, and my pain is with me always. Indeed, I myself confess my guilt, and I will live in anguish because of my sin.

But my enemies survive and overpower me, and those who hate me without cause are multiplied, Those who, rendering evil for good, opposed me when I sought but justice.

O Lord God, forsake me not! Stay not afar from me. Hasten to help me, O Lord of my salvation!

Psalm 62(63)

O God, my God, at dawn I rise to you. My soul has thirsted for you, and oh, how my flesh has hungered for you!

Like a desolate and trackless land that has no water, so did I come before you in your holy place to see the power and the glory that are yours, Since your love is better than life itself, my lips shall declare your praise.

So shall I bless you as long as I live, and lift up my hands and call upon your name. My soul shall be filled as with choicest fare, and joyful lips will praise your name.

As I lay on my couch, I remembered you; I meditated on you throughout the early watches: That you became for me the helping one, that in the shelter of your wings, I find delight.

My soul clings to you, and your right hand holds me up.

But as for those who sought my life in vain, may they sink into the depths of the earth, And be given over to the sword. The prey of jackals shall they be.

But the king shall rejoice in God, and all who swear by him shall glory, for the mouths of liars is stopped.

Psalm 87(88)

O Lord, God of my salvation, day and night I cried out before you.

Let my prayer reach up to you, lend your ear to my plea, O Lord. For my soul was filled with trouble, and my life came close to Hades.

I was reckoned with those who go down to the pit; I was like a man beyond help, left for dead. Like the slain left to lie in the grave, those you remember no more: for they are cut away from your hand.

You have cast me down to the deepest abyss, into darkness and the shadow of death. Your anger was a burden upon me, you poured your billows over me.

You took my friends away from me, you made me loathsome to them. I was closed in and could not escape, my eyes grew dim with distress.

I cried out to you, O Lord, all the day, I stretched out my hands to you. But will you work wonders for the dead? Or can physicians raise them up to sing your praise?

Does anyone sing your love in the grace, or your truthfulness in the midst of perdition? Are your marvels ever known in darkness or your justice in the land of obliviion?

And yet, O Lord, I cried out to you, and to you my prayer shall rise at dawn. Why, O Lord, do you reject my prayer? Why do you hide your face away from me?

I am wretched and troubled since my youth; I was raised high, then humbled and distressed. Your plagues have swept over me and your terrors have left me shaken.

They surround me like waters all the day; they close in upon me from all sides. You have distanced from me friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances, so wretched am I.

Psalm 102

Bless the Lord, O my soul! May all that is in me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all the gifts from him,

Who pardons all your sins and heals all your infirmities; Who ransoms your life from corruption and crowns you with his love and mercies; Who fills your longing with what is good, and your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord performs deeds of kindness, and vindication for all the oppressed.

He has made known his ways to Moses, and his will to Israel's children. The Lord is the one of compassion and mercy, long-suffering and manifold love.

His contention is not forever, nor will his anger always last. He has not dealt with us as our sins demand, nor does he repay our evil deeds.

For as high as the heavens stand over the earth, so far has the Lord extended his love for those who fear him. As far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our sins from us.

As kind as a father is to his children, so is the Lord to those who fear him. For he knows well how we were formed: remember, we are only made of dust.

A man! His days resemble grass: as a flower of the field, so shall he bloom, But let a breeze pass over him and he is gone, and never shall he know his place again.

But the love of the Lord is from all eternity and to all eternity for those who fear him. And his justice is upon the children of children of those who keep his covenant and remember his laws to obey them.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven. Over all things his kingship is supreme. Bless the Lord, all you his angels, you strong and mighty ones who obey his word on hearing the sound of his decree.

Bless the Lord, all you his powers, his attendants who obey his will. Bless the Lord, all you his works, in every place of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Psalm 142

O Lord, hear my prayer; in your truthfulness, give heed to my plea, and in your righteousness, answer me; And enter not into judgment with your servant, since of all the living, none is just in your sight.

The enemy has hunted me down; he has crushed my life into the ground; He has forced me to live in darkness like those long dead.

My spirit faints with grief, and within me, my heart is in despair. I recalled the days of old, I meditated on all your deeds, I pondered the works of your hands.

I stretched out my hand to you; like a parched land, my soul thirst for you. Make haste to answer me, O Lord: my spirit has failed me.

Turn not your face away from me, lest I be like those in the pit; Grant that I may hear your steadfast love at dawn, for I have put my hope in you.

O Lord, teach me the way I should go, for I have lifted up my soul to you. O Lord, deliver me from my enemies: it is to you that I have fled.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your good Spirit lead me on a straight path.

For the sake of your name, O Lord, you will keep me alive; In your righteousness, you will deliver me from affliction.

And in your loving kindness, you will destroy my enemies, And bring to naught all those who oppress me, for I am your servant.