1 Blessed be the Lord my rock, ♦
who teaches my hands for war and my fingers for battle;
2 My steadfast help and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield in whom I trust, ♦
who subdues the peoples under me.
3 O Lord, what are mortals that you should consider them; ♦
mere human beings, that you should take thought for them?
4 They are like a breath of wind; ♦
their days pass away like a shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; ♦
touch the mountains and they shall smoke.
6 Cast down your lightnings and scatter them; ♦
shoot out your arrows and let thunder roar.
7 Reach down your hand from on high; ♦
deliver me and take me out of the great waters,
from the hand of foreign enemies,
8 Whose mouth speaks wickedness ♦
and their right hand is the hand of falsehood.
9 O God, I will sing to you a new song; ♦
I will play to you on a ten-stringed harp,
10 You that give salvation to kings ♦
and have delivered David your servant.
11 Save me from the peril of the sword ♦
and deliver me from the hand of foreign enemies,
12 Whose mouth speaks wickedness ♦
and whose right hand is the hand of falsehood;
13 So that our sons in their youth
may be like well-nurtured plants, ♦
and our daughters like pillars
carved for the corners of the temple;
14 Our barns be filled with all manner of store; ♦
our flocks bearing thousands,
and ten thousands in our fields;
15 Our cattle be heavy with young: ♦
may there be no miscarriage or untimely birth,
no cry of distress in our streets.
16 Happy are the people whose blessing this is. ♦
Happy are the people who have the Lord for their God.
Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing.
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