There Is None Who Does Good

53 To the choirmaster: according to pMahalath. A Maskil1 of David.

1  qThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

2  God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,2

who seek after God.

3  They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

4  Have those who work evil no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

5  There they are, in great terror,

rwhere there is no terror!

For God sscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;

you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

6  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The Lord Upholds My Life

54 To the choirmaster: with tstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David, uwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1  O God, save me by your vname,

and vindicate me by your might.

2  O God, whear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

3  xFor ystrangers2 have risen against me;

ruthless men zseek my life;

they do not set God before themselves. Selah

4  Behold, aGod is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

5  He will return the evil to my enemies;

in your bfaithfulness cput an end to them.

6  With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, dfor it is good.

7  For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has elooked in triumph on my enemies.

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

55 To the choirmaster: with fstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David.

1  gGive ear to my prayer, O God,

and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

2  Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless hin my complaint and I imoan,

3  because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they jdrop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4  My heart is in anguish within me;

kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5  Fear and trembling come upon me,

and lhorror moverwhelms me.

6  And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

7  nyes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

8  I would hurry to find a shelter

from othe raging wind and tempest.”

9  Destroy, O Lord, pdivide their tongues;

for I see qviolence and strife in the city.

10  Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and riniquity and trouble are within it;

11  ruin is in its midst;

soppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.

12  For it is not an enemy who taunts me—

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who tdeals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

13  uBut it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

14  We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in vthe throng.

15  Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol walive;

for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16  But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

17  xEvening and ymorning and at znoon

I autter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

18  He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for bmany are arrayed against me.

19  God will give ear and humble them,

he who is centhroned from of old, Selah

because they do not dchange

and do not fear God.

20  My companion2 estretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

21  His fspeech was gsmooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were hdrawn swords.

22  iCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

jhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, kwill cast them down

into lthe pit of destruction;

men of mblood and treachery

shall not nlive out half their days.

But I will otrust in you.

In God I Trust

56 To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A pMiktam1 of David, when the qPhilistines seized him in Gath.

1  rBe gracious to me, O God, for man stramples on me;

all day long an attacker oppresses me;

2  my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many attack me proudly.

3  When I am afraid,

I tput my trust in you.

4  In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

5  All day long they injure my cause;2

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6  They vstir up strife, they wlurk;

they xwatch my steps,

as they have waited for my life.

7  For their crime will they escape?

yIn wrath zcast down the peoples, O God!

8  You have kept count of my tossings;3

aput my tears in your bottle.

bAre they not in your book?

9  Then my enemies will turn back

cin the day when I call.

This I know, that4 dGod is for me.

10  In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

11  in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12  I must perform my evows to you, O God;

I will erender thank offerings to you.

13  fFor you have delivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

gthat I may walk before God

hin the light of life.

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

57 To the choirmaster: according to iDo Not Destroy. A jMiktam1 of David, when he fled from Saul, in kthe cave.

1  lBe merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul mtakes refuge;

in nthe shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

otill the storms of destruction pass by.

2  I cry out to God Most High,

to God who pfulfills his purpose for me.

3  qHe will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame rhim who tramples on me. Selah

sGod will send out this steadfast love and his faithfulness!

4  My soul is in the midst of ulions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts—

the children of man, whose vteeth are spears and arrows,

whose wtongues are sharp swords.

5  xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

6  They set ya net for my steps;

my soul was zbowed down.

They adug a pit in my way,

but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

7  bMy heart is csteadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

8  dAwake, emy glory!2

Awake, fO harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

9  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10  For your gsteadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11  xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

God Who Judges the Earth

58 To the choirmaster: according to hDo Not Destroy. A iMiktam1 of David.

1  Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?2

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

2  No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands jdeal out violence on earth.

3  The wicked are kestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4  lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5  so that it mdoes not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

6  O God, nbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

7  Let them ovanish like water that runs away;

when he paims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8  Let them be like the snail othat dissolves into slime,

like qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9  Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of rthorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he ssweep them away!3

10  tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11  Mankind will say, “Surely there is va reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who wjudges on earth.”