AFTERNOON PSALMS

Oh the Almighty God Rastafari, into thy hand we commit our spirit who redeemed us O Lord God of truth. Amon, selah.

This was taken from the book of the Psalms. Psalm seven. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.

O Lord, my God, in thee do I put my trust. Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me, lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces while there is none to deliver.  

O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

O Lord my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)

Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high. Rastadari. Selah.

Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.

Psalms ten. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it. Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none. The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. Selah.Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.

Psalms 35. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation. All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not: With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.

I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people. Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.

For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it. This thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me. Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.

Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up. Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.

Psalms 71. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.

In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt. Selah.Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.

Psalms 72. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.

Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are proloned. Selah.

 Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.

Psalms 81. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.

Psalms 107. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.

Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.

Psalms 109. The psalmist exaltiths Allah, for his particular mercies.Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.Let his days be few; and let another take his office.Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.

Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul. But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy:That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Lord, hast done it.Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul. Selah.Will the meditations of our hearts and the words of our mouths, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Jah, our strength and redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.The epistle is taken from the book of Saint John, the Divine, chapter 17. The Gospel. The Gospel bells are ringing, over land from sea to sea. Blessed news of free salvation, Fari offers you and me. The Gospel trumpet sound, the news of Zion grace. We happy souls draw near, and behold King Rasta's face. The year of Jubilee has come. Return your ransoms to your home.

The Epistle:These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son will also glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he will give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that we will know thee. The only true God, and Jesus Christus whom Thou hast sent.I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me, and they have kept Thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given me are of Thee. For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, yet for them which Thou hast given me. For they are Thine, and all mine are Thine, and Thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world. Yet these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they will be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. Those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, yet the son of perdition, that the Scriptures be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee, and these things speak I in the world, that they will have my joy fulfilled within themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, yet that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth, for thy word is true. As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also will be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, yet for them also which will believe on me through their word. That they all will be one, as Thou, Father, art in me and I in Thee. That they also will be one in us. That the world will believe that Thou hast sent me.And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they will be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they will be made perfect in one, and that the world will know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they will behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundations of the world. O Righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee, yet I have known me, and these have known that Thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me will be in them, and I in them. A Man, Selah.Will the meditation of our hearts and the words of our mouth, be acceptable in thy sight, O Jah, our strength and our Redeemer, who liveth and reigneth forever. Selah.