Psalm 13–19

PSALM 13

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O Lord? Will You ^aforget me forever?

How long ^bwill You hide Your face from me?

²How long shall I ^atake counsel in my soul,

Having ^bsorrow in my heart all the day?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

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

^bEnlighten my eyes, or I will ^csleep the sleep of death,

⁴And my enemy will ^asay, “I have overcome him,”

And ^bmy adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

⁵But I have ^atrusted in Your lovingkindness;

My heart shall ^brejoice in Your salvation.

⁶I will ^asing to the Lord,

Because He has ^bdealt bountifully with me.

PSALM 14

Folly and Wickedness of Men.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹The fool has ^asaid in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they have committed abominable ¹deeds;

There is ^bno one who does good.

²The Lord has ^alooked down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there are any who ^1bunderstand,

Who ^cseek after God.

³They have all ^aturned aside, together they have become corrupt;

There is ^bno one who does good, not even one.

⁴Do all the workers of wickedness ^anot know,

Who ^beat up my people as they eat bread,

And ^cdo not call upon the Lord?

⁵There they are in great dread,

For God is with the ^arighteous generation.

⁶You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,

But the Lord is his ^arefuge.

⁷Oh, that ^athe salvation of Israel ¹would come out of Zion!

When the Lord ^2brestores His captive people,

Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

PSALM 15

Description of a Citizen of Zion.

A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, who may ¹abide ^ain Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your ^bholy hill?

²He who ^awalks with integrity, and works righteousness,

And ^bspeaks truth in his heart.

³He ^adoes not slander ¹with his tongue,

Nor ^bdoes evil to his neighbor,

Nor ^ctakes up a reproach against his friend;

⁴In ¹whose eyes a reprobate is despised,

But ²who ^ahonors those who fear the Lord;

He ^bswears to his own hurt and does not change;

⁵He ^adoes not put out his money ¹at interest,

Nor ^bdoes he take a bribe against the innocent.

^cHe who does these things will never be shaken.

PSALM 16

The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.

A ^†Mikhtam of David.

^1aPreserve me, O God, for ^bI take refuge in You.

²¹I said to the Lord, “You are ²my Lord;

I ^ahave no good besides You.”

³As for the ^1asaints who are in the earth,

²They are the majestic ones ^bin whom is all my delight.

⁴The ^1asorrows of those who have ²bartered for another god will be multiplied;

I shall not pour out their drink offerings of ^bblood,

Nor will I ^ctake their names upon my lips.

⁵The Lord is the ^aportion of my inheritance and my ^bcup;

You support my ^clot.

⁶The ^alines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Indeed, my heritage is ^bbeautiful to me.

⁷I will bless the Lord who has ^acounseled me;

Indeed, my ^1bmind instructs me in the night.

^8aI have ^bset the Lord continually before me;

Because He is ^cat my right hand, ^dI will not be shaken.

⁹Therefore ^amy heart is glad and ^bmy glory rejoices;

My flesh also will ^cdwell securely.

¹⁰For You ^awill not abandon my soul to ¹Sheol;

Nor will You ^2ballow Your ³Holy One to ⁴undergo decay.

¹¹You will make known to me ^athe path of life;

In ^bYour presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are ^cpleasures forever.

PSALM 17

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.

A Prayer of David.

¹Hear a ^ajust cause, O Lord, ^bgive heed to my cry;

^cGive ear to my prayer, which is not from ^ddeceitful lips.

²Let ^amy ¹judgment come forth from Your presence;

Let Your eyes look with ^bequity.

³You have ^atried my heart;

You have visited me by night;

You have ^btested me and ^cYou find ¹nothing;

I have ^dpurposed that my mouth will not transgress.

⁴As for the deeds of men, ^aby the word of Your lips

I have kept from the ^bpaths of the violent.

⁵My ^asteps have held fast to Your ¹paths.

My ^bfeet have not slipped.

⁶I have ^acalled upon You, for You will answer me, O God;

^bIncline Your ear to me, hear my speech.

^7aWondrously show Your lovingkindness,

O ^bSavior of those who take refuge ¹at Your right hand

From those who rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as ¹the ^aapple of the eye;

Hide me ^bin the shadow of Your wings

⁹From the ^awicked who despoil me,

My ^bdeadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They have ^aclosed their ¹unfeeling heart,

With their mouth they ^bspeak proudly.

¹¹They have now ^asurrounded us in our steps;

They set their eyes ^bto cast us down to the ground.

¹²He is ^alike a lion that is eager to tear,

And as a young lion ^blurking in hiding places.

^13aArise, O Lord, confront him, ^bbring him low;

^cDeliver my soul from the wicked with ^dYour sword,

¹⁴From men with ^aYour hand, O Lord,

From men ¹of the world, ^bwhose portion is in this life,

And whose belly You ^cfill with Your treasure;

They are satisfied with children,

And leave their abundance to their babes.

¹⁵As for me, I shall ^abehold Your face in righteousness;

^bI will be satisfied ¹with Your ^clikeness when I awake.

PSALM 18

The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, ^†who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

¹“I love You, O Lord, ^amy strength.”

²The Lord is ^amy ¹rock and ^bmy fortress and my ^cdeliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My ^dshield and the ^ehorn of my salvation, my ^fstronghold.

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

And I am ^bsaved from my enemies.

⁴The ^acords of death encompassed me,

And the ^btorrents of ¹ungodliness ²terrified me.

⁵The ^acords of ¹Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my ^adistress I called upon the Lord,

And cried to my God for help;

He heard my voice ^bout of His temple,

And my ^ccry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷Then the ^aearth shook and quaked;

And the ^bfoundations of the mountains were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up ¹out of His nostrils,

And ^afire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

⁹He ^abowed the heavens also, and came down

With thick ^bdarkness under His feet.

¹⁰He rode upon a ^acherub and flew;

And He sped upon the ^bwings of the wind.

¹¹He made ^adarkness His hiding place, ^bHis ¹canopy around Him,

Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

¹²From the ^abrightness before Him passed His thick clouds,

Hailstones and ^bcoals of fire.

¹³The Lord also ^athundered in the heavens,

And the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴He ^asent out His arrows, and scattered them,

And lightning flashes in abundance, and ¹routed them.

¹⁵Then the ^achannels of water appeared,

And the foundations of the world were ¹laid bare

At Your ^brebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the ^cbreath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶He ^asent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of ^bmany waters.

¹⁷He ^adelivered me from my strong enemy,

And from those who hated me, for they were ^btoo mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in ^athe day of my calamity,

But ^bthe Lord was my stay.

¹⁹He brought me forth also into a ^abroad place;

He rescued me, because ^bHe delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord has ^arewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the ^bcleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

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

And have ^bnot wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all ^aHis ordinances were before me,

And I did not put away His ^bstatutes from me.

²³I was also ^1ablameless with Him,

And I ^bkept myself from my iniquity.

²⁴Therefore the Lord has ^arecompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁵With ^athe kind You show Yourself kind;

With the ¹blameless ^bYou show Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You show Yourself ^apure,

And with the crooked ^bYou show Yourself ¹astute.

²⁷For You ^asave an afflicted people,

But ^bhaughty eyes You abase.

²⁸For You ^alight my lamp;

The Lord my God ^billumines my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can ^1arun upon a troop;

And by my God I can ^bleap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, His way is ^1ablameless;

The ^bword of the Lord is tried;

He is a ^cshield to all who take refuge in Him.

³¹For ^awho is God, but the Lord?

And who is a ^brock, except our God,

³²The God who ^agirds me with strength

And ¹makes my way ^2bblameless?

³³He ^amakes my feet like hinds’ feet,

And ^bsets me upon my high places.

³⁴He ^atrains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can ^bbend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me ^athe shield of Your salvation,

And Your ^bright hand upholds me;

And ^cYour ¹gentleness makes me great.

³⁶You ^aenlarge my steps under me,

And my ^1bfeet have not slipped.

³⁷I ^apursued my enemies and overtook them,

And I did not turn back ^buntil they were consumed.

³⁸I shattered them, so that they were ^anot able to rise;

They fell ^bunder my feet.

³⁹For You have ^agirded me with strength for battle;

You have ^1bsubdued under me those who rose up against me.

⁴⁰You have also made my enemies ^aturn their backs to me,

And I ^1bdestroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was ^anone to save,

Even to the Lord, but ^bHe did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them fine as the ^adust before the wind;

I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the ^acontentions of the people;

You have placed me as ^bhead of the nations;

A ^cpeople whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear, they obey me;

Foreigners ^1asubmit to me.

⁴⁵Foreigners ^afade away,

And ^bcome trembling out of their ¹fortresses.

⁴⁶The Lord ^alives, and blessed be ^bmy rock;

And exalted be ^cthe God of my salvation,

⁴⁷The God who ^aexecutes vengeance for me,

And ^bsubdues peoples under me.

⁴⁸He ^adelivers me from my enemies;

Surely You ^blift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the ^cviolent man.

⁴⁹Therefore I will ^agive thanks to You among the nations, O Lord,

And I will ^bsing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰He gives great ^1adeliverance to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to ^bHis anointed,

To David and ^chis ²descendants forever.

PSALM 19

The…