A song of the ascents. David’s.

¹Were it not Yahweh who was ours,
Yisra’el is indeed to say,
²Were it not Yahweh who was ours
when people arose against us,
³Then they would have swallowed us alive
in their angry burning against us.
⁴Then the water
– it would have carried us off; the torrent
– it would have passed right over us.
⁵Then it would have passed right over us,
the seething water.

⁶Yahweh be blessed,
who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
⁷Our life is like a bird
that has escaped from the hunters’ trap.
The trap – it broke;
and we – we escaped.

⁸Our help is the very name of Yahweh,
maker of heavens and earth.

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

A song of the ascents.

¹To you I raise my eyes,
you who sit in the heavens.

²There, like the eyes of servants
towards the hand of their masters,
Like the eyes of a maidservant
towards the hand of her mistress,
So are our eyes towards Yahweh our God,
until he is gracious to us.

³Be gracious to us, Yahweh, be gracious,
because we’ve become very full of contempt.
⁴Our entire being has become very full for itself
of the ridicule of complacent people,
of the contempt of majestic people.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

¹I rejoiced when people said to me,
‘We’ll go to Yahweh’s house.’

²Our feet have been standing
in your gates, Yerushalaim,
³Yerushalaim, which is built
as a town that is joined together to itself,
⁴Where the clans went up, Yah’s clans,
(an affirmation for Yisra’el),
to confess Yahweh’s name.
⁵Because thrones for exercising authority sat there,
thrones for David’s household.

⁶Ask for the well-being of Yerushalaim;
may people who are loyal to it be secure.
⁷May there be well-being in your rampart,
ease in your citadels.
⁸For the sake of my brothers and my friends
I shall please speak of well-being for you.
⁹For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God
I will seek good things for you.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

A song for the ascents.

I raise my eyes to the mountains:
from where does my help come?
My help comes from Yahweh,
maker of heavens and earth.

May he not give your foot to slipping;
may he not doze, your keeper.
There, he doesn’t doze and he doesn’t sleep,
Yisrâ’el’s keeper.
Yahweh is your keeper, Yahweh is your shade,
at your right hand.
By day the sun will not strike you down,
or the moon by night.
Yahweh will keep you from everything bad;
he will keep your life.
Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in,
from now and permanently.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

A song of the ascents.

¹To Yahweh, when I was under pressure,
I called and he answered me.

²Yahweh, rescue my life from false lips,
from a deceitful tongue.

³What will it give you,
what will it add to you, deceitful tongue?
⁴The arrows of a strong man, sharpened,
with coals of broom shrubs.

⁵Oh for me, that I’ve resided with Meshek,
dwelt with Qedara’s tents.
⁶A long time I’ve been dwelling
with someone hostile to peace.
⁷I am for peace, but when I speak,
they are for battle.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

To the leader: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

PSALM 5
1 Hear my words, O Lord, give heed to my groaning:
listen to my cry, you that are my king and my God.
2 In the morning when I pray to you,
surely you will hear my voice:
at daybreak I lay my prayers before you, and look up.

3 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness:
nor can any evil dwell with you.
4 The boastful cannot stand in your sight:
you hate all those that work mischief.
5 Those who speak lies you destroy:
you abhor the treacherous, O Lord,
and those that are stained with blood.

6 But because of your great goodness
I will come into your house:
I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe and fear of you.
7 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness,
for my enemies lie in wait:
make straight your way before me.

8 For there is no truth in their mouth:
and within they are eaten up by malice.
9 Their throat is an open sepulchre:
and their tongue speaks smooth and flattering words.
10 Destroy them, O God,
let them fall by their own contriving:
cast them out for their many offences,
for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who put their trust in you rejoice:
let them shout with joy for ever.
12 Be the defender of those who love your name:
let them exult because of you.
13 For you will bless, O Lord, those that are righteous:
you will cover them with your favour as with a shield.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom.

1 Lord, how numerous are my enemies!
Many attack me.
² Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.” (Selah)

³ But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me;
you are my glory and the one who restores me.
⁴ To the Lord I cried out,
and he answered me from his holy hill. (Selah)
⁵ I rested and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord protects me.
⁶ I am not afraid of the multitude of people
who attack me from all directions.

⁷ Rise up, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Yes, you will strike all my enemies on the jaw;
you will break the teeth of the wicked.
⁸ The Lord delivers;
you show favour to your people. (Selah)

Lord God,,
you feed us with the living bread from heaven;
you renew our faith,
increase our hope,
and strengthen our love.

Teach us to hunger
for Christ who is the true and living bread,
and to live by every word
that comes from your mouth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

¹ Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast their cords from us.”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord has them in derision.
⁵ Then he will speak to them in his wrath
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶ “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee,
the life of the souls that love thee,
and the strength of the wills that serve thee;
help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee;
so to love thee that we may fully serve thee,
whom to serve is perfect freedom.
Amen