Psalm 20–22

PSALM 20

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹The Lord answer you in the day of trouble!

The name of the God of Jacob protect you!

²May he send you help from the sanctuary,

and give you support from Zion!

³May he remember all your offerings,

and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! [Selah]

⁴May he grant you your heart’s desire,

and fulfil all your plans!

⁵May we shout for joy over your victory,

and in the name of our God set up our banners!

May the Lord fulfil all your petitions!

⁶Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;

he will answer him from his holy heaven

with mighty victories by his right hand.

⁷Some boast of chariots, and some of horses;

but we boast of the name of the Lord our God.

⁸They will collapse and fall;

but we shall rise and stand upright.

⁹Give victory to the king, O Lord;

answer us when we call.

PSALM 21

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹In thy strength the king rejoices, O Lord;

and in thy help how greatly he exults!

²Thou hast given him his heart’s desire,

and hast not withheld the request of his lips. [Selah]

³For thou dost meet him with goodly blessings;

thou dost set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

⁴He asked life of thee; thou gavest it to him,

length of days for ever and ever.

⁵His glory is great through thy help;

splendor and majesty thou dost bestow upon him.

⁶Yea, thou dost make him most blessed for ever;

thou dost make him glad with the joy of thy presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the Lord;

and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

⁸Your hand will find out all your enemies;

your right hand will find out those who hate you.

⁹You will make them as a blazing oven

when you appear.

The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath;

and fire will consume them.

¹⁰You will destroy their offspring from the earth,

and their children from among the sons of men.

¹¹If they plan evil against you,

if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.

¹²For you will put them to flight;

you will aim at their faces with your bows.

¹³Be exalted, O Lord, in thy strength!

We will sing and praise thy power.

PSALM 22

To the choirmaster: according to The Hind of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

¹My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

²O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer;

and by night, but find no rest.

³Yet thou art holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

⁴In thee our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

⁵To thee they cried, and were saved;

in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am a worm, and no man;

scorned by men, and despised by the people.

⁷All who see me mock at me,

they make mouths at me, they wag their heads;

⁸“He committed his cause to the Lord; let him deliver him,

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

⁹Yet thou art he who took me from the womb;

thou didst keep me safe upon my mother’s breasts.

¹⁰Upon thee was I cast from my birth,

and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God.

¹¹Be not far from me,

for trouble is near

and there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls encompass me,

strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

¹³they open wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax,

it is melted within my breast;

¹⁵my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;

thou dost lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶Yea, dogs are round about me;

a company of evildoers encircle me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

¹⁷I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

¹⁸they divide my garments among them,

and for my raiment they cast lots.

¹⁹But thou, O Lord, be not far off!

O thou my help, hasten to my aid!

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword,

my life from the power of the dog!

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion,

my afflicted soul from the horns of the wild oxen!

²²I will tell of thy name to my brethren;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee:

²³You who fear the Lord, praise him!

all you sons of Jacob, glorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel!

²⁴For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of the afflicted;

and he has not hid his face from him,

but has heard, when he cried to him.

²⁵From thee comes my praise in the great congregation;

my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

²⁶The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts live for ever!

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord;

and all the families of the nations

shall worship before him.

²⁸For dominion belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

²⁹Yea, to him shall all the proud of the earth bow down;

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

and he who cannot keep himself alive.

³⁰Posterity shall serve him;

men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation,

³¹and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,

that he has wrought it.