Psalm 144
1Blessed be the Lord my rock!
who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle;
2My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield in whom I trust,
who subdues the peoples under me.
3O Lord, what are we that you should care for us?
mere mortals that you should think of us?
4We are like a puff of wind;
our days are like a passing shadow.
5Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6Hurl the lightning and scatter them;
shoot out your arrows and rout them.
7Stretch out your hand from on high;
rescue me and deliver me from the great waters,
from the hand of foreign peoples,
8Whose mouths speak deceitfully
and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.
9O God, I will sing to you a new song;
I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre.
10You give victory to kings
and have rescued David your servant.
11Rescue me from the hurtful sword
and deliver me from the hand of foreign peoples,
12Whose mouths speak deceitfully
and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.
13May our sons be like plants well nurtured from their youth,
and our daughters like sculptured corners of a palace.
14May our barns be filled to overflowing with all manner
of crops;
may the flocks in our pastures increase by thousands
and tens of thousands;
may our cattle be fat and sleek.
15May there be no breaching of the walls, no going into exile,
no wailing in the public squares.
16Happy are the people of whom this is so!
happy are the people whose God is the Lord!
A Collect for Saturdays
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
