Psalm 1–41

¹1How well God must like you—

you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,

you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,

you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.

^2–3Instead you thrill to God’s Word,

you chew on Scripture day and night.

You’re a tree replanted in Eden,

bearing fresh fruit every month,

Never dropping a leaf,

always in blossom.

^4–5You’re not at all like the wicked,

who are mere wind-blown dust—

Without defense in court,

unfit company for innocent people.

⁶God charts the road you take.

The road they take is Skid Row.

^1–62Why the big noise, nations?

Why the mean plots, peoples?

Earth-leaders push for position,

Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks,

The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers:

“Let’s get free of God!

Cast loose from Messiah!”

Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing.

At first he’s amused at their presumption;

Then he gets good and angry.

Furiously, he shuts them up:

“Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion? A coronation banquet

Is spread for him on the holy summit.”

^7–9Let me tell you what God said next.

He said, “You’re my son,

And today is your birthday.

What do you want? Name it:

Nations as a present? continents as a prize?

You can command them all to dance for you,

Or throw them out with tomorrow’s trash.”

^10–12So, rebel-kings, use your heads;

Upstart-judges, learn your lesson:

Worship God in adoring embrace,

Celebrate in trembling awe. Kiss Messiah!

Your very lives are in danger, you know;

His anger is about to explode,

But if you make a run for God—you won’t regret it!

A David Psalm, When He Escaped for His Life from Absalom, His Son

^1–23God! Look! Enemies past counting!

Enemies sprouting like mushrooms,

Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:

“Hah! No help for him from God!”

^3–4But you, God, shield me on all sides;

You ground my feet, you lift my head high;

With all my might I shout up to God,

His answers thunder from the holy mountain.

^5–6I stretch myself out. I sleep.

Then I’m up again—rested, tall and steady,

Fearless before the enemy mobs

Coming at me from all sides.

⁷Up, God! My God, help me!

Slap their faces,

First this cheek, then the other,

Your fist hard in their teeth!

⁸Real help comes from God.

Your blessing clothes your people!

A David Psalm

¹4When I call, give me answers. God, take my side!

Once, in a tight place, you gave me room;

Now I’m in trouble again: grace me! hear me!

²You rabble—how long do I put up with your scorn?

How long will you lust after lies?

How long will you live crazed by illusion?

³Look at this: look

Who got picked by God!

He listens the split second I call to him.

^4–5Complain if you must, but don’t lash out.

Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking.

Build your case before God and wait for his verdict.

^6–7Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say.

“More, more.”

I have God’s more-than-enough,

More joy in one ordinary day

^7–8Than they get in all their shopping sprees.

At day’s end I’m ready for sound sleep,

For you, God, have put my life back together.

A David Psalm

^1–35Listen, God! Please, pay attention!

Can you make sense of these ramblings,

my groans and cries?

King-God, I need your help.

Every morning

you’ll hear me at it again.

Every morning

I lay out the pieces of my life

on your altar

and watch for fire to descend.

^4–6You don’t socialize with Wicked,

or invite Evil over as your houseguest.

Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you;

you shake your head over Mischief-Maker.

God destroys Lie-Speaker;

Blood-Thirsty and Truth-Bender disgust you.

^7–8And here I am, your invited guest—

it’s incredible!

I enter your house; here I am,

prostrate in your inner sanctum,

Waiting for directions

to get me safely through enemy lines.

^9–10Every word they speak is a land mine;

their lungs breathe out poison gas.

Their throats are gaping graves,

their tongues slick as mudslides.

Pile on the guilt, God!

Let their so-called wisdom wreck them.

Kick them out! They’ve had their chance.

^11–12But you’ll welcome us with open arms

when we run for cover to you.

Let the party last all night!

Stand guard over our celebration.

You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,

for decking us out in delight.

A David Psalm

^1–26Please, God, no more yelling,

no more trips to the woodshed.

Treat me nice for a change;

I’m so starved for affection.

^2–3Can’t you see I’m black-and-blue,

beat up badly in bones and soul?

God, how long will it take

for you to let up?

^4–5Break in, God, and break up this fight;

if you love me at all, get me out of here.

I’m no good to you dead, am I?

I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb!

^6–7I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed

has been floating forty days and nights

On the flood of my tears.

My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears.

The sockets of my eyes are black holes;

nearly blind, I squint and grope.

^8–9Get out of here, you Devil’s crew:

at last God has heard my sobs.

My requests have all been granted,

my prayers are answered.

¹⁰Cowards, my enemies disappear.

Disgraced, they turn tail and run.

A David Psalm

^1–27God! God! I am running to you for dear life;

the chase is wild.

If they catch me, I’m finished:

ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,

dragged into the forest and left

unlooked for, unremembered.

^3–5God, if I’ve done what they say—

betrayed my friends,

ripped off my enemies—

If my hands are really that dirty,

let them get me, walk all over me,

leave me flat on my face in the dirt.

^6–8Stand up, God; pit your holy fury

against my furious enemies.

Wake up, God. My accusers have packed

the courtroom; it’s judgment time.

Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel,

throw out the false charges against me.

I’m ready, confident in your verdict:

“Innocent.”

^9–11Close the book on Evil, God,

but publish your mandate for us.

You get us ready for life:

you probe for our soft spots,

you knock off our rough edges.

And I’m feeling so fit, so safe:

made right, kept right.

God in solemn honor does things right,

but his nerves are sandpapered raw.

^11–13Nobody gets by with anything.

God is already in action—

Sword honed on his whetstone,

bow strung, arrow on the string,

Lethal weapons in hand,

each arrow a flaming missile.

¹⁴Look at that guy!

He had sex with sin,

he’s pregnant with evil.

Oh, look! He’s having

the baby—a Lie-Baby!

^15–16See that man shoveling day after day,

digging, then concealing, his man-trap

down that lonely stretch of road?

Go back and look again—you’ll see him in it headfirst,

legs waving in the breeze.

That’s what happens:

mischief backfires;

violence boomerangs.

¹⁷I’m thanking God, who makes things right.

I’m singing the fame of heaven-high God.

A David Psalm

¹8God, brilliant Lord,

yours is a household name.

²Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;

toddlers shout the songs

That drown out enemy talk,

and silence atheist babble.

^3–4I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,

your hand-made sky-jewelry,

Moon and stars mounted in their settings.

Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,

Why do you bother with us?

Why take a second look our way?

^5–8Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,

bright with Eden’s dawn light.

You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,

repeated to us your Genesis-charge,

Made us lords of sheep and cattle,

even animals out in the wild,

Birds flying and fish swimming,

whales singing in the ocean deeps.

⁹God, brilliant Lord,

your name echoes around the world.

A David Psalm

^1–29I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart,

I’m writing the book on your wonders.

I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;

I’m singing your song, High God.

^3–4The day my enemies turned tail and ran,

they stumbled on you and fell on their faces.

You took over and set everything right;

when I needed you, you were there, taking charge.

^5–6You blow the whistle on godless nations;

you throw dirty players out of the game,

wipe their names right off the roster.

Enemies disappear from the sidelines,

their reputation trashed,

their names erased from the halls of fame.

^7–8God holds the high center,

he sees and sets the world’s mess right.

He decides what is right for us earthlings,

gives people their just deserts.

^9–10God’s a safe-house for the battered,

a sanctuary during bad times.

The moment you arrive, you relax;

you’re never sorry you knocked.

^11–12Sing your songs to Zion-dwelling God,

tell his stories to everyone you meet:

How he tracks down killers

yet keeps his eye on us,

registers every whimper and moan.

^13–14Be kind to me, God;

I’ve been kicked around long enough.

Once you’ve pulled me back

from the gates of death,

I’ll write the book on Hallelujahs;

on the corner of Main and First

I’ll hold a street meeting;

I’ll be the song leader; we’ll fill the air

with salvation songs.

^15–16They’re trapped, those godless countries,

in the very snares they set,

Their feet all tangled

in the net they spread.

They have no excuse;

the way God works is well-known.

The cunning machinery made by the wicked

has maimed their own hands.

^17–20The wicked bought a one-way

ticket to hell.

No longer will the poor be nameless—

no more humiliation for the humble.

Up, God! Aren’t you fed up with their empty strutting?

Expose these grand pretensions!

Shake them up, God!

Show them how silly they look.

^1–210God, are you avoiding me?

Where are you when I need you?

Full of hot air, the wicked

are hot on the trail of the poor.

Trip them up, tangle them up

in their fine-tuned plots.

^3–4The wicked are windbags,

the swindlers have foul breath.

The wicked snub God,

their noses stuck high in the air.

Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls:

“Catch us if you can!” “God is dead.”

^5–6They care nothing for what you think;

if you get in their way, they blow you off.

They live (they think) a charmed life:

“We can’t go wrong. This is our lucky year!”

^7–8They carry a mouthful of hexes,

their tongues spit venom like adders.

They hide behind ordinary people,

then pounce on their victims.

⁹They mark the luckless,

then wait like a hunter in a blind;

When the poor wretch wanders too close,

they stab him in the back.

^10–11The hapless fool is kicked to the ground,

the unlucky victim is brutally axed.

He thinks God has dumped him,

he’s sure that God is indifferent to his plight.

^12–13Time to get up, God—get moving.

The luckless think they’re Godforsaken.

They wonder why…