Psalm 20–22

Psalm 20

For the choir director; a psalm by David. 

¹The Lord will answer you in times of trouble. 

The name of the God of Jacob will protect you. 

²He will send you help from his holy place 

and support you from Zion. 

³He will remember all your grain offerings 

and look with favor on your burnt offerings. 

Selah 

⁴He will give you your heart’s desire 

and carry out all your plans. 

⁵We will joyfully sing about your victory. 

We will wave our flags in the name of our God. 

The Lord will fulfill all your requests. 

⁶Now I know that the Lord will give victory to his anointed king. 

He will answer him from his holy heaven 

with mighty deeds of his powerful hand. 

⁷Some ⸤rely⸥ on chariots and others on horses, 

but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God. 

⁸They will sink to their knees and fall, 

but we will rise and stand firm. 

⁹Give victory to the king, O Lord. 

Answer us when we call. 

Psalm 21

For the choir director; a psalm by David. 

¹The king finds joy in your strength, O Lord. 

What great joy he has in your victory! 

²You gave him his heart’s desire. 

You did not refuse the prayer from his lips. 

Selah 

³You welcomed him with the blessings of good things 

and set a crown of fine gold on his head. 

⁴He asked you for life. 

You gave him a long life, forever and ever. 

⁵Because of your victory his glory is great. 

You place splendor and majesty on him. 

⁶Yes, you made him a blessing forever. 

You made him glad with the joy of your presence. 

⁷Indeed, the king trusts the Lord, 

and through the mercy of the Most High, he will not be moved. 

⁸Your hand will discover all your enemies. 

Your powerful hand will find all who hate you. 

⁹When you appear, you will make them ⸤burn⸥ like a blazing furnace. 

The Lord will swallow them up in his anger. 

Fire will devour them. 

¹⁰You will destroy their children from the earth 

and their offspring from among Adam’s descendants. 

¹¹Although they scheme and plan evil against you, 

they will not succeed. 

¹²They turn their backs ⸤and flee⸥ 

because you aim your bow at their faces. 

¹³Arise, O Lord, in your strength. 

We will sing and make music to praise your power. 

Psalm 22

For the choir director; according to ayyeleth hashachar;^aa psalm by David. 

¹My God, my God, 

why have you abandoned me? 

Why are you so far away from helping me, 

so far away from the words of my groaning? 

²My God, 

I cry out by day, but you do not answer— 

also at night, but I find no rest. 

³Yet, you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 

⁴Our ancestors trusted you. 

They trusted, and you rescued them. 

⁵They cried to you and were saved. 

They trusted you and were never disappointed. 

⁶Yet, I am a worm and not a man. 

I am scorned by humanity and despised by people. 

⁷All who see me make fun of me. 

Insults pour from their mouths. 

They shake their heads and say, 

⁸“Put yourself in the Lord’s hands. 

Let the Lord save him! 

Let God rescue him since he is pleased with him!” 

⁹Indeed, you are the one who brought me out of the womb, 

the one who made me feel safe at my mother’s breasts. 

¹⁰I was placed in your care from birth. 

From my mother’s womb you have been my God. 

¹¹Do not be so far away from me. 

Trouble is near, and there is no one to help. 

¹²Many bulls have surrounded me. 

Strong bulls from Bashan have encircled me. 

¹³They have opened their mouths to attack me 

like ferocious, roaring lions. 

¹⁴I am poured out like water, 

and all my bones are out of joint. 

My heart is like wax. 

It has melted within me. 

¹⁵My strength is dried up like pieces of broken pottery. 

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. 

You lay me down in the dust of death. 

¹⁶Dogs have surrounded me. 

A mob has encircled me. 

They have pierced my hands and feet. 

¹⁷I can count all my bones. 

People stare. 

They gloat over me. 

¹⁸They divide my clothes among themselves. 

They throw dice for my clothing. 

¹⁹Do not be so far away, O Lord. 

Come quickly to help me, O my strength. 

²⁰Rescue my soul from the sword, 

my life from vicious dogs. 

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion 

and from the horns of wild oxen. 

You have answered me. 

²²I will tell my people about your name. 

I will praise you within the congregation. 

²³All who fear the Lord, praise him! 

All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! 

Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel. 

²⁴The Lord has not despised or been disgusted 

with the plight of the oppressed one. 

He has not hidden his face from that person. 

The Lord heard when that oppressed person 

cried out to him for help. 

²⁵My praise comes from you while I am among those assembled for worship. 

I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who fear the Lord. 

²⁶Oppressed people will eat until they are full. 

Those who look to the Lord will praise him. 

May you live forever. 

²⁷All the ends of the earth will remember and return to the Lord. 

All the families from all the nations will worship you 

²⁸because the kingdom belongs to the Lord 

and he rules the nations. 

²⁹All prosperous people on earth will eat and worship. 

All those who go down to the dust will kneel in front of him, 

even those who are barely alive. 

³⁰There will be descendants who serve him, 

a generation that will be told about the Lord. 

³¹They will tell people yet to be born about his righteousness— 

that he has finished it.