Psalm 118
The Lord Is Always Merciful ¹ Tell the Lord how thankful you are, because he is kind and always merciful. ² Let Israel shout, "God is always merciful!" ³ Let the family of Aaron the priest shout, "God is always merciful!" ⁴ Let every true worshiper of the Lord shout, "God is always merciful!" ⁵ When I was really hurting, I prayed to the Lord He answered my prayer, and took my worries away. ⁶ The Lord is on my side, and I am not afraid of what others can do to me. ⁷ With the Lord on my side, I will defeat all of my hateful enemies. ⁸ It is better to trust the Lord for protection than to trust anyone else, ⁹ including strong leaders. ¹⁰ Nations surrounded me, but I got rid of them by the power of the Lord ¹¹ They attacked from all sides, but I got rid of them by the power of the Lord ¹² They swarmed around like bees, but by the power of the Lord I got rid of them and their fiery sting. ¹³ Their attacks were so fierce that I nearly fell, but the Lord helped me. ¹⁴ My power and my strength come from the Lord and he has saved me. ¹⁵ From the tents of God’s people come shouts of victory: "The Lord is powerful! ¹⁶ With his mighty arm the Lord wins victories! The Lord is powerful!" ¹⁷ And so my life is safe, and I will live to tell what the Lord has done. ¹⁸ He punished me terribly, but he did not let death lay its hands on me. ¹⁹ Open the gates of justice! I will enter and tell the Lord how thankful I am. ²⁰ Here is the gate of the Lord Everyone who does right may enter this gate. ²¹ I praise the Lord for answering my prayers and saving me. ²² The stone that the builders tossed aside has now become the most important stone. ²³ The Lord has done this and it is amazing to us. ²⁴ This day belongs to the Lord Let’s celebrate and be glad today. ²⁵ We’ll ask the Lord to save us! We’ll sincerely ask the Lord to let us win. ²⁶ God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord We praise you from here in the house of the Lord. ²⁷ The Lord is our God, and he has given us light! Start the celebration! March with palm branches all the way to the altar. ²⁸ The Lord is my God! I will praise him and tell him how thankful I am. ²⁹ Tell the Lord how thankful you are, because he is kind and always merciful.