Psalm 22–32

Suffering and Waiting for Deliverance

22For the music director; according to The Doe of the Dawn. A psalm of David.^a

¹My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

Why are you far from helping me, far from the words of my groaning?

²O my God, I call by day and you do not answer,

and by night but I have no rest.^b

³Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

⁴Our ancestors^c trusted you;

they trusted and you delivered them.

⁵They cried to you and were saved;

they trusted you and were not ashamed.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by humankind and despised by people.

⁷All who see me mock me.

They open wide their lips;

they shake the head, saying:

⁸“He trusts Yahweh.^d Let him rescue him.

Let him deliver him because he delights in him.”

⁹Yet you took me from the belly;

you made me trust while on my mother’s breasts.

¹⁰On you I was cast from the womb.

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

¹¹Do not be far from me

because trouble is near;

because there is no helper.

¹²Many bulls have encircled me;

mighty bulls of Bashan have surrounded me.

¹³They open their mouth against me

like a lion tearing and roaring.

¹⁴I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart is like wax;

it is melted within me.^e

¹⁵My strength is dry like a potsherd,

and my tongue is sticking to my jaws;

and you have placed me in the dust of death.

¹⁶Because dogs have surrounded me;

a gang of evildoers has encircled me.

Like the lion^f they are at my hands and my feet.

¹⁷I can count all my bones;

they gaze, they look at me.

¹⁸They divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.^g

¹⁹But you, O Yahweh, do not remain distant.

O my help, hasten to help me.

²⁰Rescue my life from the sword,

my only life from the power of the dogs.^h

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion,

and from the horns of the wild oxen answer me.

²²I will tell your name to my brothers;

inside the assembly I will praise you.

²³You who revere Yahweh, praise him!

Glorify him, all you seed of Jacob,

and be in awe of him, all you seed of Israel,

²⁴because he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,

and has not hid his face from him;

but he listened to him when he cried for help.

²⁵From you is my praise.

In the great assembly,

I will pay my vows before those who revere him.

²⁶The afflicted will eat and will be satisfied.

Those who seek him will praise Yahweh.

May yourⁱ heart live forever.

²⁷All the ends of the earth

will remember and turn to Yahweh.

All the families of the nations

will worship before you.

²⁸Because the kingship belongs to Yahweh,

and he rules over the nations.

²⁹All the healthy ones^j of the earth will eat and worship.

Before him all of those descending into the dust will kneel,

even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

³⁰Descendants^k will serve him.

Regarding the Lord, it will be told to the next generation.

³¹They will come and tell his saving^l deeds

to a people yet to be born, that he has done it.

Yahweh the Shepherd

23A psalm of David.^a

¹Yahweh is my shepherd;

I will not lack for anything.

²In grassy pastures he makes me lie down;

by quiet waters he leads me.

³He restores my life.^b

He leads me in correct paths^c

for the sake of his name.

⁴Even when I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil

because you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You prepare before me a table

in the presence of my oppressors.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup is overflowing.

⁶Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me

all the days of my life,

and I will stay^d in the house^e of Yahweh

for a very long time.^f

The King of Glory

24A psalm of David.^a

¹The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness,

the world and those who live in it,

²because he has founded it on the seas,

and has established it on the rivers.

³Who may ascend the mountain of Yahweh?

And who may stand in his holy place?

⁴He who is innocent of hands and pure of heart,

who does not lift up his soul to falseness,

and does not swear deceitfully.

⁵He will receive blessing from Yahweh,

and justice^b from the God of his salvation.

⁶Such is the sort of those who seek^c him,

those who seek your face, even Jacob. Selah

⁷Lift up your heads, O gates,

and rise up, O ancient doorways,

that the king of glory^d may enter.

⁸Who is the king of glory?^e

Yahweh, strong and mighty;

Yahweh, mighty in war!

⁹Lift up your heads, O gates,

and lift up, O ancient doorways,

that the king of glory^f may enter.

¹⁰Who is the king of glory?^g

Yahweh of hosts,

He is the king of glory!^h Selah

A Prayer for Guidance, Deliverance, and Forgiveness

25Of David.^a

¹To you, O Yahweh, I lift up my soul.

²O my God, I trust you; let me not be put to shame.

Do not let my enemies exult over me.

³Indeed, none who wait for you should be put to shame.

Those who betray without cause should be put to shame.

⁴Make me know your ways, O Yahweh.

Teach me your paths.

⁵Cause me to walk in your truth and teach me,

because you are the God of my salvation.

I await you all day long.^b

⁶Remember your compassion, O Yahweh,

and your acts of loyal love,

because they are from of old.

⁷Do not remember

the sins of my youth or my transgressions.

According to your loyal love remember me if you will,

for the sake of your goodness, O Yahweh.

⁸Good and right is Yahweh;

therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

⁹He causes the humble to walk in justice,

and teaches the humble his way.

¹⁰All the paths of Yahweh are loyal love and faithfulness

for those who keep his covenant and statutes.^c

¹¹Also, for the sake of your name, O Yahweh,

forgive my sin, because it is great.

¹²Who is the man fearing Yahweh?

He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

¹³His soul will lodge in prosperity,

and his offspring will possess the land.

¹⁴Intimate fellowship with Yahweh is for those who fear him,

and he makes known his covenant to them.

¹⁵My eyes are continually toward Yahweh,

because he will take my feet from the net.

¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy on me

because I am lonely and afflicted.

¹⁷Remove the troubles of my heart;

bring me out from my distresses.

¹⁸Consider my affliction and trouble,

and forgive^d all my sins.

¹⁹Consider that my enemies are many,

and they hate me with violent hatred.

²⁰Protect my life and deliver me.

Let me not be put to shame, because I take shelter in you.

²¹Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

because I wait for you.

²²O God, redeem Israel

from all its troubles.

A Prayer for Vindication

26Of David.^a

¹Judge me, O Yahweh, because I have walked in my integrity,

and I have trusted Yahweh and not wavered.

²Prove me, O Yahweh, and test me.

Try my innermost being^b and my mind.^c

³Because your loyal love is before my eyes,

and I walk about in your faithfulness.

⁴I do not sit with deceitful people,

nor will I go about with hypocrites.

⁵I hate the crowd of evildoers,

and with the wicked I will not sit.

⁶I will wash my hands in innocence,

and I will walk about your altar, O Yahweh,

⁷to declare with a voice of thanksgiving,

and tell of all your wondrous deeds.

⁸O Yahweh, I love the dwelling of your house,^d

and the place where your glory abides.^e

⁹Do not destroy me^f with the sinners,

nor my life with men of bloodshed,

¹⁰in whose hands is an evil plan,

and whose right hand is full of bribes.^g

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.

Redeem me and be gracious to me.

¹²My foot stands on level ground.

In assemblies I will bless Yahweh.

A Declaration of Trust

27Of David.^a

¹Yahweh is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

Yahweh is the refuge of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

²When evildoers drew near against me to eat my flesh—

my adversaries and my enemies who drew near to me—

they themselves stumbled and fell.

³Though an army encamp against me,

my heart will not fear.

Though war arise against me,

even in this I will remain confident.

⁴One thing I have asked from Yahweh;

it I will seek:

that I may dwell in the house^b of Yahweh all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of Yahweh,

and to consider^c his temple.

⁵Because he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble.

He will conceal me in the hiding place of his tent.

He will set me high upon a rock.

⁶And now my head will be high over my enemies round about me.

And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy.

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.

⁷Hear, O Yahweh, my voice when I call,

and be gracious to me and answer me.

⁸On your behalf my heart says, “Seek my face.”

Your face, O Yahweh, I do seek.

⁹Do not hide your face from me;

do not turn your servant away in anger.

You have been my help; do not abandon nor forsake me,

O God of my salvation.

¹⁰If my father or my mother forsake me,

then Yahweh will receive me.

¹¹Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,

and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

¹²Do not give me over to the desire of my enemies,

because false witnesses have arisen against me,

and each breathing out violence.^d

¹³Surely^e I believe that I will see the goodness of Yahweh

in the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for Yahweh.

Be strong and let your heart show strength,

and wait for Yahweh.

A Prayer for Help, and Joy in Its Answer

28A psalm of David.^a

¹To you, O Yahweh, I call.

O my rock, do not be deaf to me.

Or else, if you are silent to me,

then I will become like those descending to the pit.

²Hear the voice of my supplications

when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands

toward your holy inner sanctuary.

³Do not drag me away with the wicked

or with the workers of evil,

who speak of peace with their neighbors,

while evil is in their heart.

⁴Give to them according to their work,

even according to the evil of their deeds.

Give to them according to the work of their hands;

repay them their rightful due.

⁵Because they do not regard the works of Yahweh,

nor the work of his hands,

he will destroy them

and not rebuild them.

⁶Blessed is Yahweh,

because he has heard the voice of my supplications.

⁷Yahweh is my strength and my shield.

My…