RESPONSIVE READINGS.

PSALM I.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the

wicked,

Nor standeth in the way of sinners,

Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord;

And in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also doth not wither;

And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The wicked are not so; but are like the chaff which the

wind driveth away.

Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
But the way of the wicked shall perish.

PSALM II.

Why do the nations rage,

And the peoples imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

And the rulers take counsel together,

Against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder,

And cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
The Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
And vex them in his sore displeasure:

Yet I have set my king

Upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said unto me, Thou art my son;

This day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inherit

ance,

And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;

Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Now therefore be wise, O ye kings:

Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear,

And rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way,

For his wrath will soon be kindled.

BLESSED ARE ALL THEY THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM.

PSALM III.

Lord, how are mine adversaries increased!

Many are they that rise up against me.
Many there be which say of my soul,
There is no help for him in God.

But thou, O Lord, art a shield about me;
My glory, and the lifter up of my head.

I cry unto the Lord with my voice,

And he answereth me out of his holy hill.