Psalm 13–19

A Prayer for God to Be Near

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

13How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever?

How long will you hide from me?

²How long must I worry

and feel sad in my heart all day?

How long will my enemy win over me?

³Lord, look at me.

Answer me, my God;

tell me, or I will die.

⁴Otherwise my enemy will say, “I have won!”

Those against me will rejoice that I’ve been defeated.

⁵I trust in your love.

My heart is happy because you saved me.

⁶I sing to the Lord

because he has taken care of me.

The Unbelieving Fool

For the director of music. Of David.

14Fools say to themselves,

“There is no God.”

Fools are evil and do terrible things;

there is no one who does anything good.

²The Lord looked down from heaven on all people

to see if anyone understood,

if anyone was looking to God for help.

³But all have turned away.

Together, everyone has become evil.

There is no one who does anything good,

not even one.

⁴Don’t the wicked understand?

They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.

They do not ask the Lord for help.

⁵But the wicked are filled with terror,

because God is with those who do what is right.

⁶The wicked upset the plans of the poor,

but the Lord will protect them.

⁷I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!

May the Lord bring them back.

Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,

and the people of Israel will be glad.

What the Lord Demands

A psalm of David.

15Lord, who may enter your Holy Tent?

Who may live on your holy mountain?

²Only those who are innocent

and who do what is right.

Such people speak the truth from their hearts

³and do not tell lies about others.

They do no wrong to their neighbors

and do not gossip.

⁴They do not respect hateful people

but honor those who honor the Lord.

They keep their promises to their neighbors,

even when it hurts.

⁵They do not charge interest on money they lend

and do not take money to hurt innocent people.

Whoever does all these things will never be destroyed.

The Lord Takes Care of His People

A miktam of David.

16Protect me, God,

because I trust in you.

²I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord.

Every good thing I have comes from you.”

³As for the godly people in the world,

they are the wonderful ones I enjoy.

⁴But those who turn to idols

will have much pain.

I will not offer blood to those idols

or even speak their names.

⁵No, the Lord is all I need.

He takes care of me.

⁶My share in life has been pleasant;

my part has been beautiful.

⁷I praise the Lord because he advises me.

Even at night, I feel his leading.

⁸I keep the Lord before me always.

Because he is close by my side,

I will not be hurt.

⁹So I rejoice and am glad.

Even my body has hope,

¹⁰because you will not leave me in the grave.

You will not let your holy one rot.

¹¹You will teach me how to live a holy life.

Being with you will fill me with joy;

at your right hand I will find pleasure forever.

A Prayer for Protection

A prayer of David.

17Lord, hear me begging for fairness;

listen to my cry for help.

Pay attention to my prayer,

because I speak the truth.

²You will judge that I am right;

your eyes can see what is true.

³You have examined my heart;

you have tested me all night.

You questioned me without finding anything wrong;

I have not sinned with my mouth.

⁴I have obeyed your commands,

so I have not done what evil people do.

⁵I have done what you told me;

I have not failed.

⁶I call to you, God,

and you answer me.

Listen to me now,

and hear what I say.

⁷Your love is wonderful.

By your power you save those who trust you

from their enemies.

⁸Protect me as you would protect your own eye.

Hide me under the shadow of your wings.

⁹Keep me from the wicked who attack me,

from my enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They are selfish

and brag about themselves.

¹¹They have chased me until they have surrounded me.

They plan to throw me to the ground.

¹²They are like lions ready to kill;

like lions, they sit in hiding.

¹³Lord, rise up, face the enemy, and throw them down.

Save me from the wicked with your sword.

¹⁴Lord, save me by your power

from those whose reward is in this life.

They have plenty of food.

They have many sons

and leave much money to their children.

¹⁵Because I have lived right, I will see your face.

When I wake up, I will see your likeness and be satisfied.

A Song of Victory

For the director of music. By the Lord’s servant, David. David sang this song to the Lord when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.

18I love you, Lord. You are my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, my protection, my Savior.

My God is my rock.

I can run to him for safety.

He is my shield and my saving strength, my defender.

³I will call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I will be saved from my enemies.

⁴The ropes of death came around me;

the deadly rivers overwhelmed me.

⁵The ropes of death wrapped around me.

The traps of death were before me.

⁶In my trouble I called to the Lord.

I cried out to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my call for help reached his ears.

⁷The earth trembled and shook.

The foundations of the mountains began to shake.

They trembled because the Lord was angry.

⁸Smoke came out of his nose,

and burning fire came out of his mouth.

Burning coals went before him.

⁹He tore open the sky and came down

with dark clouds under his feet.

¹⁰He rode a creature with wings and flew.

He raced on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his shelter around him,

surrounded by fog and clouds.

¹²Out of the brightness of his presence came clouds

with hail and lightning.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven;

the Most High raised his voice,

and there was hail and lightning.

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies.

His many bolts of lightning confused them with fear.

¹⁵Lord, you spoke strongly.

The wind blew from your nose.

Then the valleys of the sea appeared,

and the foundations of the earth were seen.

¹⁶The Lord reached down from above and took me;

he pulled me from the deep water.

¹⁷He saved me from my powerful enemies,

from those who hated me, because they were too strong for me.

¹⁸They attacked me at my time of trouble,

but the Lord supported me.

¹⁹He took me to a safe place.

Because he delights in me, he saved me.

²⁰The Lord spared me because I did what was right.

Because I have not done evil, he has rewarded me.

²¹I have followed the ways of the Lord;

I have not done evil by turning away from my God.

²²I remember all his laws

and have not broken his rules.

²³I am innocent before him;

I have kept myself from doing evil.

²⁴The Lord rewarded me because I did what was right,

because I did what the Lord said was right.

²⁵Lord, you are loyal to those who are loyal,

and you are good to those who are good.

²⁶You are pure to those who are pure,

but you are against those who are bad.

²⁷You save the humble,

but you bring down those who are proud.

²⁸Lord, you give light to my lamp.

My God brightens the darkness around me.

²⁹With your help I can attack an army.

With God’s help I can jump over a wall.

³⁰The ways of God are without fault.

The Lord’s words are pure.

He is a shield to those who trust him.

³¹Who is God? Only the Lord.

Who is the Rock? Only our God.

³²God is my protection.

He makes my way free from fault.

³³He makes me like a deer that does not stumble;

he helps me stand on the steep mountains.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle

so my arms can bend a bronze bow.

³⁵You protect me with your saving shield.

You support me with your right hand.

You have stooped to make me great.

³⁶You give me a better way to live,

so I live as you want me to.

³⁷I chased my enemies and caught them.

I did not quit until they were destroyed.

³⁸I crushed them so they couldn’t rise up again.

They fell beneath my feet.

³⁹You gave me strength in battle.

You made my enemies bow before me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn back,

and I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They called for help,

but no one came to save them.

They called to the Lord,

but he did not answer them.

⁴²I beat my enemies into pieces, like dust in the wind.

I poured them out like mud in the streets.

⁴³You saved me when the people attacked me.

You made me the leader of nations.

People I never knew serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear me, they obey me.

Foreigners obey me.

⁴⁵They all become afraid

and tremble in their hiding places.

⁴⁶The Lord lives!

May my Rock be praised.

Praise the God who saves me!

⁴⁷God gives me victory over my enemies

and brings people under my rule.

⁴⁸He saves me from my enemies.

You set me over those who hate me.

You saved me from violent people.

⁴⁹So I will praise you, Lord, among the nations.

I will sing praises to your name.

⁵⁰The Lord gives great victories to his king.

He is loyal to his appointed king,

to David and his descendants forever.

God’s Works and Word

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

19The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the skies announce what his hands have made.

²Day after day they tell the story;

night after night they tell it again.

³They have no speech or words;

they have no voice to be heard.

⁴But their message goes out through all the world;

their words go everywhere on earth.

The sky is like a home for the sun.

⁵The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his bedroom.

It rejoices like an athlete eager to run a race.

⁶The sun rises at one end of the sky

and follows its path to the other end.

Nothing hides from its heat.

⁷The teachings of the Lord are perfect;

they give new strength.

The rules of the Lord can be trusted;

they make plain people wise.

⁸The orders of the Lord are right;

they make people happy.

The commands of the Lord are pure;

they light up the way.

⁹Respect for the Lord is good;

it will last forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true;

they are completely right.

¹⁰They are worth more than gold,

even the purest gold.

They are sweeter than honey,

even the finest honey.

¹¹By them your servant is warned.

Keeping them brings great reward.

¹²People cannot see their own mistakes.

Forgive me for my secret sins.

¹³Keep me from the sins of pride;

don’t let them rule me.

Then I can be pure

and innocent of the greatest of sins.

¹⁴I hope my words and thoughts please you.

Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me.