Blessed Are the Forgiven

32 A Maskil1 of David.

1  jBlessed is the one whose ktransgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

2  Blessed is the man against whom the Lord lcounts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit mthere is no deceit.

3  For when I kept silent, my nbones wasted away

through my ogroaning all day long.

4  For day and night your phand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up2 as by the heat of summer. Selah

5  I qacknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I rwill confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

6  Therefore let everyone who is sgodly

offer prayer to you at a time when you tmay be found;

surely in the rush of ugreat waters,

they shall not reach him.

7  You are a vhiding place for me;

you preserve me from wtrouble;

you surround me with xshouts of deliverance. Selah

8  I will yinstruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will zcounsel you with my eye upon you.

9  aBe not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,

which must be curbed with bbit and bridle,

or it will not stay near you.

10  cMany are the sorrows of the wicked,

but steadfast love surrounds the one who dtrusts in the Lord.

11  eBe glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,

and fshout for joy, all you gupright in heart!

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

33 hShout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!

iPraise befits the upright.

2  Give thanks to the Lord with the jlyre;

make melody to him with jthe harp of kten strings!

3  Sing to him la 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 mfaithfulness.

5  He nloves righteousness and justice;

othe earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6  By pthe word of the Lord the heavens were made,

and by qthe breath of his mouth all rtheir host.

7  He gathers the waters of the sea as sa heap;

he tputs 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 uhe spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

10  The Lord vbrings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11  wThe counsel of the Lord stands forever,

the plans of his heart to all generations.

12  xBlessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has ychosen as his heritage!

13  The Lord zlooks down from heaven;

he sees all the children of man;

14  from awhere he sits enthroned he blooks out

on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15  he who fashions the hearts of them all

and observes all their deeds.

16  cThe king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17  dThe war horse is a false hope for salvation,

and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18  Behold, ethe eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

fon those who hope in his steadfast love,

19  that he may gdeliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in hfamine.

20  Our soul iwaits for the Lord;

he is our jhelp and kour shield.

21  For our heart is lglad in him,

because we mtrust in his holy name.

22  Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

even as we hope in you.

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

34 1 Of David, when he nchanged his behavior before oAbimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

1  I will bless the Lord pat all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2  My soul qmakes its boast in the Lord;

let the humble hear and rbe glad.

3  Oh, smagnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together!

4  I tsought the Lord, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

5  Those who look to him are uradiant,

and their faces shall never be ashamed.

6  vThis poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

and wsaved him out of all his troubles.

7  xThe angel of the Lord yencamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

8  Oh, ztaste and see that athe Lord is good!

bBlessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

9  Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!

10  cThe young lions suffer want and hunger;

but those who dseek the Lord lack no good thing.

11  eCome, O children, listen to me;

fI will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12  gWhat man is there who desires life

and loves many days, that he may hsee good?

13  iKeep your tongue from evil

and your lips from jspeaking deceit.

14  kTurn away from evil and do good;

seek peace and lpursue it.

15  mThe eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous

nand his ears toward their cry.

16  oThe face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

to pcut off the memory of them from the earth.

17  nWhen the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18  The Lord is near to qthe brokenhearted

and saves rthe crushed in spirit.

19  sMany are the afflictions of the righteous,

tbut the Lord delivers him out of them all.

20  He keeps all his bones;

unot one of them is broken.

21  vAffliction will slay the wicked,

and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22  The Lord wredeems the life of his servants;

none of those who take refuge in him will be xcondemned.

Great Is the Lord

35 Of David.

1  Contend, O Lord, with those who ycontend with me;

zfight against those who fight against me!

2  Take hold of ashield and buckler

and rise for my help!

3  Draw the spear and javelin1

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”

4  bLet them be cput to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be dturned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

5  Let them be like echaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

6  Let their way be dark and fslippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

7  For gwithout cause hthey hid their net for me;

without cause they dug ia pit for my life.2

8  Let jdestruction come upon him kwhen he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!

9  Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

lexulting in his salvation.

10  All my mbones shall say,

“O Lord, nwho is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

11  oMalicious3 witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I do not know.

12  pThey repay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft.4

13  But I, qwhen they were sick—

I rwore sackcloth;

I safflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed twith head bowed5 on my chest.

14  I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I ubowed down in mourning.

15  But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

vwretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16  like profane mockers at a feast,6

they wgnash at me with their teeth.

17  How long, O Lord, will you xlook on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

ymy precious life from the lions!

18  I will thank you in zthe great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19  aLet not those rejoice over me

who are bwrongfully my foes,

and let not those cwink the eye

who dhate me ewithout cause.

20  For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit.

21  They fopen wide their mouths against me;

they say, g“Aha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!”

22  hYou have seen, O Lord; ibe not silent!

O Lord, jbe not far from me!

23  Awake and krouse yourself for lmy vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24  mVindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and nlet them not rejoice over me!

25  Let them not say in their hearts,

o“Aha, our heart’s desire!”

Let them not say, p“We have swallowed him up.”

26  Let them be qput to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be rclothed with shame and dishonor

who smagnify themselves against me!

27  Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

tand say evermore,

u“Great is the Lord,

who vdelights in the welfare of his servant!”

28  Then my wtongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.