Study Desk

^(F1)Praise ^(F2)the LORD! Oh ^(C1)give thanks to the LORD, for He ^(C2)is good; For ^(C3)His mercy is everlasting.

Who can speak of the ^(C1)mighty deeds of the LORD, Or can proclaim all His praise?

How blessed are those who maintain ^(F1)justice, ^(F2)Who ^(C1)practice righteousness at all times!

Remember me, LORD, in Your ^(C1)favor ^(F1)toward Your people. Visit me with Your salvation,

So that I may see the ^(C1)prosperity of Your chosen ones, That I may ^(C2)rejoice in the joy of Your nation, That I may ^(C3)boast with Your ^(F1)inheritance.

^(C1)We have sinned ^(F1)(C2)like our fathers, We have gone astray, we have behaved wickedly.

Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your ^(F1)wonders; They ^(C1)did not remember ^(F2)Your abundant kindnesses, But ^(C2)rebelled by the sea, at the ^(F3)Red Sea.

Nevertheless He saved them ^(C1)for the sake of His name, So that He might ^(C2)make His power known.

So He ^(C1)rebuked the ^(F1)Red Sea and it ^(C2)dried up, And He ^(C3)led them through the mighty waters, as through the wilderness.

So He ^(C1)saved them from the ^(F1)hand of one who hated them, And ^(C2)redeemed them from the ^(F1)hand of the enemy.

^(C1)The waters covered their adversaries; Not one of them was left.

Then they ^(C1)believed His words; They ^(C2)sang His praise.

They quickly ^(C1)forgot His works; They ^(C2)did not wait for His plan,

But ^(C1)became lustfully greedy in the wilderness, And ^(C2)put God to the test in the desert.

So He ^(C1)gave them their request, But ^(C2)sent a ^(F1)wasting disease among them.

When they became ^(C1)envious of Moses in the camp, And of Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,

The ^(C1)earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And engulfed the ^(F1)company of Abiram.

And a ^(C1)fire blazed up in their ^(F1)company; The flame consumed the wicked.

They ^(C1)made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped a cast metal image.

So they ^(C1)exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass.

They ^(C1)forgot God their Savior, Who had done ^(C2)great things in Egypt,

^(F1)(C1)Wonders in the land of Ham, And awesome things by the ^(F2)Red Sea.

Therefore ^(C1)He said that He would destroy them, If ^(C2)Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the gap before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

Then they ^(C1)rejected the ^(C2)pleasant land; They ^(C3)did not believe His word,

But ^(C1)grumbled in their tents; They did not listen to the voice of the LORD.

Therefore He ^(F1)(C1)swore to them That He would have them fall in the wilderness,

And that He would ^(C1)bring down their ^(F1)descendants among the nations, And ^(C2)scatter them in the lands.

They also ^(C1)followed ^(F1)Baal-peor, And ate ^(C2)sacrifices offered to the dead.

So they ^(C1)provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And a plague broke out among them.

Then Phinehas ^(C1)stood up and ^(F1)intervened, And so the ^(C2)plague was brought to a halt.

And it was ^(C1)credited to him as righteousness, To all generations forever.

They also ^(C1)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of ^(F1)Meribah, So that it ^(C2)went badly for Moses on their account.

Because they ^(C1)were rebellious against ^(F1)His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

They ^(C1)did not destroy the peoples, As ^(C2)the LORD had commanded them,

But ^(C1)they got involved with the nations And learned their ^(F1)practices,

And ^(C1)served their idols, ^(C2)Which became a snare to them.

They even ^(C1)sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the ^(C2)demons,

And shed ^(C1)innocent blood, The blood of their ^(C2)sons and their daughters Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was ^(C3)defiled with the blood.

So they became ^(C1)unclean in their ^(F1)practices, And ^(F2)(C2)were unfaithful in their deeds.

Therefore the ^(C1)anger of the LORD was kindled against His people, And He ^(C2)loathed His ^(F1)(C3)inheritance.

So ^(C1)He handed them over to the ^(F1)nations, And those who hated them ruled over them.

Their enemies also ^(C1)oppressed them, And they were subdued under their ^(F1)power.

Many times He would ^(C1)rescue them; They, however, were rebellious in their ^(C2)plan, And they ^(C3)sank down into their guilt.

Nevertheless He looked at their distress When He ^(C1)heard their cry;

And He ^(C1)remembered His covenant for their sake, And ^(F1)(C2)relented ^(C3)according to the greatness of His mercy.

He also made them ^(C1)objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors.

^(C1)Save us, LORD our God, And ^(C2)gather us from the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name And ^(C3)glory in Your praise.

^(C1)Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. And all the people shall say, "Amen." ^(F1)Praise ^(F2)the LORD!