[Psalms 1]
The two ways
1 Happy are
those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path
that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their
delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and
night.
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which
yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not
wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not
so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the
wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of
the righteous;
6 for the LORD watches over the way of the
righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
[Psalm
2]
God's royal son
1 Why do the nations conspire,
and the
peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the
rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and his anointed,
saying,
3 "Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from
us."
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the LORD has them in
derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them
in his fury, saying,
6 "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."
7 I
will tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, "You are my
son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the
nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a
potter's vessel."
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O
rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear,
with trembling 12
kiss his feet,
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the
way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take
refuge in him.
[Psalm 3]
Prayer for deliverance from
enemies
1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising
against me;
2 many are saying to me,
"There is no help for you in
God."
3 But you, O LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the
one who lifts up my head.
4 I cry aloud to the LORD,
and he answers me
from his holy hill.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the
LORD sustains me.
6 I am not afraid of ten thousands of people
who
have set themselves against me all around.
7 Rise up, O
LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the
cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
8 Deliverance belongs to
the LORD;
may your blessing be on your people!
[Psalm
4]
Prayer for deliverance from enemies
1 Answer me when I call, O
God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be
gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
2 How long, you people, shall my
honor suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words, and seek after
lies?
3 But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for
himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
4 When you are
disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
5
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the LORD.
6 There
are many who say, "O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your
face shine on us, O LORD!"
7 You have put gladness in my heart
more
than when their grain and wine abound.
8 I will both lie down and sleep
in peace;
for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in
safety.
[Psalm 5]
Prayer for access to the Temple
1 Give
ear to my words, O LORD;
give heed to my sighing.
2 Listen to the
sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 O
LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to
you, and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in
wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you.
5 The boastful will not
stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those
who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
7
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your
house,
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.
8
Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make
your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their
mouths;
their hearts are destruction;
their throats are open
graves;
they flatter with their tongues.
10 Make them bear their
guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of
their many transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against
you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever
sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who
love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O
LORD;
you cover them with favor as with a shield.
[Psalm
6]
Prayer for healing
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your
anger,
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O LORD,
for I am languishing;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with
terror.
3 My soul also is struck with terror,
while you, O LORD — how
long?
4 Turn, O LORD, save my life;
deliver me for the sake of
your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in
Sheol who can give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning;
every
night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7
My eyes waste away because of grief;
they grow weak because of all my
foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the LORD has
heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my
supplication;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be
ashamed and struck with terror;
they shall turn back, and in a moment be
put to shame.
[Psalm 7]
Prayer for deliverance from
enemies
1 O LORD my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from
all my pursuers, and deliver me,
2 or like a lion they will tear me
apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.
3 O LORD my
God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have
repaid my ally with harm
or plundered my foe without cause,
5 then let
the enemy pursue and overtake me,
trample my life to the
ground,
and lay my soul in the dust.
6 Rise up, O LORD, in your
anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake, O
my God; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be
gathered around you,
and over it take your seat on high.
8 The LORD
judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my
righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 O
let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the
righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous
God.
10 God is my shield,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is
a righteous judge,
and a God who has indignation every day.
12 If
one does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and strung his
bow;
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery
shafts.
14 See how they conceive evil,
and are pregnant with
mischief,
and bring forth lies.
15 They make a pit, digging it
out,
and fall into the hole that they have made.
16 Their mischief
returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence
descends.
17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his
righteousness,
and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most
High.
[Psalm 8]
Praise of the creator
1 O LORD, our
Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have
set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and
infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to
silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the
work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have
established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of
them,
mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a
little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You
have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all
things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of
the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever
passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Sovereign,
how
majestic is your name in all the earth!
[Psalm 9]
Victory over
enemies and petition for justice
1 I will give thanks to the LORD
with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will
be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most
High.
3 When my enemies turned back,
they stumbled and perished
before you.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on
the throne giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations, you
have destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and
ever.
6 The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
their cities
you have rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7 But
the LORD sits enthroned forever,
he has established his throne for
judgment.
8 He judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the
peoples with equity.
9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a
stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their
trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek
you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion.
Declare his
deeds among the peoples.
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of
them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious
to me, O LORD.
See what I suffer from those who hate me;
you are
the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,
14 so that I may recount all
your praises,
and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
rejoice in your
deliverance.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they
made;
in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.
16 The
LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment;
the wicked are
snared in the work of their own hands.
17 The wicked shall depart to
Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not
always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
19
Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail;
let the nations be judged
before you.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD;
let the nations know that
they are only human.
[Psalm 10]
1 Why, O LORD, do you stand
far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance
the wicked persecute the poor —
let them be caught in the schemes they
have devised.
3 For the wicked boast of the desires of their
heart,
those greedy for gain curse and renounce the LORD.
4 In the
pride of their countenance the wicked say, "God will not seek it
out";
all their thoughts are, "There is no God."
5 Their ways
prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of their
sight;
as for their foes, they scoff at them.
6 They think in their
heart, "We shall not be moved;
throughout all generations we shall not
meet adversity."
7 Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and
oppression;
under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.
8 They sit
in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places they murder the
innocent.
Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 they
lurk in secret like a lion in its covert;
they lurk that they may seize
the poor;
they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.
10
They stoop, they crouch,
and the helpless fall by their might.
11 They
think in their heart, "God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will
never see it."
12 Rise up, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand;
do
not forget the oppressed.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God,
and say
in their hearts, "You will not call us to account"?
14 But you do see!
Indeed you note trouble and grief,
that you may take it into your
hands;
the helpless commit themselves to you;
you have been the
helper of the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and
evildoers;
seek out their wickedness until you find none.
16 The LORD
is king forever and ever;
the nations shall perish from his
land.
17 O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek;
you will
strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear
18 to do justice for the
orphan and the oppressed,
so that those from earth may strike terror no
more.
[Psalm 11]
The Lord, just protector of the
upright
1 In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to
me,
"Flee like a bird to the mountains;
2 for look, the wicked bend
the bow,
they have fitted their arrow to the string,
to shoot in
the dark at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are
destroyed,
what can the righteous do?"
4 The LORD is in his holy
temple;
the LORD's throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold, his gaze
examines humankind.
5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
and
his soul hates the lover of violence.
6 On the wicked he will rain coals of
fire and sulfur;
a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7
For the LORD is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright
shall behold his face.
[Psalm 12]
Prayer for deliverance and divine
response
1 Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is
godly;
the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies
to each other;
with flattering lips and a double heart they
speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that
makes great boasts,
4 those who say, "With our tongues we will
prevail;
our lips are our own — who is our master?"
5 "Because the
poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
I will now rise up," says
the LORD;
"I will place them in the safety for which they long."
6 The
promises of the LORD are promises that are pure,
silver refined in a
furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will
protect us;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every
side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among
humankind.
[Psalm 13]
Prayer for deliverance from
enemies
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How
long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my
soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my
enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my
God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and
my enemy will say, "I have prevailed";
my foes will rejoice because I am
shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice
in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt
bountifully with me.
[Psalm 14]
Condemnation of foolish
evildoers
1 Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God."
They
are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is no one who does
good.
2 The LORD looks down from heaven on humankind
to see if there
are any who are wise,
who seek after God.
3 They have all gone
astray, they are all alike perverse;
there is no one who does
good,
no, not one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the
evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call
upon the LORD?
5 There they shall be in great terror,
for God is
with the company of the righteous.
6 You would confound the plans of the
poor,
but the LORD is their refuge.
7 O that deliverance for
Israel would come from Zion!
When the LORD restores the fortunes of his
people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
[Psalm
15]
Ritual for admission into the Temple
1 O LORD, who may abide
in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?
2 Those who walk
blamelessly, and do what is right,
and speak the truth from their
heart;
3 who do not slander with their tongue,
and do no evil to their
friends,
nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
4 in whose
eyes the wicked are despised,
but who honor those who fear the
LORD;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
5 who do not lend
money at interest,
and do not take a bribe against the
innocent.
Those who do these things shall never be
moved.
[Psalm 16]
A prayer for admission to the Temple
1
Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the LORD, "You are my
Lord;
I have no good apart from you."
3 As for the holy ones in
the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.
4 Those who
choose another god multiply their sorrows;
their drink offerings of blood
I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.
5 The LORD
is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
6 The boundary lines
have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.
7 I
bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs
me.
8 I keep the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right
hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul
rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
10 For you do not give me up to
Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.
11 You show me the
path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your
right hand are pleasures forevermore.
[Psalm 17]
Prayer for
deliverance from enemies
1 Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my
cry;
give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
2 From you let my
vindication come;
let your eyes see the right.
3 If you try my
heart, if you visit me by night,
if you test me, you will find no
wickedness in me;
my mouth does not transgress.
4 As for what others
do, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5
My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
6
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me,
hear my words.
7 Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O savior of
those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.
8
Guard me as the apple of the eye;
hide me in the shadow of your
wings,
9 from the wicked who despoil me,
my deadly enemies who
surround me.
10 They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths
they speak arrogantly.
11 They track me down; now they surround
me;
they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.
12 They are like a
lion eager to tear,
like a young lion lurking in ambush.
13 Rise
up, O LORD, confront them, overthrow them!
By your sword deliver my life
from the wicked,
14 from mortals — by your hand, O LORD —
from
mortals whose portion in life is in this world.
May their bellies be
filled with what you have stored up for them;
may their children have
more than enough;
may they leave something over to their little
ones.
15 As for me, I shall behold your face in
righteousness;
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your
likeness.
[Psalm 18]
A royal thanksgiving hymn
1 I love
you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my
deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and
the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is
worthy to be praised,
so I shall be saved from my enemies.
4 The
cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed
me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted
me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for
help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached
his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also
of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke
went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his
mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens,
and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a
cherub, and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He
made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with
water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
there broke through his
clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD also thundered in the
heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
14 And he sent out his
arrows, and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings, and routed
them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations
of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast
of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high, he took
me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong
enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for
me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the LORD was
my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me,
because he delighted in me.
20 The LORD rewarded me according to my
righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed
me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly
departed from my God.
22 For all his ordinances were before me,
and
his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was blameless before
him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
24 Therefore the LORD has
recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness
of my hands in his sight.
25 With the loyal you show yourself
loyal;
with the blameless you show yourself blameless;
26 with the
pure you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you show yourself
perverse.
27 For you deliver a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you
bring down.
28 It is you who light my lamp;
the LORD, my God, lights
up my darkness.
29 By you I can crush a troop,
and by my God I can
leap over a wall.
30 This God — his way is perfect;
the promise of the
LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
31
For who is God except the LORD?
And who is a rock besides our God? —
32 the God who girded me with strength,
and made my way safe.
33
He made my feet like the feet of a deer,
and set me secure on the
heights.
34 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow
of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your
right hand has supported me;
your help has made me great.
36 You gave
me a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37 I
pursued my enemies and overtook them;
and did not turn back until they
were consumed.
38 I struck them down, so that they were not able to
rise;
they fell under my feet.
39 For you girded me with strength for
the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.
40 You made my
enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the
LORD, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine, like dust before the
wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You
delivered me from strife with the peoples;
you made me head of the
nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they
heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
45
Foreigners lost heart,
and came trembling out of their
strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock,
and exalted be
the God of my salvation,
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued
peoples under me;
48 who delivered me from my enemies;
indeed, you
exalted me above my adversaries;
you delivered me from the violent.
49
For this I will extol you, O LORD, among the nations,
and sing praises to
your name.
50 Great triumphs he gives to his king,
and shows steadfast
love to his anointed,
to David and his descendants
forever.
[Psalm 19]
Hymn to God the creator and
lawgiver
1 The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the
firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth
speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech,
nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes
out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the
world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes
out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs
its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and
its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its
heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the
soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the
simple;
8 the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the
heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the
eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the
ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to
be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also
than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is
your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who
can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back
your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over
me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great
transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my
redeemer.
[Psalm 20]
Prayer for the king's victory in
battle
1 The LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
The name
of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the
sanctuary,
and give you support from Zion.
3 May he remember all your
offerings,
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.
4 May he
grant you your heart's desire,
and fulfill all your plans.
5 May we
shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God set up our
banners.
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that
the LORD will help his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy
heaven
with mighty victories by his right hand.
7 Some take pride in
chariots, and some in horses,
but our pride is in the name of the LORD
our God.
8 They will collapse and fall,
but we shall rise and stand
upright.
9 Give victory to the king, O LORD;
answer us when we
call.
[Psalm 21]
Royal thanksgiving for victory
1 In
your strength the king rejoices, O LORD,
and in your help how greatly he
exults!
2 You have given him his heart's desire,
and have not withheld
the request of his lips.
3 For you meet him with rich
blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you
for life; you gave it to him —
length of days forever and ever.
5 His
glory is great through your help;
splendor and majesty you bestow on
him.
6 You bestow on him blessings forever;
you make him glad with the
joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD,
and through
the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand
will find out all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who
hate you.
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace
when you
appear.
The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath,
and fire will
consume them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth,
and
their children from among humankind.
11 If they plan evil against
you,
if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will
put them to flight;
you will aim at their faces with your bows.
13
Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your
power.
[Psalm 22]
Prayer of a person abandoned by God
1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping
me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not
answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are
holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors
trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried,
and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6
But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the
people.
7 All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they
shake their heads;
8 "Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver —
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!"
9 Yet it was you who
took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother's breast.
10 On
you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been
my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there
is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan
surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and
roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are
out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my
breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks
to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all
around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet
have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over
me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing
they cast lots.
19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away!
O my help,
come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life
from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the
lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I
will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the
congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the LORD, praise
him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him,
all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor
the
affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but
heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great
congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The
poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the
LORD.
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the
nations
shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the
LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all
who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to
the dust,
and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve
him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim
his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done
it.
[Psalm 23]
The Lord as Shepherd-king and host
1 The
LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green
pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my
soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name's sake.
4 Even
though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you
are with me;
your rod and your staff —
they comfort me.
5
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you
anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the
house of the LORD
my whole life long.
[Psalm 24]
A liturgy
on entering the sanctuary
1 The earth is the LORD's and all that is
in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
2 for he has founded it on
the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the
hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Those who
have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what
is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
5 They will receive blessing
from the LORD,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such
is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of
Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient
doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of
glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in
battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient
doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of
glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of
glory.
[
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[Psalm 25]
Prayer for deliverance from enemies
1
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
do not
let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not
let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are
wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach
me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the
God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
6 Be mindful of
your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from
of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my
transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for
your goodness' sake, O LORD!
8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore
he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is
right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD
are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and
his decrees.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD,
pardon my guilt, for
it is great.
12 Who are they that fear the LORD?
He will teach them
the way that they should choose.
13 They will abide in prosperity,
and
their children shall possess the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for
those who fear him,
and he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My
eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for he will pluck my feet out of the
net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and
afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart,
and bring me out of my
distress.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my
sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent
hatred they hate me.
20 O guard my life, and deliver me;
do not let me
be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness
preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O
God,
out of all its troubles.
[Psalm 26]
Prayer for divine
justice
1 Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked in my
integrity,
and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
2 Prove
me, O LORD, and try me;
test my heart and mind.
3 For your steadfast
love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you.
4 I do
not sit with the worthless,
nor do I consort with hypocrites;
5 I hate
the company of evildoers,
and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I
wash my hands in innocence,
and go around your altar, O LORD,
7
singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
and telling all your wondrous
deeds.
8 O LORD, I love the house in which you dwell,
and the place
where your glory abides.
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners,
nor my
life with the bloodthirsty,
10 those in whose hands are evil
devices,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for
me, I walk in my integrity;
redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My
foot stands on level ground;
in the great congregation I will bless the
LORD.
[Psalm 27]
Protection in the Temple of the trustworthy
God
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I
fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be
afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me
to devour my flesh —
my
adversaries and foes —
they shall stumble and fall.
3 Though an army
encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up
against me,
yet I will be confident.
4 One thing I asked of the
LORD,
that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the
LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the
LORD,
and to inquire in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his
shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover
of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.
6 Now my head is
lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his
tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to
the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and
answer me!
8 "Come," my heart says, "seek his face!"
Your face, LORD,
do I seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your
servant away in anger,
you who have been my help.
Do not cast me
off, do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10 If my father and
mother forsake me,
the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me your way,
O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have
risen against me,
and they are breathing out violence.
13 I
believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the
living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take
courage;
wait for the LORD!
[Psalm 28]
Royal plea for
deliverance from enemies
1 To you, O LORD, I call;
my rock, do
not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be
like those who go down to the Pit.
2 Hear the voice of my
supplication,
as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my
hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with
the wicked,
with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace
with their neighbors,
while mischief is in their hearts.
4 Repay them
according to their work,
and according to the evil of their
deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
render
them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the
LORD,
or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build
them up no more.
6 Blessed be the LORD,
for he has heard the sound
of my pleadings.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in him my
heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my
song I give thanks to him.
8 The LORD is the strength of his
people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 O save your people,
and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd, and carry them
forever.
[Psalm 29]
Hymn to the God of the storm
1
Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and
strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name;
worship the
LORD in holy splendor.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the
God of glory thunders,
the LORD, over mighty waters.
4 The voice of
the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks the cedars of
Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young
wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice
of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of
Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl,
and
strips the forest bare;
and in his temple all say, "Glory!"
10 The
LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD sits enthroned as king
forever.
11 May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD
bless his people with peace!
[Psalm 30]
Thanksgiving after recovery
from illness
1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me
up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried
to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O LORD, you brought up my
soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the
Pit.
4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones,
and give
thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment;
his
favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy
comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
"I
shall never be moved."
7 By your favor, O LORD,
you had established me
as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.
8
To you, O LORD, I cried,
and to the LORD I made supplication:
9 "What
profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the
dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O LORD,
and be gracious to me!
O LORD, be my helper!"
11 You have turned
my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and
clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be
silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you
forever.
[Psalm 31]
Prayer for deliverance from
enemies
1 In you, O LORD, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be
put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline your ear to
me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a
strong fortress to save me.
3 You are indeed my rock and my
fortress;
for your name's sake lead me and guide me,
4 take me out of
the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand
I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
6
You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the
LORD.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
because you
have seen my affliction;
you have taken heed of my adversities,
8 and
have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in
a broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in
distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body
also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with
sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
and my bones
waste away.
11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
a horror to
my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who
see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have passed out of mind like one who
is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the
whispering of many —
terror all around! —
as they scheme
together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14 But I trust
in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."
15 My times are in your
hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16 Let
your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
17
Do not let me be put to shame, O LORD,
for I call on you;
let the
wicked be put to shame;
let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
18 Let the
lying lips be stilled
that speak insolently against the
righteous
with pride and contempt.
19 O how abundant is your
goodness
that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and
accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of
everyone!
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from human
plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
from contentious
tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD,
for he has wondrously shown his
steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege.
22 I had
said in my alarm,
"I am driven far from your sight."
But you heard
my supplications
when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the
LORD, all you his saints.
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but
abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
24 Be strong, and let your
heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD.
[Psalm
32]
The happiness of the penitent and forgiven
1 Happy are those
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Happy are
those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is
no deceit.
3 While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my
groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon
me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
5 Then I
acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I
said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"
and you forgave the
guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer
to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
shall not
reach them.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from
trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
8 I will
instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with
my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, without
understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and
bridle,
else it will not stay near you.
10 Many are the torments
of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the
LORD.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for
joy, all you upright in heart.
[Psalm 33]
Praise of God, creator
and redeemer
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous.
Praise
befits the upright.
2 Praise the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to
him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play
skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the LORD
is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves
righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the
LORD.
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and all
their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as
in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth
fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of
him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood
firm.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he
frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands
forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Happy is the
nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his
heritage.
13 The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all
humankind.
14 From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the
inhabitants of the earth —
15 he who fashions the hearts of them
all,
and observes all their deeds.
16 A king is not saved by his great
army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war
horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot
save.
18 Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on
those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 to deliver their soul from
death,
and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the
LORD;
he is our help and shield.
21 Our heart is glad in
him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O
LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
[Psalm 34]
Prayer
for deliverance from trouble
1 I will bless the LORD at all
times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes
its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 O magnify
the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought
the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every
trouble.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him,
and delivers them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are
those who take refuge in him.
9 O fear the LORD, you his holy
ones,
for those who fear him have no want.
10 The young lions suffer
want and hunger,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good
thing.
11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the
fear of the LORD.
12 Which of you desires life,
and covets many days
to enjoy good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from
speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and
pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears
are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against
evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 When
the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears,
and rescues them from all
their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted,
and saves
the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the
righteous,
but the LORD rescues them from them all.
20 He keeps all
their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil brings death to
the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The
LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in
him will be condemned.
[Psalm 35]
Royal prayer for
deliverance
1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with
me;
fight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of shield
and buckler,
and rise up to help me!
3 Draw the spear and
javelin
against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
"I am your
salvation."
4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after
my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
who devise evil
against me.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel
of the LORD driving them on.
6 Let their way be dark and
slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
7 For without
cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit for my
life.
8 Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid
ensnare them;
let them fall in it — to their ruin.
9 Then my soul
shall rejoice in the LORD,
exulting in his deliverance.
10 All my
bones shall say,
"O LORD, who is like you?
You deliver the
weak
from those too strong for them,
the weak and needy from those
who despoil them."
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me
about things I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good;
my soul is
forlorn.
13 But as for me, when they were sick,
I wore
sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head
bowed on my bosom,
14 as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I
went about as one who laments for a mother,
bowed down and in
mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
they
gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
tore at
me without ceasing;
16 they impiously mocked more and more,
gnashing
at me with their teeth.
17 How long, O LORD, will you look
on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my life from the lions!
18
Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I
will praise you.
19 Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over
me,
or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.
20 For they do
not speak peace,
but they conceive deceitful words
against those
who are quiet in the land.
21 They open wide their mouths against
me;
they say, "Aha, Aha,
our eyes have seen it."
22 You
have seen, O LORD; do not be silent!
O Lord, do not be far from me!
23
Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,
for my cause, my God and my
Lord!
24 Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,
according to your
righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them
say to themselves,
"Aha, we have our heart's desire."
Do not let
them say, "We have swallowed you up."
26 Let all those who rejoice at my
calamity
be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt
themselves against me
be clothed with shame and dishonor.
27 Let those
who desire my vindication
shout for joy and be glad,
and say
evermore,
"Great is the LORD,
who delights in the welfare of his
servant."
28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of
your praise all day long.
[Psalm 36]
Hymn of rejoicing in the
Temple
1 Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in their
hearts;
there is no fear of God
before their eyes.
2 For they
flatter themselves in their own eyes
that their iniquity cannot be found
out and hated.
3 The words of their mouths are mischief and
deceit;
they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 They plot
mischief while on their beds;
they are set on a way that is not
good;
they do not reject evil.
5 Your steadfast love, O LORD,
extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your
righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the
great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.
7 How
precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the
shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and
you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the
fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 O continue your
steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright
of heart!
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
or the
hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie
prostrate;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.
[Psalm
37]
The certainty of retribution
1 Do not fret because of the
wicked;
do not be envious of wrongdoers,
2 for they will soon fade
like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the
LORD, and do good;
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
4
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your
heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will
act.
6 He will make your vindication shine like the light,
and the
justice of your cause like the noonday.
7 Be still before the LORD, and wait
patiently for him;
do not fret over those who prosper in their
way,
over those who carry out evil devices.
8 Refrain from anger,
and forsake wrath.
Do not fret — it leads only to evil.
9 For the
wicked shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit
the land.
10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no
more;
though you look diligently for their place, they will not be
there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land,
and delight themselves
in abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the
righteous,
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the LORD laughs at
the wicked,
for he sees that their day is coming.
14 The wicked
draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and
needy,
to kill those who walk uprightly;
15 their sword shall enter
their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.
16 Better is a
little that the righteous person has
than the abundance of many
wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the LORD
upholds the righteous.
18 The LORD knows the days of the
blameless,
and their heritage will abide forever;
19 they are not put
to shame in evil times,
in the days of famine they have
abundance.
20 But the wicked perish,
and the enemies of the LORD
are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish — like smoke they vanish
away.
21 The wicked borrow, and do not pay back,
but the righteous
are generous and keep giving;
22 for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit
the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 Our steps
are made firm by the LORD,
when he delights in our way;
24 though we
stumble, we shall not fall headlong,
for the LORD holds us by the
hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen
the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are
ever giving liberally and lending,
and their children become a
blessing.
27 Depart from evil, and do good;
so you shall abide
forever.
28 For the LORD loves justice;
he will not forsake his
faithful ones.
The righteous shall be kept safe forever,
but
the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit
the land,
and live in it forever.
30 The mouths of the righteous utter
wisdom,
and their tongues speak justice.
31 The law of their God is in
their hearts;
their steps do not slip.
32 The wicked watch for the
righteous,
and seek to kill them.
33 The LORD will not abandon them to
their power,
or let them be condemned when they are brought to
trial.
34 Wait for the LORD, and keep to his way,
and he will
exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on the destruction of the
wicked.
35 I have seen the wicked oppressing,
and towering like a
cedar of Lebanon.
36 Again I passed by, and they were no more;
though
I sought them, they could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless, and behold
the upright,
for there is posterity for the peaceable.
38 But
transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the posterity of the wicked
shall be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the
LORD;
he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps
them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked, and saves
them,
because they take refuge in him.
[Psalm 38]
Prayer for
healing
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger,
or
discipline me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and
your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my
flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my
bones
because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my
head;
they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
5 My wounds grow
foul and fester
because of my foolishness;
6 I am utterly bowed down
and prostrate;
all day long I go around mourning.
7 For my loins are
filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am
utterly spent and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my
heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not
hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
as for the
light of my eyes — it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions
stand aloof from my affliction,
and my neighbors stand far off.
12
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek to hurt me speak
of ruin,
and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like the
deaf, I do not hear;
like the mute, who cannot speak.
14 Truly, I am
like one who does not hear,
and in whose mouth is no retort.
15
But it is for you, O LORD, that I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who
will answer.
16 For I pray, "Only do not let them rejoice over
me,
those who boast against me when my foot slips."
17 For I am
ready to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my
iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
19 Those who are my foes without
cause are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those
who render me evil for good
are my adversaries because I follow after
good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD;
O my God, do not be far from
me;
22 make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
[Psalm
39]
The brevity of human life
1 I said, "I will guard my
ways
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my
mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence."
2 I was silent and
still;
I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse,
3
my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire
burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 "LORD, let me know my
end,
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting
my life is.
5 You have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my
lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere
breath.
6 Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing
they are in turmoil;
they heap up, and do not know who will
gather.
7 "And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in
you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn
of the fool.
9 I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who
have done it.
10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am worn down by the
blows of your hand.
11 "You chastise mortals
in punishment for
sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
surely everyone
is a mere breath.
12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my
cry;
do not hold your peace at my tears.
For I am your passing
guest,
an alien, like all my forebears.
13 Turn your gaze away from
me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no
more."
[Psalm 40]
Thanksgiving for deliverance and prayer for
help
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and
heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry
bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He
put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will
see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are those who
make
the LORD their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to
those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O LORD my
God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can
compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would
be more than can be counted.
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not
desire,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin
offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, "Here I am;
in
the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my
God;
your law is within my heart."
9 I have told the glad news of
deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained
my lips,
as you know, O LORD.
10 I have not hidden your saving help
within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your
salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your
faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 Do not, O LORD,
withhold
your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your
faithfulness
keep me safe forever.
12 For evils have encompassed
me
without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
until I
cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart
fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
O LORD, make haste
to help me.
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion
who seek to
snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to
dishonor
who desire my hurt.
15 Let those be appalled because of their
shame
who say to me, "Aha, Aha!"
16 But may all who seek
you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your
salvation
say continually, "Great is the LORD!"
17 As for me, I am
poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help
and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God.
[Psalm 41]
Prayer
for healing
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;
the LORD
delivers them in the day of trouble.
2 The LORD protects them and keeps them
alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up
to the will of their enemies.
3 The LORD sustains them on their
sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.
4 As for
me, I said, "O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned
against you."
5 My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die, and my
name perish.
6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty
words,
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they
tell it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they
imagine the worst for me.
8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened
on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.
9 Even my bosom
friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel
against me.
10 But you, O LORD, be gracious to me,
and raise me up,
that I may repay them.
11 By this I know that you are pleased with
me;
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.
12 But you have upheld
me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence
forever.
13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from
everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
[Psalm 42]
Thirst for the living God
1 As a deer
longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul
thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and
behold
the face of God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and
night,
while people say to me continually,
"Where is your
God?"
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how
I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of
God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude
keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you
disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise
him,
my help 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within
me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of
Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the thunder
of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over
me.
8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his
song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God,
my rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about
mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?"
10 As with a deadly wound
in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me
continually,
"Where is your God?"
11 Why are you cast down, O my
soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I
shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
[Psalm
43]
Thirst for the living God
1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my
cause
against an ungodly people;
from those who are deceitful and
unjust
deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take
refuge;
why have you cast me off?
Why must I walk about
mournfully
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 O send out
your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to
your holy hill
and to your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of
God,
to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise you with the
harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my
soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I
shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
[Psalm
44]
Prayer for divine help after a national defeat
1 We have heard
with our ears, O God,
our ancestors have told us,
what deeds you
performed in their days,
in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand
drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the
peoples,
but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they
win the land,
nor did their own arm give them victory;
but your
right hand, and your arm,
and the light of your countenance,
for
you delighted in them.
4 You are my King and my God;
you command
victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your
name we tread down our assailants.
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor
can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes,
and have
put to confusion those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted
continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever.
9 Yet you
have rejected us and abased us,
and have not gone out with our
armies.
10 You made us turn back from the foe,
and our enemies have
gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter,
and have
scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a
trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the
taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those around us.
14
You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the
peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has
covered my face
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers,
at the
sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon
us,
yet we have not forgotten you,
or been false to your
covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps
departed from your way,
19 yet you have broken us in the haunt of
jackals,
and covered us with deep darkness.
20 If we had forgotten the
name of our God,
or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21 would
not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22
Because of you we are being killed all day long,
and accounted as sheep
for the slaughter.
23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O
Lord?
Awake, do not cast us off forever!
24 Why do you hide your
face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For we sink
down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Rise up, come to
our help.
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.
[Psalm
45]
A royal wedding song
1 My heart overflows with a goodly
theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen
of a ready scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of men;
grace is
poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird
your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your glory and
majesty.
4 In your majesty ride on victoriously
for the cause of
truth and to defend the right;
let your right hand teach you dread
deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's
enemies;
the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, endures
forever and ever.
Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;
7 you
love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has
anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your
robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory
palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among
your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of
Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
forget
your people and your father's house,
11 and the king will desire your
beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him;
12 the people of Tyre will
seek your favor with gifts,
the richest of the people 13 with all kinds
of wealth.
The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven
robes;
14 in many-colored robes she is led to the king;
behind her the
virgins, her companions, follow.
15 With joy and gladness they are led
along
as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In the place of
ancestors you, O king, shall have sons;
you will make them princes in all
the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all
generations;
therefore the peoples will praise you forever and
ever.
[Psalm 46]
Praise of Zion and its victorious
king
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in
trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should
change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though
its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its
tumult.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of
God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of
the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning
dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters
his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of
Jacob is our refuge.
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD;
see
what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the
end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he
burns the shields with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God!
I
am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth."
11 The LORD
of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
[Psalm
47]
God's enthronement
1 Clap your hands, all you
peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2 For the LORD, the Most
High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued
peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage
for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
5 God has gone up with a
shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God,
sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the
king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.
8 God is king
over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the
peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the
shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly
exalted.
[Psalm 48]
Praise of Zion
1 Great is the LORD
and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy
mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the
earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great
King.
3 Within its citadels God
has shown himself a sure defense.
4
Then the kings assembled,
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw
it, they were astounded;
they were in panic, they took to flight;
6
trembling took hold of them there,
pains as of a woman in labor,
7 as
when an east wind shatters
the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard,
so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
in the city of
our God,
which God establishes forever.
9 We ponder your steadfast
love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 Your name, O God, like
your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is
filled with victory.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the towns of Judah
rejoice
because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go all
around it,
count its towers,
13 consider well its ramparts;
go
through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14 that
this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide
forever.
[Psalm 49]
Transcience of life and wealth
1
Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2
both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth shall speak
wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will
incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the
harp.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity
of my persecutors surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and
boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly, no ransom avails for one's
life,
there is no price one can give to God for it.
8 For the ransom
of life is costly,
and can never suffice,
9 that one should live on
forever
and never see the grave.
10 When we look at the wise, they
die;
fool and dolt perish together
and leave their wealth to
others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places
to all generations,
though they named lands their own.
12 Mortals
cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that
perish.
13 Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
the end of those who
are pleased with their lot.
14 Like sheep they are appointed for
Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they
descend,
and their form shall waste away;
Sheol shall be their
home.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he
will receive me.
16 Do not be afraid when some become rich,
when
the wealth of their houses increases.
17 For when they die they will carry
nothing away;
their wealth will not go down after them.
18 Though in
their lifetime they count themselves happy
— for you are praised when
you do well for yourself —
19 they will go to the company of their
ancestors,
who will never again see the light.
20 Mortals cannot abide
in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.
[
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[Psalm
50]
Theophany of the divine judge
1 The mighty one, God the
LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to
its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines
forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silence,
before him is a
devouring fire,
and a mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the
heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5
"Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by
sacrifice!"
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself
is judge.
7 "Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will
testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do
I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will
not accept a bull from your house,
or goats from your folds.
10 For
every wild animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand
hills.
11 I know all the birds of the air,
and all that moves in the
field is mine.
12 "If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the
world and all that is in it is mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of
bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of
thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the
day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."
16
But to the wicked God says:
"What right have you to recite my
statutes,
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate
discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
18 You make friends with
a thief when you see one,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19
"You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames
deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your kin;
you slander your own
mother's child.
21 These things you have done and I have been
silent;
you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I
rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.
22 "Mark this, then, you who
forget God,
or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to
deliver.
23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor
me;
to those who go the right way
I will show the salvation of
God."
[Psalm 51]
Prayer for forgiveness
1 Have mercy on
me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your
abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from
my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my
transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you
alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that
you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass
judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother
conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore
teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and
gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your
face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me
a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do
not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit
from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me
a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your
ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O
God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your
deliverance.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare
your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to
give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable
to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will
not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
rebuild the
walls of Jerusalem,
19 then you will delight in right sacrifices,
in
burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on
your altar.
[Psalm 52]
Divine judgment against an
oppressor
1 Why do you boast, O mighty one,
of mischief done
against the godly?
All day long 2 you are plotting
destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
you worker of
treachery.
3 You love evil more than good,
and lying more than
speaking the truth.
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful
tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear
you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.
6
The righteous will see, and fear,
and will laugh at the evildoer,
saying,
7 "See the one who would not take
refuge in God,
but
trusted in abundant riches,
and sought refuge in wealth!"
8 But I
am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the
steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
9 I will thank you
forever,
because of what you have done.
In the presence of the
faithful
I will proclaim your name, for it is good.
[Psalm
53]
Condemnation of foolish evildoers
1 Fools say in their hearts,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, they commit abominable
acts;
there is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after
God.
3 They have all fallen away, they are all alike
perverse;
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.
4
Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
who eat up my people as they eat
bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they shall be in great
terror,
in terror such as has not been.
For God will scatter the
bones of the ungodly;
they will be put to shame, for God has rejected
them.
6 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
When
God restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will
be glad.
[Psalm 54]
Prayer for deliverance from
enemies
1 Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by
your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my
mouth.
3 For the insolent have risen against me,
the ruthless seek
my life;
they do not set God before them.
4 But surely, God is my
helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will repay my
enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to
them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will
give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me
from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my
enemies.
[Psalm 55]
Prayer for deliverance from
enemies
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself
from my supplication.
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am troubled in
my complaint.
I am distraught 3 by the noise of the enemy,
because
of the clamor of the wicked.
For they bring trouble upon me,
and
in anger they cherish enmity against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within
me,
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling
come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, "O that I had
wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 truly, I would
flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness;
8 I would hurry to
find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest."
9
Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;
for I see violence and strife in
the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and
iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its
midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its
marketplace.
12 It is not enemies who taunt me —
I could bear
that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me —
I could
hide from them.
13 But it is you, my equal,
my companion, my familiar
friend,
14 with whom I kept pleasant company;
we walked in the house
of God with the throng.
15 Let death come upon them;
let them go down
alive to Sheol;
for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.
16 But
I call upon God,
and the LORD will save me.
17 Evening and morning and
at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my
voice.
18 He will redeem me unharmed
from the battle that I
wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
19 God, who is enthroned from
of old,
will hear, and will humble them —
because they do not
change,
and do not fear God.
20 My companion laid hands on a
friend
and violated a covenant with me
21 with speech smoother than
butter,
but with a heart set on war;
with words that were softer
than oil,
but in fact were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on
the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the
righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, will cast them down
into
the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous
shall not live
out half their days.
But I will trust in you.
[Psalm
56]
Prayer for deliverance from enemies
1 Be gracious to me, O
God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me;
2 my
enemies trample on me all day long,
for many fight against me.
O
Most High, 3 when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose
word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do
to me?
5 All day long they seek to injure my cause;
all their
thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they
lurk,
they watch my steps.
As they hoped to have my life,
7 so
repay them for their crime;
in wrath cast down the peoples, O
God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your
bottle.
Are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will
retreat
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for
me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,