Psalm 35:1–41:13
1 Plead 1my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and 2buckler,
And stand up for my help.
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4 aLet those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be bturned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
5 cLet them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the 3angel of the Lord chase them.
6 Let their way be ddark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7 For without cause they have ehidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
8 4Let fdestruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 gAll my bones shall say,
“Lord, hwho is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 iThey reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
13 But as for me, jwhen they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own 5heart.
14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down 6heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.
15 But in my 7adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
16 With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long will You klook on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among 8many people.
19 lLet them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
21 They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, “Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it.”
22 This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be mclothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.
27 nLet them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.
Man’s Wickedness and God’s Perfections
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the Servant of the Lord.
1 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
aThere is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
bHe has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 cHe devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself din a way that is not good;
5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the 2great mountains;
fYour judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men gput their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 hThey are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from ithe river of Your pleasures.
9 jFor with You is the fountain of life;
kIn Your light we see light.
10 Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.
The Heritage of the Righteous and the Calamity of the Wicked
A Psalm of David.
1 Do anot fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down blike the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 cDelight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your dheart.
5 eCommit 1your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 fHe shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, gand wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who hprospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 iCease from anger, and forsake wrath;
jDo not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be 2cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall kinherit the earth.
10 For lyet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, myou will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 nBut the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plots against the just,
oAnd gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 pThe Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that qhis day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
16 rA little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches 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 upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But sthe righteous shows mercy and gives.
22 tFor those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be 3cut off.
23 uThe steps of a good man are 4ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 vThough he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 wHe is 5ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 xThe righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.
30 yThe mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall 6slide.
32 The wicked zwatches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.
33 The Lord awill not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.
34 bWait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36 Yet 7he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
38 cBut the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength din the time of trouble.
40 And ethe Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
fBecause they trust in Him.
A Psalm of David. aTo Bring to Remembrance.
1 O Lord, do not brebuke me in Your wrath,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
2 For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
And Your hand presses me down.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh
Because of Your anger,
Nor any health in my bones
Because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds are foul and festering
Because of my foolishness.
6 I am 1troubled, I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are full of inflammation,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart pants, my strength fails me;
As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.
11 My loved ones and my friends cstand aloof from my plague,
And my relatives stand afar off.
12 Those also who seek my life lay snares for me;
Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction,
And plan deception all the day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.
14 Thus I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth is no response.
15 For 2in You, O Lord, dI hope;
You will 3hear, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,
Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”
17 eFor I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I will fdeclare my iniquity;
I will be gin 4anguish over my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;
And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied.
20 Those also hwho render evil for good,
They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.
O my God, ibe not far from me!
O Lord, my salvation!
Prayer for Wisdom and Forgiveness
To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will guard my ways, Lest I sin with my atongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
2 bI was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from