Psalm 13–19

Psalm 13

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

How long, Jehovah, wilt thou forget me for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, with sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider, answer me, O Jehovah my God! lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him! lest mine adversaries be joyful when I am moved. As for me, I have confided in thy loving-kindness; my heart shall be joyful in thy salvation. I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 14

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They have corrupted themselves, they have done abominable works: there is none that doeth good. Jehovah looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. They have all gone aside, they are together become corrupt: there is none that doeth good, not even one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, eating up my people as they eat bread? They call not upon Jehovah. ⁵There were they in great fear; for God is in the generation of the righteous. ⁶Ye have shamed the counsel of the afflicted, because Jehovah was his refuge. ⁷Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When Jehovah turneth again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall be glad, Israel shall rejoice.

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? who shall dwell in the hill of thy holiness? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth from his heart. He that slandereth not with his tongue, doeth not evil to his companion, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour; In whose eyes the depraved person is contemned, and who honoureth them that fear Jehovah; who, if he have sworn to his own hurt, changeth it not; He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Psalm 16

Michtam of David.

Preserve me, O •God: for I trust in thee. Thou my soul hast said to Jehovah, Thou art the Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; — To the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent thou hast said, In them is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another: their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, and I will not take up their names into my lips. Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless Jehovah, who giveth me counsel; even in the nights my reins instruct me.

⁸I have set Jehovah continually before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. ⁹Therefore my heart rejoiceth, and my glory exulteth; my flesh moreover shall dwell in hope. ¹⁰For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol, neither wilt thou allow thy Holy One to see corruption. ¹¹Thou wilt make known to me the path of life: thy countenance is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer, which is not out of feigned lips. Let my judgment come forth from thy presence, let thine eyes regard equity. Thou hast proved my heart, thou hast visited me by night; thou hast tried me, thou hast found nothing: my thought goeth not beyond my word. Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept from the paths of the violent man. When thou holdest my goings in thy paths, my footsteps slip not. I have called upon thee, for thou answerest me, O •God. Incline thine ear unto me, hear my speech. Shew wondrously thy loving-kindnesses, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, ⁹From the wicked that destroy me, my deadly enemies, who compass me about. ¹⁰They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly. ¹¹They have now encompassed us in our steps; their eyes have they set, bowing down to the earth. ¹²He is like a lion that is greedy of its prey, and as a young lion lurking in secret places. ¹³Arise, Jehovah, anticipate him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, thy sword; ¹⁴From men who are thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of this age: their portion is in this life, and their belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure; they have their fill of sons, and leave the rest of their substance to their children. ¹⁵As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

Psalm 18

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said,

I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength. Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my •God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. I will call upon Jehovah, who is to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The bands of death encompassed me, and torrents of Belial made me afraid. The bands of Sheol surrounded me, the cords of death encountered me. In my distress I called upon Jehovah, and I cried out to my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, into his ears. Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals burned forth from it. And he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place, his tent round about him: darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed forth: hail and coals of fire. And Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire. And he sent his arrows, and scattered mine enemies; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them. And the beds of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at thy rebuke, Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. He reached forth from above, he took me, he drew me out of great waters: He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were mightier than I. They encountered me in the day of my calamity, but Jehovah was my stay. And he brought me forth into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. ²¹For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my God. ²²For all his ordinances were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me; ²³And I was upright with him, and kept myself from mine iniquity. ²⁴And Jehovah hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. ²⁵With the gracious thou dost shew thyself gracious; with the upright man thou dost shew thyself upright; ²⁶With the pure thou dost shew thyself pure; and with the perverse thou dost shew thyself contrary. ²⁷For it is thou that savest the afflicted people; but the haughty eyes wilt thou bring down. ²⁸For it is thou that makest my lamp to shine: Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness.

²⁹For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. ³⁰As for •God, his way is perfect; the word of Jehovah is tried: he is a shield to all that trust in him. ³¹For who is †God save Jehovah? and who is a rock if not our God? ³²The •God who girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect, ³³Who maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places; ³⁴Who teacheth my hands to war, and mine arms bend a bow of brass; ³⁵And thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand held me up; and thy condescending gentleness hath made me great. ³⁶Thou didst enlarge my steps under me, and mine ankles have not wavered. ³⁷I pursued mine enemies, and overtook them; and I turned not again till they were consumed. ³⁸I crushed them, and they were not able to rise: they fell under my feet. ³⁹And thou girdedst me with strength to battle; thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me. ⁴⁰And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, and those that hated me I destroyed. ⁴¹They cried, and there was none to save; —unto Jehovah, and he answered them not. ⁴²And I did beat them small as dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets. ⁴³Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; thou hast made me the head of the nations: a people I knew not doth serve me. ⁴⁴At the hearing of the ear, they obey me: strangers come cringing unto me. ⁴⁵Strangers have faded away, and they come trembling forth from their close places. ⁴⁶Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation, ⁴⁷The •God who hath avenged me, and hath subjected the peoples to me; ⁴⁸Who hath delivered me from mine enemies: yea, thou hast lifted me up above them that rose up against me; from the man of violence hast thou delivered me. ⁴⁹Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, and will sing psalms to thy name. ⁵⁰It is he who giveth great deliverances to his king, and sheweth loving-kindness to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Psalm 19

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

The heavens declare the glory of •God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth…