Psalm 13–19

Psalm 13

A PLEA FOR DELIVERANCE

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

¹How long, Lord? Will you forget me

forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?^q

²How long will I store up anxious concerns^I within me,

agony in my mind every day?

How long will my enemy dominate me?^r

³Consider me and answer, Lord my God.

Restore brightness to my eyes;^s

otherwise, I will sleep in death.

⁴My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”

and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.^t

⁵But I have trusted in your faithful love;^u

my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.^v

⁶I will sing to the Lord

because he has treated me generously.^w

Psalm 14

A PORTRAIT OF SINNERS

For the choir director. Of David.

¹The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”^x

They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.

There is no one who does good.

²The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race^Ay

to see if there is one who is wise,

one who seeks God.

³All have turned away;

all alike have become corrupt.

There is no one who does good,

not even one.^z

⁴Will evildoers never understand?

They consume my people as they consume bread;^a

they do not call on the Lord.^b

⁵Then^B they will be filled with dread,

for God is with those who are^C righteous.^c

⁶You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed,^d

but the Lord is his refuge.^e

⁷Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,^D

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.^f

Psalm 15

A DESCRIPTION OF THE GODLY

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, who can dwell in your tent?^g

Who can live on your holy mountain?^h

²The one who lives blamelessly, practices righteousness,

and acknowledges the truth in his heartⁱ—

³who does not slander with his tongue,^j

who does not harm his friend

or discredit his neighbor,^k

⁴who despises the one rejected by the Lord^E

but honors those who fear the Lord,^l

who keeps his word whatever the cost,^m

⁵who does not lend his silver at interestⁿ

or take a bribe against the innocent^o—

the one who does these things will never be shaken.^p

Psalm 16

CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD

A Miktam of David.^q

¹Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you.^r

²I^A said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have nothing good besides you.”^Bs

³As for the holy people who are in the land,^t

they are the noble ones.

All my delight is in them.

⁴The sorrows of those who take another god

for themselves will multiply;

I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,

and I will not speak their names with my lips.^u

⁵Lord, you are my portion^C

and my cup of blessing;

you hold my future.^v

⁶The boundary lines have fallen for me

in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.^w

⁷I will bless the Lord who counsels me^x—

even at night when my thoughts trouble me.^Dy

⁸I always let the Lord guide me.^E

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.^z

⁹Therefore my heart is glad

and my whole being rejoices;

my body also rests securely.^aa

¹⁰For you will not abandon me to Sheol;^ab

you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.^ac

¹¹You reveal the path of life to me;

in your presence is abundant joy;^ad

at your right hand are eternal pleasures.^ae

Psalm 17

A PRAYER FOR PROTECTION

A prayer of David.

¹Lord, hear a just cause;^af

pay attention to my cry;

listen to my prayer—

from lips free of deceit.^ag

²Let my vindication come from you,

for you see what is right.^ah

³You have tested my heart;^ai

you have examined me at night.

You have tried me and found nothing evil;^aj

I have determined that my mouth will not sin.^F

⁴Concerning what people do:

by the words from your lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.^a

⁵My steps are on your paths;

my feet have not slipped.^b

⁶I call on you, God,

because you will answer me;^c

listen closely to me; hear what I say.

⁷Display the wonders of your faithful love,^d

Savior of all who seek refuge^e

from those who rebel against your right hand.^G

⁸Protect me as the pupil of your eye;^f

hide me in the shadow of your wings^g

⁹from^A the wicked who treat me violently,^B

my deadly enemies who surround me.^h

¹⁰They are uncaring;^Ci

their mouths speak arrogantly.^j

¹¹They advance against me;^D now they surround me.^k

They are determined^E

to throw me to the ground.^l

¹²They are^F like a lion eager to tear,

like a young lion lurking in ambush.^m

¹³Rise up, Lord!

Confront him; bring him down.ⁿ

With your sword, save me from the wicked.^o

¹⁴With your hand, Lord, save me from men,

from men of the world

whose portion is in this life:

You fill their bellies with what you have in store;

their sons are satisfied,

and they leave their surplus to their children.^p

¹⁵But I will see your face in righteousness;^q

when I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence.^Gr

Psalm 18

PRAISE FOR DELIVERANCE

For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the power of Saul.^s He said:

¹I love you, Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock,

my fortress, and my deliverer,^t

my God, my rock where I seek refuge,

my shield^u and the horn of my salvation,^v

my stronghold.

³I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,^w

and I was saved from my enemies.^x

⁴The ropes of death were wrapped around me;

the torrents of destruction terrified me.^y

⁵The ropes of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.^z

⁶I called to the Lord in my distress,

and I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,^aa

and my cry to him reached his ears.^ab

⁷Then the earth shook and quaked;

the foundations of the mountains trembled;^ac

they shook because he burned with anger.

⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils,

and consuming fire came from his mouth;

coals were set ablaze by it.^Had

⁹He bent the heavens and came down,^ae

total darkness beneath his feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew,

soaring on the wings of the wind.^af

¹¹He made darkness his hiding place,

dark storm clouds his canopy around him.^ag

¹²From the radiance of his presence,^ah

his clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.

¹³The Lord thundered from^A heaven;

the Most High made his voice heard.^Bai

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered them;

he hurled^C lightning bolts and routed them.^aj

¹⁵The depths of the sea became visible,

the foundations of the world were exposed,

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.^a

¹⁶He reached down from on high

and took hold of me;

he pulled me out of deep water.^b

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were too strong for me.^c

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.^d

¹⁹He brought me out to a spacious place;^e

he rescued me because he delighted in me.^f

²⁰The Lord rewarded me

according to my righteousness;^g

he repaid me

according to the cleanness of my hands.^h

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord

and have not turned from my God to wickedness.ⁱ

²²Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me^D

and have not disregarded his statutes.^j

²³I was blameless toward him^k

and kept myself from my iniquity.

²⁴So the Lord repaid me

according to my righteousness,^l

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.^m

²⁵With the faithful

you prove yourself faithful,

with the blameless

you prove yourself blameless,

²⁶with the pure

you prove yourself pure,

but with the crooked

you prove yourself shrewd.ⁿ

²⁷For you rescue an oppressed people,^o

but you humble those with haughty eyes.^p

²⁸Lord, you light my lamp;

my God illuminates my darkness.^q

²⁹With you I can attack a barricade,^E

and with my God I can leap over a wall.^r

³⁰God—his way is perfect;^s

the word of the Lord is pure.^t

He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.^u

³¹For who is God besides the Lord?^v

And who is a rock? Only our God.^w

³²God—he clothes me with strength^x

and makes my way perfect.

³³He makes my feet like the feet of a deer^y

and sets me securely on the heights.^Az

³⁴He trains my hands for war;^aa

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.^ab

³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation;

your right hand upholds me,^ac

and your humility exalts me.

³⁶You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps,^ad

and my ankles do not give way.^ae

³⁷I pursue my enemies and overtake them;

I do not turn back until they are wiped out.^af

³⁸I crush them, and they cannot get up;

they fall beneath my feet.^ag

³⁹You have clothed me with strength for battle;^ah

you subdue my adversaries beneath me.^ai

⁴⁰You have made my enemies retreat before me;^Baj

I annihilate those who hate me.^ak

⁴¹They cry for help, but there is no one to save them^al—

they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer them.^am

⁴²I pulverize them like dust before the wind;^an

I trample them^C like mud in the streets.^ao

⁴³You have freed me from the feuds among the people;

you have appointed me the head of nations;^ap

a people I had not known serve me.^aq

⁴⁴Foreigners submit to me cringing;

as soon as they hear they obey me.^a

⁴⁵Foreigners lose heart

and come trembling from their fortifications.^b

⁴⁶The Lord lives—blessed be my rock!

The God of my salvation is exalted.^c

⁴⁷God—he grants me vengeance^d

and subdues peoples under me.^e

⁴⁸He frees me from my enemies.

You exalt me above my adversaries;

you rescue me from violent men.^f

⁴⁹Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;

I will sing praises about your name.^g

⁵⁰He gives great victories to his king;^h

he shows loyalty to his anointed,

to David and his descendants forever.ⁱ

Psalm 19

THE WITNESS OF CREATION AND SCRIPTURE

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

¹The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the expanse^j proclaims the work of his hands.^k

²Day after day they pour out speech;

night after night they communicate knowledge.^A

³There is no speech; there are no words;

their voice is not heard.

⁴Their message^B has gone out to the whole earth,

and their words to the ends of the world.^l

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun.^m

⁵It is like a bridegroom coming from his home;

it rejoices like an athlete…