Daily Tehillim: Day 15

Prayer before Tehillim on a Weekday

May it be the will before You, Hashem, our G-d, and the G-d of our forefathers, Who chose David His servant and his offspring after him, and Who chose songs and praises - that you attend with mercy to the recitation of psalms that I shall merit and consider it as if they were recited by King David, of blessed memory, himself, may his merit be a shield over us. And stand in our favor may the merit of the verses of the psalms together with the merit of their words and their letters and their vowels and their cantilations, and together with the Holy Names that are formed from them, from the initial (letters) of the words and from the final (letters) of the words - may their merit serve to bring atonement for our transgressions, iniquities, and sins, and to cut down ruthless men, and slash away all the thorns and briars which surround the Rose, Celestial; and to unite the Bride of Youth with her Beloved in love, brotherhood, and companionship. And from that (unification) may be drawn to us an abundant blessing to our spirit, breath and soul, to purify us of our iniquities, to forgive our sins and to atone for our transgressions, just as You forgave David who recited these very same psalms before You - as it is said: Hashem also has forgiven your sin, you shall not die. May you not take us from This World before our time, until the completion of our years, (among them are seventy years,) in a manner that we be able to rectify anything that we have ruined. May the merit of King David, of blessed memory, shield over us and for us; that You may be patient (with us), (and wait) until we return to You in repentance that is complete before You. From your treasury of grace that is undeserved, be gracious to us - as it is written: I am Compassionate to those whom I favor, and I am Merciful to those upon whom I have mercy. And just as we recite before You a song in This World, so let us merit to recite before You - O Hashem, our G-d - songs and praises in the World to Come. And through the recitation of the psalms arouse the Rose of Sharon to sing with a voice that is pleasant, with ecstasy and joy. May the glory of the Levanon be given to her, majesty and splendor in the House of our G-d, speedily in our days. Amein. Selah!

Before Saying Tehillim it is customary to say these Three Verses

Come! Let us sing joyfully to Hashem, let us call out to the Rock of our Salvation,
Let us greet Him with thanksgiving, with praiseful songs let us call out to Him.
For a great G-d is Hashem, and a great King above all heavenly powers.

1. To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph.
2. I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.
3. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; my hand is stretched out in the night, and does not rest; my soul refuses to be comforted.
4. I remember God, and I moan; I meditate and my spirit faints. Selah.
5. You hold my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
6. I consider the days of old, the years of ancient times.
7. I remember my melody in the night; I talk with my heart; and my spirit searches.
8. Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favorable no more?.
9. Has his loving kindness ceased for ever? Does his promise fail for evermore?.
10. Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.
11. And I said, It is my sickness that the right hand of the Most High has changed.
12. I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember your wonders of old.
13. And I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your deeds.
14. Your way, O God, is holy. Who is so great a God as our God?.
15. You are the God that does wonders; you have declared your strength among the people.
16. With your arm you have redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
17. The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you; they were afraid; the depths also trembled.
18. The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound; your arrows flashed on every side.
19. The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightnings lightened the world; the earth trembled and shook.
20. Your way was through the sea, and your path through the great waters; and your footsteps were not known.
21. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

1. A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my Torah; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter riddles concerning ancient times.
3. Of that which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the latter generation the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he has done.
5. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a Torah in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;.
6. That the generation to come might know them, the children who should be born; who should arise and tell them to their children.
7. That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;.
8. And that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation whose heart was not constant, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9. The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
10. They did not keep the covenant of God, and refused to walk according to his Torah.
11. And forgot his works, and his wonders that he had shown them.
12. He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13. He parted the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters stand like a heap.
14. And in the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15. He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as from the deep.
16. He made streams come from the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17. And they sinned yet more against him, rebelling against the most High in the wilderness.
18. And they tempted God in their heart by asking food for their craving.
19. And they spoke against God; they said, Can God spread a table in the wilderness?.
20. Behold, he struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? Can he provide meat for his people?.
21. Therefore the Lord heard this, and was angry; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;.
22. Because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in his salvation.
23. Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,.
24. And rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the grain of heaven.
25. Man ate the bread of angels; he sent them food in abundance.
26. He caused an east wind to blow in the sky; and by his power he brought on the south wind.
27. And he rained meat upon them like dust, and feathered birds like the sand of the sea;.
28. And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, around their habitations.
29. So they ate, and were well filled; for he gave them their own desire;.
30. They were not yet sated with their lust. But while their food was still in their mouths,.
31. The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and struck down the young men of Israel.
32. For all this they still sinned, and did not believe in his wondrous works.
33. Therefore he ended their days with emptiness, and their years with trouble.
34. When he slew them, then they sought him; and they returned and earnestly sought God.
35. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
36. Nevertheless they flattered him with their mouth, and they lied to him with their tongues.
37. For their heart was not constant with him, nor were they faithful in his covenant.
38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he turned away his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away, and does not come again.
40. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!.
41. And they turned back and tempted God, and pained the Holy One of Israel.
42. They did not remember his hand, nor the day when he saved them from the enemy.
43. How he had done his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan;.
44. And had turned their rivers into blood; so that they could not drink of their streams.
45. He sent swarms of gnats among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. 46. He gave also their crops to the caterpillar, and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
48. He gave over their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
50. He made a path for his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;.
51. And struck all the firstborn in Egypt; the first of their strength in the tents of Ham;.
52. But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53. And he led them on safely, so that they did not fear; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54. And he brought them to his holy border, to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55. He cast out nations before them, and apportioned to them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56. Yet they tempted and rebelled against the most high God, and did not keep his testimonies;.
57. But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their carved idols.
59. When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly loathed Israel;.
60. So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent where he made his dwelling among men;.
61. And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.
62. He gave his people over also to the sword; and was angry with his inheritance.
63. The fire consumed their young men; and their virgins had no marriage songs.
64. Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
65. Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, and like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66. And he struck his enemies backward; he put upon them an everlasting reproach.
67. And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim;.
68. But chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved.
69. And he built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth which he has established for ever.
70. And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;.
71. From following the ewes that had young he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72. So he tended them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them with skilful hand.

May it be the will before You, Hashem, our G-d, and the G-d of our forefathers, Who chose David His servant and his offspring after him, and Who chose songs and praises - that you attend with mercy to the recitation of psalms that I shall merit and consider it as if they were recited by King David, of blessed memory, himself, may his merit be a shield over us. And stand in our favor may the merit of the verses of the psalms together with the merit of their words and their letters and their vowels and their cantilations, and together with the Holy Names that are formed from them, from the initial (letters) of the words and from the final (letters) of the words - may their merit serve to bring atonement for our transgressions, iniquities, and sins, and to cut down ruthless men, and slash away all the thorns and briars which surround the Rose, Celestial; and to unite the Bride of Youth with her Beloved in love, brotherhood, and companionship. And from that (unification) may be drawn to us an abundant blessing to our spirit, breath and soul, to purify us of our iniquities, to forgive our sins and to atone for our transgressions, just as You forgave David who recited these very same psalms before You - as it is said: Hashem also has forgiven your sin, you shall not die. May you not take us from This World before our time, until the completion of our years, (among them are seventy years,) in a manner that we be able to rectify anything that we have ruined. May the merit of King David, of blessed memory, shield over us and for us; that You may be patient (with us), (and wait) until we return to You in repentance that is complete before You. From your treasury of grace that is undeserved, be gracious to us - as it is written: I am Compassionate to those whom I favor, and I am Merciful to those upon whom I have mercy. And just as we recite before You a song in This World, so let us merit to recite before You - O Hashem, our G-d - songs and praises in the World to Come. And through the recitation of the psalms arouse the Rose of Sharon to sing with a voice that is pleasant, with ecstasy and joy. May the glory of the Levanon be given to her, majesty and splendor in the House of our G-d, speedily in our days. Amein. Selah! Come! Let us sing joyfully to Hashem, let us call out to the Rock of our Salvation, Let us greet Him with thanksgiving, with praiseful songs let us call out to Him. For a great G-d is Hashem, and a great King above all heavenly powers.