Psalms Chapter 51
Repentance, and prayer asking for purification
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the secret place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast 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 grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
18 In your good pleasure, do good to Zion; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
17 And to the man he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife, and ate of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground for your sake; in painful toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.”
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
24 After he drove the man out, he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Psalms Chapter 52
Futility of the bad man's boasting
1 Why do you boast of wickedness, O mighty one? The mercy of God endures forever.
2 Your tongue plots evil; it practices deceit like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil more than good, falsehood more than truth. Selah
4 You love every kind of pernicious word, you deceitful tongue.
5 Therefore God will destroy you forever; he will lay waste you and uproot you from your dwelling place, and sever you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous will see it and fear; they will laugh at him, saying,
7 “ Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and relied on his wickedness.”
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9 I will praise you forever, for you have done this; I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of your saints.
Psalms Chapter 53
Foolishness and wickedness of men
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
3 Everyone has turned away; they have all become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
4 Do all the evildoers have no knowledge? They devour my people as they eat bread, and they do not call on God.
5 There they are in terror, where there was no terror, for God has scattered the bones of him who besieged you; you have put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores his people from captivity, Jacob will rejoice, and Israel will be glad.
Psalms Chapter 54
Prayer for protection against enemies
1 Save me, O God, by your name; defend me by your power.
2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen against me, and violent men seek my life; they do not set God before them. Selah
4 Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with those who uphold my life.
5 He will repay my enemies for their evil; cut them down in your faithfulness.
6 I will willingly sacrifice to you; I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have seen the destruction of my enemies.
Psalms Chapter 55
Prayer asking for the destruction of treacherous enemies
1 Hear my prayer, O God, and do not hide your face from my plea.
2 Listen to me and answer me; I cry out in my prayer and am troubled,
3 because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they have heaped injustice upon me, and in their fury they persecute me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling have come upon me, and terror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would surely flee far away; I would stay in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hasten to escape from the stormy wind and the tempest.
9 Destroy them, O Lord; confound their tongue! For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they surround it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are in its midst.
11 Wickedness is in her midst, and fraud and deceit do not depart from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy who reproached me—I could have borne it; nor did one who hated me rise up against me—I could have hidden from him.
13 But it was you, a man, seemingly my close friend, my companion and my familiar one,
14 with whom I shared sweet secrets and walked together in the house of God.
15 Let death seize them; let them go down alive to Sheol, for wickedness is in their dwellings, in their midst.
16 As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and noon I will pray and cry aloud, and he will hear my voice.
18 He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle waged against me, though many are against me.
19 God will hear and quickly crush them, He who abides from of old, because they do not change, nor fear God. Selah
20 The wicked man stretches out his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has violated his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth are smoother than butter, but war is in his heart; his words are softer than oil, yet they are 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 bring them down to the pit of destruction; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days, but I will put my trust in you.
Psalms Chapter 56
Prayer of trust
1 Have mercy on me, O God, for man would devour me; he oppresses me, fighting against me all day long.
2 All day long my enemies trample me; for many are those who fight against me in pride.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God I will praise his word; in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
5 All day long they twist my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together, they hide themselves; they watch my steps closely, as those who lie in wait for my life.
7 Weigh them according to their iniquity, O God, and in your anger bring down the nations.
8 You have kept count of my wanderings; put my tears in your bottle; are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call for help; this I know, that God is for me.
10 In God I will praise his word; I will praise the Lord’s word.
11 In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
12 Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render praise to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
Psalms Chapter 57
Prayer asking to be delivered from persecutors
1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me from the reproach of my adversaries. Selah. God will send forth his mercy and his truth.
4 My life is among lions; I lie down among the sons of men who breathe out fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; they themselves have fallen into it. Selah.
7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
8 Awake, my soul, awake, harp and lyre! I will rise early.
9 I will praise you among the peoples, O Lord; I will sing of your praise among the nations.
10 For your mercy reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalms Chapter 58
Prayer asking for the punishment of the wicked
1 Do you truly pronounce justice, O congregation? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
2 But in your hearts you devise wickedness; you weigh out the violence of your hands on the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray, speaking lies from birth.
4 They have poison like the poison of a serpent; they are like a deaf viper that stops its ear,
5 that does not hear the voice of charmers, however skillful the charmer may be.
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouths; O Lord, break the fangs of the young lions.
7 Let them vanish like running water; when they shoot their arrows, let them be broken to pieces.
8 Let them go like a snail that melts away; like one stillborn, let them not see the sun.
9 Before your pots feel the heat of the thorns, so alive, so angry, he will sweep them away with a tempest.
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Psalms Chapter 59
Prayer asking to be delivered from enemies
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; keep me safe from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from those who do iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life; they gather together the mighty against me. Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord;
4 For though I have done nothing wrong, they run and prepare themselves. Awake to meet me, and see!
5 And you, O Lord God of hosts, God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations; have no pity on all who rebel in iniquity. Selah
6 They return in the evening, they bark like dogs, and they prowl around the city.
7 Behold, they utter with their mouths; swords are in their lips, for they say, “Who hears?”
8 But you, O Lord, laugh at them; you scoff at all the nations.
9 Because of the power of the enemy, I will wait for you, for God is my defense.
10 The God of my mercy will go before me; God will make me look on my enemies with longing.
11 Do not slay them, lest my people forget; scatter them by your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouth, for the word of their lips, let them be taken captive in their pride, and for the cursing and lies they utter.
13 Consume them in your wrath, consume them, that they may be no more; and let it be known that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 Let them return in the evening, and bark like dogs, and go around the city.
15 Let them wander about looking for food; and if they are not satisfied, let them spend the night complaining.
16 But I will sing of your strength, and in the morning I will praise your mercy; for you have been my protection and refuge in the day of my trouble.
17 My strength, I will sing praise to you; for you, O God, are my refuge, the God of my mercy.
Psalms Chapter 60
Prayer asking for help against the enemy
1 O God, you have rejected us, you have broken us; you have been angry; return to us!
2 You made the earth tremble, you have split it; heal its breaches, for it trembles.
3 You have shown your people hard things; you made us drink the wine of staggering.
4 You have given a banner to those who fear you; that they may set it up because of the truth. Selah
5 That your beloved may be delivered; save with your right hand, and answer me.
6 God has said in his sanctuary: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem, and measure the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is the stronghold of my head; Judah is my lawgiver.
8 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I will throw my sandal; I will rejoice over Philistia.
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will bring me to Edom?”
10 Was it not you, O God, who had rejected us, and did not go out, O God, with our armies?
11 Give us help against the enemy, for human help is worthless.
12 With God we will do valiantly, and he will tread down our enemies.
Psalms Chapter 61
Trust in God's protection
1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,
3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever; I will take refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 You will add days to the king; his years will be like all generations.
7 He will dwell forever before God; prepare steadfast love and faithfulness to preserve him.
8 So I will praise your name forever, fulfilling my vows every day.
Psalms Chapter 62
God, the only refuge
1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
3 How long will you plot against a man, all of you trying to crush him like a toppled wall, like a broken fence?
4 They only consult to cast him down from his high position. They love falsehood; with their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. Selah
5 My soul finds rest in God alone; my hope comes from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah
9 Surely the sons of men are but a breath, the sons of men are a lie; if they were weighed alike in the balances, they would be less than nothing.
10 Do not trust in violence, nor in robbery; do not be proud; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
11 God has spoken once; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God,
12 and that mercy belongs to you, O Lord;
Psalms Chapter 63
God, the soul's satisfaction
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods, and with singing lips my mouth will praise you,
6 when I remember you on my bed, when I meditate on you in the watches of the night.
7 For you have been my help, and so I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek my life to destroy it will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be destroyed by the edge of the sword; They will become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by him will praise him, for the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Psalms Chapter 64
Prayer for protection against hidden enemies
1 Hear my cry, O God; preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the conspiracy of evildoers,
3 who sharpen their tongues like swords; they aim bitter words like arrows,
4 to shoot at the blameless from ambush; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.
5 They are obstinate in their wicked schemes; they try to hide their snares, saying, “Who will see them?”
6 They search out iniquity; they search out everything; the thoughts of each one of them are deep, as is their heart.
7 But God will strike them with an arrow; their plagues will come suddenly.
8 Their own tongues will bring them down; all who see them will be appalled.
9 Then all people will fear, and they will proclaim the work of God and understand his deeds.
10 The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; And all the upright in heart will glory.
Psalms Chapter 65
God's generosity in nature
1 Praise belongs to you in Zion, O God, and to you vows will be fulfilled.
2 You hear prayer; to you all people will come.
3 Though my sins are overwhelming me, you forgive our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.
5 With awesome deeds you answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.
6 By your power you established the mountains, girded with strength;
7 you still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
8 Therefore the inhabitants of the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders. You make the morning and evening rejoice.
9 You visit the land and water it; you greatly enrich it. With the river of God, full of water, you provide their grain, when you so prepare it.
10 You drench its furrows and make its channels low; you soften it with showers and bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty, and your clouds drip with abundance.
12 They drip on the pastures of the wilderness, and the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The plains are covered with flocks, and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy, they even sing.
Psalms Chapter 66
Praise for the mighty deeds of God
1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth.
2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power your enemies will submit to you.”
4 All the earth will worship you and sing praise to you; they will sing praise to your name. Selah
5 Come and see what God has done, what awesome deeds he has done for mankind.
6 He turned the sea into dry land; they crossed the river on foot; there we rejoiced in him.
7 He rules forever by his power; his eyes watch over the nations; the rebellious will not be exalted. Selah
8 Bless our God, all you peoples, and let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He is the one who preserves our lives and keeps our feet from slipping.
10 For you, God, have tested us; you have tried us like silver.
11 You brought us into the net; you laid a heavy burden on our backs.
12 You made men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, and you brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows,
14 which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in distress.
15 I will offer you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the incense of rams; I will sacrifice to you bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth, and he was praised with my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God has surely listened; he has heard my cry for mercy.
20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me.
Psalms Chapter 67
An exhortation to the nations to praise God
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us, Selah.
2 So that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations on earth. Selah.
5 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalms Chapter 68
The God of Sinai and of the sanctuary
1 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him.
2 As smoke is driven away, so you will drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked will perish before God.
3 But the righteous will be glad; they will rejoice before God and be joyful.
4 Sing praises to God, sing praises to his name; extol him who rides on the clouds. The Lord is his name; rejoice before him.
5 A father to the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families; he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 The earth trembled; the heavens poured down rain at God’s presence; Sinai itself trembled before God, the God of Israel.
9 You poured down abundant rain, O God; you revived your weary inheritance.
10 Your flock dwelt there; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the poor.
11 The Lord spoke; a great multitude proclaimed good news.
12 Kings of armies fled, fled, and those who remained at home divided the spoil.
13 Though you were cast among the potsherds, you shall be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, its feathers with yellow gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings there, it was as if snow had fallen on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; the high mountain is Bashan.
16 Why do you look with envy, O high mountains, at the mountain that God desired for his dwelling place? Surely the Lord will dwell there forever.
17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands upon thousands; The Lord comes from Sinai to his sanctuary.
18 You ascended on high, you led captivity captive; you received gifts for mankind, even for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation. Selah.
20 God, our God, is the one who saves us; from the Lord God belongs deliverance from death.
21 Surely God will strike the head of his enemies, the bald head of him who walks in his sins.
22 The Lord says: “I will bring you back from Bashan; I will bring you back from the depths of the sea;
23 For your foot will be red with the blood of your enemies, and the tongue of your dogs with it.
24 They have seen your ways, O God, the ways of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers went before, the musicians followed; in their midst were the maidens with tambourines.
26 Bless God in the congregations; bless the Lord, you descendants of Israel.
27 There was the young Benjamin, ruling over them, the princes of Judah in their assembly, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 Your God has ordained your strength; confirm, O God, what you have done for us.
29 Because of your temple in Jerusalem, kings will offer you gifts.
30 Repress the assembled armed nations, the multitude of bulls with the calves of the peoples, until all submit with their pieces of silver; scatter the nations that delight in war.
31 Princes will come from Egypt; Ethiopia will hasten to spread out her hands to God.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing to the Lord! Selah
33 To him who rides on the highest heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he will utter his voice, his mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God; his majesty is over Israel, and his power is in the heavens.
35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel, he gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God.
Psalms Chapter 69
A cry of anguish
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with crying out; my throat is parched; my eyes fail from waiting for my God.
4 Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head; my foes grow strong, those who would destroy me without reason. Must I then repay what I did not steal?
5 O God, you know my folly; my sins are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who put their trust in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 For your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an unknown person to my mother’s children.
9 For zeal for your house consumed me, and the insults of those who insulted you fell on me.
10 I wept and humbled myself with fasting, and this became a disgrace to me.
11 I put on sackcloth as my clothing, and I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sat at the gate talked against me, and the drunkards mocked me with their songs.
13 But I prayed to you, O Lord, at the time of your favor; O God, in the abundance of your mercy, in the faithfulness of your salvation, hear me.
14 Lift me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the floodwaters overwhelm me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your mercy is good; Look upon me according to the multitude of your mercies.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress; hasten to hear me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my disgrace; all my adversaries are before you.
20 Scorn has broken my heart, and I am in anguish. I looked for someone to pity me, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them, and their good a stumbling block.
23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your wrath on them, and let the fury of your anger overtake them.
25 Let their palace be desolate; let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecuted the one you struck, and they tell of the pain of those you wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, and let them not enter into your righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and let them not be written among the righteous.
29 But as for me, afflicted and miserable, let your salvation, O God, set me on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox or a calf with horns and hooves.
32 The oppressed will see it and be glad. Seek God, and your heart will live,
33 for the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; they will live there and possess it.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.
Psalms Chapter 70
Plea for deliverance
1 O God, come quickly to my rescue; O God, make haste to help me.
2 Let those who seek my life be put to shame and dishonor; let those who wish me harm be turned back in disgrace.
3 Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!” be turned back because of their shame.
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation always say, “God be magnified!”
5 I am poor and needy; make haste to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay.
Psalms Chapter 71
Prayer of an old man
1 In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2 Help me and deliver me in your righteousness; incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge, to which I can continually go. You have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and violent.
5 For you, O Lord God, are my hope, my trust from my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.
7 I have been a wonder to many, and you are my strong refuge.
8 Let my mouth be filled with your praise, with your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me away in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my soul take counsel together,
11 saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for there is no one to deliver him.”
12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, come quickly to my aid.
13 Let those who are my adversaries be put to shame and perish; let those who seek my harm be covered with shame and dishonor.
14 But I will always hope, and will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will proclaim your righteousness and your saving acts all day long, though I do not know their number.
16 I will come to the mighty acts of the Lord God; I will make mention of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, you have taught me from my youth, and to this day I declare your wonderful deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come,
19 your righteousness, O God, to the heavens. You have done great things; O God, who is like you?
20 You, who have shown me many troubles and distresses, will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me once more.
22 I will praise you with the harp, my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will sing joyfully to you, my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue will also speak of your righteousness all day long; for those who sought my harm have been put to shame and confounded.
Psalms Chapter 72
The kingdom of a just king
1 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son.
2 He will judge your people with righteousness, and your afflicted with justice.
3 The mountains will bring peace to the people, and the hills righteousness.
4 He will judge the afflicted of the people, he will save the children of the needy, and he will crush the oppressor.
5 They will fear you as long as the sun and the moon endure, from generation to generation.
6 He will be like rain on the mown grass, like gentle dew on the earth.
7 In his days righteousness will flourish, and peace will abound until the moon is no more.
8 He will rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands will bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.
11 All kings will bow down before him; all nations will serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help them.
13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and save the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he will redeem their lives, for their blood is precious in his sight.
15 Long will he live! Gold from Sheba will be given to him, and prayers will be made for him continually; all day long he will be blessed.
16 Grain will be sown in the land, on the tops of the mountains; its fruit will rustle like Lebanon, and its people will flourish like the grass of the earth.
17 His name will endure forever; it will continue as long as the sun shines. All nations will be blessed through him; they will call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.
20 These are the prayers of David, son of Jesse.
Psalms Chapter 73
The fate of the bad guys
1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; my steps had nearly stumbled.
3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no anguish in their death; their bodies are free.
5 They do not suffer as others do; they are not plagued as other people are.
6 Therefore pride is their crown; they clothe themselves with violence.
7 Their eyes bulge with fatness; they fully satisfy their heart’s desires.
8 They scoff and speak wickedly of oppression; they speak arrogantly.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.
10 Therefore God will bring his people back here, and abundant waters will flow for them.
11 And they say, “How does God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”
12 Look at these wicked people, who, unaffected by the world, have grown riches.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence;
14 for all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak as they do,” I would have deceived the generation of your children.
16 When I tried to understand this, it was too difficult for me,
17 until I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.
18 Surely you have set them in slippery places; you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly they are ruined! They are destroyed, consumed by terrors.
20 Like sleep when one awakes, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their appearance.
21 My soul was filled with bitterness, and my heart was pierced.
22 I was so senseless and ignorant; I was like a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; all who are unfaithful to you you will destroy.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God; I have put my hope in the Lord God, that I may tell of all your works.
Psalms Chapter 74
Appeal to God against the enemy
1 Why, O God, have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance, Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
3 Turn your steps to the everlasting desolations, to all the evil the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roar in the midst of your assemblies; they have set up their banners as signs.
5 They are like those who lift up an ax in the midst of a dense forest.
6 And now with axes and hammers they have broken down all its carvings.
7 They have set your sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the tabernacle of your name, casting it to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them at once”; they have burned all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We no longer see our signs; There is no more prophet, nor is there among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, will the oppressor taunt us? Will the enemy continually blaspheme your name?
11 Why do you hold back your hand? Why do you hide your right hand in your bosom?
12 But God is my King from of old; He works salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your power; you broke the heads of sea monsters in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan, and gave him as food to the inhabitants of the desert.
15 You opened the spring and the river; you dried up the mighty rivers.
16 Yours is the day, yours also is the night; you established the moon and the sun.
17 You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you made summer and winter.
18 Remember this: The enemy has insulted the Lord, and a foolish people has blasphemed your name.
19 Do not give the soul of your turtledove to the wild beasts, and do not forever forget the congregation of your afflicted ones.
20 Look to the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of dwellings of violence.
21 Let not the afflicted return in shame; the poor and needy will praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead your cause; remember how the foolish revile you all day long.
23 Do not forget the voice of your enemies; the tumult of those who rise up against you continually ascends.
Psalms Chapter 75
God brings down the wicked and exalts the righteous
1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds.
2 At the appointed time I will judge with equity.
3 The land and its inhabitants were in ruin, but I uphold its pillars. Selah
4 I said to the foolish, “Do not be arrogant,” and to the wicked, “Do not be proud.”
5 Do not boast in your strength, nor speak with out of pride.
6 For exaltation does not come from the east or the west, nor from the desert.
7 But God is judge; he humbles one and exalts another.
8 For in the Lord’s hand is a cup of wine, full of mixture, which he pours out. All the wicked of the earth drain it to the dregs and drink it.
9 But I will always declare and sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 I will break all the power of the wicked, but the power of the righteous will be exalted.
