Psalm 13–19

How Long, O Lord?

13To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

^1vHow long, O Lord? Will you ^wforget me forever?

How long will you ^xhide your face from me?

²How long must I take ^ycounsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

^3zConsider and answer me, O Lord my God;

^alight up my eyes, lest ^bI sleep the sleep of death,

^4clest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am ^dshaken.

⁵But I have ^etrusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall ^frejoice in your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The Fool Says, There Is No God

14To the choirmaster. Of David.

^1gThe ^hfool says in his heart, ⁱ“There is no God.”

They are ^jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;

^kthere is none who does good.

²The Lord ^llooks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,¹

who ^mseek after God.

³They have all turned aside; together they have become ⁿcorrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

⁴Have they no ^oknowledge, all the evildoers

who ^peat up my people as they eat bread

and ^qdo not call upon the Lord?

⁵There they are in great terror,

for God is with ^rthe generation of the righteous.

⁶You would shame the plans of the poor,

but² the Lord is his ^srefuge.

⁷Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord ^trestores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?

15A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, ^uwho shall sojourn in your ^vtent?

Who shall dwell on your ^wholy hill?

²He who ^xwalks blamelessly and ^ydoes what is right

and ^zspeaks truth in his heart;

³who ^adoes not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor ^btakes up a reproach against his friend;

^4cin whose eyes a vile person is despised,

but who honors those who fear the Lord;

who ^dswears to his own hurt and does not change;

⁵who ^edoes not put out his money at interest

and ^fdoes not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be ^gmoved.

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

16A ^hMiktam¹ of David.

¹Preserve me, O God, for in you I ⁱtake refuge.

²I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

^jI have no good apart from you.”

³As for ^kthe saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.²

⁴The sorrows of those who run after³ another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or ^ltake their names on my lips.

⁵The Lord is ^mmy chosen portion and my ⁿcup;

you hold my ^olot.

^6pThe lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷I bless the Lord who ^qgives me counsel;

in ^rthe night also my ^sheart instructs me.⁴

^8tI have ^uset the Lord always before me;

because he is at my ^vright hand, I shall not be ^wshaken.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my ^xwhole being⁵ rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

¹⁰For you will not abandon my soul to ^ySheol,

^zor let your ^aholy one see ^bcorruption.⁶

¹¹You make known to me ^cthe path of life;

in your presence there is ^dfullness of joy;

at your right hand are ^epleasures forevermore.

In the Shadow of Your Wings

17A ^fPrayer of David.

¹Hear a just cause, O Lord; ^gattend to my cry!

Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

²From your presence ^hlet my vindication come!

Let your eyes behold the right!

³You have ⁱtried my heart, you have ^jvisited me by ^knight,

you have ^ltested me, and you will find nothing;

I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.

⁴With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.

⁵My steps have ^mheld fast to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.

⁶I ⁿcall upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

^oincline your ear to me; hear my words.

^7pWondrously show¹ your steadfast love,

O Savior of those who seek refuge

from ^qtheir adversaries at your right hand.

⁸Keep me as ^rthe apple of your eye;

hide me in ^sthe shadow of your wings,

⁹from the wicked who do me violence,

my deadly enemies who ^tsurround me.

^10uThey close their hearts to pity;

with their mouths they ^vspeak arrogantly.

¹¹They have now surrounded our ^wsteps;

they set their eyes to ^xcast us to the ground.

¹²He is like a lion eager to tear,

as a young lion ^ylurking in ambush.

¹³Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!

Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

¹⁴from men by your hand, O Lord,

from ^zmen of the world whose ^aportion is in this life.²

You fill their womb with treasure;³

they are satisfied with ^bchildren,

and they leave their abundance to their infants.

¹⁵As for me, I shall ^cbehold your face in righteousness;

when I ^dawake, I shall be ^esatisfied with your likeness.

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

18To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, ^fthe servant of the Lord, ^gwho addressed the words of this ^hsong to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

¹I love you, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my ⁱrock and my ^jfortress and my deliverer,

my God, my ⁱrock, in ^kwhom I take refuge,

my ^lshield, and ^mthe horn of my salvation, my ⁿstronghold.

³I call upon the Lord, who is ^oworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

^4pThe cords of death encompassed me;

^qthe torrents of destruction assailed me;¹

^5pthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

^6rIn my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his ^stemple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth ^treeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils,²

and devouring ^ufire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

⁹He ^vbowed the heavens and ^wcame down;

^xthick darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly on ^zthe wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his ^acanopy around him,

thick clouds ^bdark with water.

¹²Out of the brightness before him

^chailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

¹³The Lord also ^dthundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his ^evoice,

hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴And he sent out his ^farrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and ^grouted them.

¹⁵Then ^hthe channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your ⁱrebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of ^jthe breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶He ^ksent from on high, he took me;

he ^ldrew me out of ^mmany waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were ⁿtoo mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into ^oa broad place;

he rescued me, because he ^pdelighted in me.

²⁰The Lord dealt with me ^qaccording to my righteousness;

according to ^rthe cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

²¹For I have ^skept the ways of the Lord,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For ^tall his rules³ were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

²³I was ^ublameless before him,

and I kept myself from my guilt.

²⁴So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵With ^vthe merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

²⁶with the purified you show yourself pure;

and with ^wthe crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

²⁷For you save ^xa humble people,

but ^ythe haughty eyes you bring down.

²⁸For it is you who light my ^zlamp;

the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

²⁹For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can ^aleap over ^ba wall.

³⁰This God—his way is ^cperfect;⁴

the word of the Lord ^dproves true;

he is ^ea shield for all those who ^ftake refuge in him.

³¹For ^gwho is God, but the Lord?

And who is ^ha rock, except our God?—

³²the God who ⁱequipped me with strength

and made my way ^jblameless.

³³He made my feet like the feet of a ^kdeer

and set me secure on ^lthe heights.

³⁴He ^mtrains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand ⁿsupported me,

and your ^ogentleness made me great.

³⁶You ^pgave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

and did not turn back till they were consumed.

³⁸I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;

they fell under my feet.

³⁹For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made those who rise against me sink under me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies ^qturn their backs to me,⁵

and those who hated me I destroyed.

^41rThey cried for help, but there was none to save;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

⁴²I beat them fine as ^sdust before the wind;

I cast them out like ^tthe mire of the streets.

⁴³You delivered me from ^ustrife with the people;

you made me ^vthe head of the nations;

^wpeople whom I had not known served me.

⁴⁴As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;

^xforeigners ^ycame cringing to me.

^45xForeigners lost heart

and ^zcame trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation—

⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance

and ^asubdued peoples under me,

⁴⁸who rescued me from my enemies;

yes, you ^bexalted me above those who rose against me;

you delivered me from ^cthe man of violence.

^49dFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and ^esing to your name.

⁵⁰Great ^fsalvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his ^ganointed,

to ^hDavid and his offspring forever.

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

19To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹ⁱThe heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above¹ proclaims his handiwork.

²Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

³There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

^4jTheir ^kvoice² goes out through all the earth,

and…