Psalm 13–19

Psalm 13

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?^*

²How long must I bear pain^m in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all day long?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?^*

³Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,^*

⁴and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;

my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.^*

⁵But I trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.^*

⁶I will sing to the Lord

because he has dealt bountifully with me.^*

Psalm 14

Denunciation of Godlessness

To the leader. Of David.

¹Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt; they do abominable deeds;

there is no one who does good.^*

²The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind

to see if there are any who are wise,

who seek after God.^*

³They have all gone astray; they are all alike perverse;

there is no one who does good,

no, not one.^*

⁴Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the Lord?^*

⁵There they shall be in great terror,

for God is with the company of the righteous.^*

⁶You would confound the plans of the poor,

but the Lord is their refuge.^*

⁷O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,

Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.^*

Psalm 15

Who Shall Abide in God’s Sanctuary?

A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, who may abide in your tent?

Who may dwell on your holy hill?^*

²Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right

and speak the truth from their heart;^*

³who do not slander with their tongue

and do no evil to their friends

nor heap shame upon their neighbors;^*

⁴in whose eyes the wicked are despised

but who honor those who fear the Lord;

who stand by their oath even to their hurt;^*

⁵who do not lend money at interest

and do not take a bribe against the innocent.

Those who do these things shall never be moved.^*

Psalm 16

Song of Trust and Security in God

A Miktam of David.

¹Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.^*

²I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.”ⁿ

³As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble ones

in whom is all my delight.^*

⁴Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;^o

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names upon my lips.^*

⁵The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.^*

⁶The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

I have a goodly heritage.^*

⁷I bless the Lord, who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.^*

⁸I keep the Lord always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.^*

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;

my body also rests secure.^*

¹⁰For you do not give me up to Sheol

or let your faithful one see the Pit.^*

¹¹You show me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy;

in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.^*

Psalm 17

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors

A Prayer of David.

¹Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry;

give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.

²From you let my vindication come;

let your eyes see the right.

³If you try my heart, if you visit me by night,

if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me;

my mouth does not transgress.^*

⁴As for what others do, by the word of your lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.^*

⁵My steps have held fast to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.^*

⁶I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

incline your ear to me; hear my words.^*

⁷Wondrously show your steadfast love,

O savior of those who seek refuge

from their adversaries at your right hand.^*

⁸Guard me as the apple of the eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings,^*

⁹from the wicked who despoil me,

my deadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They close their hearts to pity;

with their mouths they speak arrogantly.^*

¹¹They flush me out;^p now they surround me;

they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.

¹²They are like a lion eager to tear,

like a young lion lurking in ambush.^*

¹³Rise up, O Lord, confront them, overthrow them!

By your sword deliver my life from the wicked,^*

¹⁴from mortals—by your hand, O Lord—

from mortals whose portion in life is in this world.

May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them;

may their children have more than enough;

may they leave something over to their little ones.^*

¹⁵As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;

when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.^*

Psalm 18

Royal Thanksgiving for Victory

To the leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

¹I love you, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,

my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.^*

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

so I shall be saved from my enemies.^*

⁴The cords of death encompassed me;

the torrents of perdition assailed me;^*

⁵the cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.^*

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.^*

⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and reeled because he was angry.^*

⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

⁹He bowed the heavens and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.^*

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.^*

¹¹He made darkness his covering around him,

his canopy thick clouds dark with water.^*

¹²Out of the brightness before him

there broke through his clouds

hailstones and coals of fire.^*

¹³The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his voice.^q*

¹⁴And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.^*

¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your rebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.^*

¹⁶He reached down from on high; he took me;

he drew me out of mighty waters.^*

¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.^*

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a broad place;

he delivered me because he delighted in me.^*

²⁰The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.^*

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord

and have not wickedly departed from my God.^*

²²For all his ordinances were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.^*

²³I was blameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

²⁴Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.^*

²⁵With the loyal you show yourself loyal;

with the blameless you show yourself blameless;^*

²⁶with the pure you show yourself pure;

and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.^*

²⁷For you deliver a humble people,

but the haughty eyes you bring down.^*

²⁸It is you who light my lamp;

the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.^*

²⁹By you I can outrun a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.^*

³⁰This God—his way is perfect;

the promise of the Lord proves true;

he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.^*

³¹For who is God except the Lord?

And who is a rock besides our God?^*

³²The God who has girded me with strength

and made my way safe.^r

³³He made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure on the heights.^*

³⁴He trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.^*

³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand has supported me;

your help^s has made me great.

³⁶You gave me a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them

and did not turn back until they were consumed.^*

³⁸I struck them down so that they were unable to rise;

they fell under my feet.^*

³⁹For you girded me with strength for the battle;

you made my assailants sink under me.^*

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs to me,

and those who hated me I destroyed.^*

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.^*

⁴²I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;

I cast them out like the mire of the streets.^*

⁴³You delivered me from strife with the peoples;^t

you made me head of the nations;

people whom I had not known served me.^*

⁴⁴As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me;

foreigners came cringing to me.

⁴⁵Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling out of their strongholds.^*

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation,^*

⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance

and subdued peoples under me,^*

⁴⁸who delivered me from my enemies;

indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries;

you delivered me from the violent.^*

⁴⁹For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations

and sing praises to your name.^*

⁵⁰Great triumphs he gives to his king

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David and his descendants forever.^*

Psalm 19

God’s Glory in Creation and the Law

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

¹The heavens are telling the glory of God,

and the firmament^u proclaims his handiwork.^*

²Day to day pours forth speech,

and night to night declares knowledge.^*

³There is no speech, nor are there words;

their voice is not heard;

⁴yet their voice^v goes out through all the earth

and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens^w he has set a tent for the sun,^*

⁵which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,

and like a strong man…