Psalm 22:30–32:11

^30–31Our children and their children

will get in on this

As the word is passed along

from parent to child.

Babies not yet conceived

will hear the good news—

that God does what he says.

A David Psalm

^1–323God, my shepherd!

I don’t need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadows,

you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word,

you let me catch my breath

and send me in the right direction.

⁴Even when the way goes through

Death Valley,

I’m not afraid

when you walk at my side.

Your trusty shepherd’s crook

makes me feel secure.

⁵You serve me a six-course dinner

right in front of my enemies.

You revive my drooping head;

my cup brims with blessing.

⁶Your beauty and love chase after me

every day of my life.

I’m back home in the house of God

for the rest of my life.

A David Psalm

^1–224God claims Earth and everything in it,

God claims World and all who live on it.

He built it on Ocean foundations,

laid it out on River girders.

^3–4Who can climb Mount God?

Who can scale the holy north-face?

Only the clean-handed,

only the pure-hearted;

Men who won’t cheat,

women who won’t seduce.

^5–6God is at their side;

with God’s help they make it.

This, Jacob, is what happens

to God-seekers, God-questers.

⁷Wake up, you sleepyhead city!

Wake up, you sleepyhead people!

King-Glory is ready to enter.

⁸Who is this King-Glory?

God, armed

and battle-ready.

⁹Wake up, you sleepyhead city!

Wake up, you sleepyhead people!

King-Glory is ready to enter.

¹⁰Who is this King-Glory?

God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

he is King-Glory.

A David Psalm

^1–225My head is high, God, held high;

I’m looking to you, God;

No hangdog skulking for me.

³I’ve thrown in my lot with you;

You won’t embarrass me, will you?

Or let my enemies get the best of me?

Don’t embarrass any of us

Who went out on a limb for you.

It’s the traitors who should be humiliated.

⁴Show me how you work, God;

School me in your ways.

⁵Take me by the hand;

Lead me down the path of truth.

You are my Savior, aren’t you?

⁶Mark the milestones of your mercy and love, God;

Rebuild the ancient landmarks!

⁷Forget that I sowed wild oats;

Mark me with your sign of love.

Plan only the best for me, God!

⁸God is fair and just;

He corrects the misdirected,

Sends them in the right direction.

⁹He gives the rejects his hand,

And leads them step-by-step.

¹⁰From now on every road you travel

Will take you to God.

Follow the Covenant signs;

Read the charted directions.

¹¹Keep up your reputation, God;

Forgive my bad life;

It’s been a very bad life.

¹²My question: What are God-worshipers like?

Your answer: Arrows aimed at God’s bull’s-eye.

¹³They settle down in a promising place;

Their kids inherit a prosperous farm.

¹⁴God-friendship is for God-worshipers;

They are the ones he confides in.

¹⁵If I keep my eyes on God,

I won’t trip over my own feet.

¹⁶Look at me and help me!

I’m all alone and in big trouble.

¹⁷My heart and kidneys are fighting each other;

Call a truce to this civil war.

¹⁸Take a hard look at my life of hard labor,

Then lift this ton of sin.

¹⁹Do you see how many people

Have it in for me?

How viciously they hate me?

²⁰Keep watch over me and keep me out of trouble;

Don’t let me down when I run to you.

²¹Use all your skill to put me together;

I wait to see your finished product.

²²God, give your people a break

From this run of bad luck.

A David Psalm

¹26Clear my name, God;

I’ve kept an honest shop.

I’ve thrown in my lot with you, God, and

I’m not budging.

²Examine me, God, from head to foot,

order your battery of tests.

Make sure I’m fit

inside and out

³So I never lose

sight of your love,

But keep in step with you,

never missing a beat.

^4–5I don’t hang out with tricksters,

I don’t pal around with thugs;

I hate that pack of gangsters,

I don’t deal with double-dealers.

^6–7I scrub my hands with purest soap,

then join hands with the others in the great circle,

dancing around your altar, God,

Singing God-songs at the top of my lungs,

telling God-stories.

^8–10God, I love living with you;

your house glows with your glory.

When it’s time for spring cleaning,

don’t sweep me out with the quacks and crooks,

Men with bags of dirty tricks,

women with purses stuffed with bribe-money.

^11–12You know I’ve been aboveboard with you;

now be aboveboard with me.

I’m on the level with you, God;

I bless you every chance I get.

A David Psalm

¹27Light, space, zest—

that’s God!

So, with him on my side I’m fearless,

afraid of no one and nothing.

²When vandal hordes ride down

ready to eat me alive,

Those bullies and toughs

fall flat on their faces.

³When besieged,

I’m calm as a baby.

When all hell breaks loose,

I’m collected and cool.

⁴I’m asking God for one thing,

only one thing:

To live with him in his house

my whole life long.

I’ll contemplate his beauty;

I’ll study at his feet.

⁵That’s the only quiet, secure place

in a noisy world,

The perfect getaway,

far from the buzz of traffic.

⁶God holds me head and shoulders

above all who try to pull me down.

I’m headed for his place to offer anthems

that will raise the roof!

Already I’m singing God-songs;

I’m making music to God.

^7–9Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:

“Be good to me! Answer me!”

When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”

my whole being replied,

“I’m seeking him!”

Don’t hide from me now!

^9–10You’ve always been right there for me;

don’t turn your back on me now.

Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me;

you’ve always kept the door open.

My father and mother walked out and left me,

but God took me in.

^11–12Point me down your highway, God;

direct me along a well-lighted street;

show my enemies whose side you’re on.

Don’t throw me to the dogs,

those liars who are out to get me,

filling the air with their threats.

^13–14I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness

in the exuberant earth.

Stay with God!

Take heart. Don’t quit.

I’ll say it again:

Stay with God.

A David Psalm

¹28Don’t turn a deaf ear

when I call you, God.

If all I get from you is

deafening silence,

I’d be better off

in the Black Hole.

²I’m letting you know what I need,

calling out for help

And lifting my arms

toward your inner sanctum.

^3–4Don’t shove me into

the same jail cell with those crooks,

With those who are

full-time employees of evil.

They talk a good line of “peace,”

then moonlight for the Devil.

Pay them back for what they’ve done,

for how bad they’ve been.

Pay them back for their long hours

in the Devil’s workshop;

Then cap it with a huge bonus.

⁵Because they have no idea how God works

or what he is up to,

God will smash them to smithereens

and walk away from the ruins.

^6–7Blessed be God—

he heard me praying.

He proved he’s on my side;

I’ve thrown my lot in with him.

Now I’m jumping for joy,

and shouting and singing my thanks to him.

^8–9God is all strength for his people,

ample refuge for his chosen leader;

Save your people

and bless your heritage.

Care for them;

carry them like a good shepherd.

A David Psalm

^1–229Bravo, God, bravo!

Gods and all angels shout, “Encore!”

In awe before the glory,

in awe before God’s visible power.

Stand at attention!

Dress your best to honor him!

³God thunders across the waters,

Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness—

God, across the flood waters.

⁴God’s thunder tympanic,

God’s thunder symphonic.

⁵God’s thunder smashes cedars,

God topples the northern cedars.

⁶The mountain ranges skip like spring colts,

The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.

^7–8God’s thunder spits fire.

God thunders, the wilderness quakes;

He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.

⁹God’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing

A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches.

We fall to our knees—we call out, “Glory!”

¹⁰Above the floodwaters is God’s throne

from which his power flows,

from which he rules the world.

¹¹God makes his people strong.

God gives his people peace.

A David Psalm

¹30I give you all the credit, God—

you got me out of that mess,

you didn’t let my foes gloat.

^2–3God, my God, I yelled for help

and you put me together.

God, you pulled me out of the grave,

gave me another chance at life

when I was down-and-out.

^4–5All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God!

Thank him to his face!

He gets angry once in a while, but across

a lifetime there is only love.

The nights of crying your eyes out

give way to days of laughter.

^6–7When things were going great

I crowed, “I’ve got it made.

I’m God’s favorite.

He made me king of the mountain.”

Then you looked the other way

and I fell to pieces.

^8–10I called out to you, God;

I laid my case before you:

“Can you sell me for a profit when I’m dead?

auction me off at a cemetery yard sale?

When I’m ‘dust to dust’ my songs

and stories of you won’t sell.

So listen! and be kind!

Help me out of this!”

^11–12You did it: you changed wild lament

into whirling dance;

You ripped off my black mourning band

and decked me with wildflowers.

I’m about to burst with song;

I can’t keep quiet about you.

God, my God,

I can’t thank you enough.

A David Psalm

^1–231I run to you, God; I run for dear life.

Don’t let me down!

Take me seriously this time!

Get down on my level and listen,

and please—no procrastination!

Your granite cave a hiding place,

your high cliff aerie a place of safety.

^3–5You’re my cave to hide in,

my cliff to climb.

Be my safe leader,

be my true mountain guide.

Free me from hidden traps;

I want to hide in you.

I’ve put my life in your hands.

You won’t drop me,

you’ll never let me down.

^6–13I hate all this silly religion,

but you, God, I trust.

I’m leaping and singing in the circle of your love;

you saw my pain,

you disarmed my tormentors,

You didn’t leave me in their clutches

but gave me room to breathe.

Be kind to me, God—

I’m in deep, deep trouble again.

I’ve cried my eyes out;

I feel hollow inside.

My life leaks away, groan by groan;

my years fade out in sighs.

My troubles have worn me out,

turned my bones to powder.

To my enemies I’m a monster;

I’m ridiculed by the neighbors.

My friends are horrified;

they cross the street to avoid me.

They want to blot me from memory,

forget me like a corpse in a grave,

discard me like a broken dish in the trash.

The street-talk gossip has me

“criminally insane”!

Behind locked doors they plot

how to ruin me for good.

^14–18Desperate, I throw myself on you:

you are my God!

Hour by hour I place my days in your hand,

safe from the hands out to get me.

Warm me,…