Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when vNathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1  wHave mercy on me,1 O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your xabundant mercy

yblot out my transgressions.

2  zWash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and acleanse me from my sin!

3  bFor I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

4  cAgainst you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil din your sight,

eso that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

5  Behold, fI was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6  Behold, you delight in truth in gthe inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7  Purge me hwith hyssop, and I shall be clean;

zwash me, and I shall be iwhiter than snow.

8  Let me hear joy and gladness;

jlet the bones kthat you have broken rejoice.

9  lHide your face from my sins,

and yblot out all my iniquities.

10  mCreate in me a nclean heart, O God,

and orenew a right2 spirit within me.

11  pCast me not away from your presence,

and take not qyour Holy Spirit from me.

12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will rreturn to you.

14  Deliver me from sbloodguiltiness, O God,

O tGod of my salvation,

and umy tongue will sing aloud of your vrighteousness.

15  O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16  wFor you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

17  The sacrifices of God are xa broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18  yDo good to Zion in your good pleasure;

zbuild up the walls of Jerusalem;

19  then will you delight in aright sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and bwhole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

52 To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of David, when cDoeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

1  Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?

The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

2  Your dtongue plots destruction,

like ea sharp razor, you fworker of deceit.

3  You love evil more than good,

and glying more than speaking what is right. Selah

4  You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

5  But God will break you down forever;

he will snatch and htear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from ithe land of the living. Selah

6  The righteous shall jsee and fear,

and shall klaugh at him, saying,

7  “See the man who would not make

God his refuge,

but ltrusted in the abundance of his riches

and sought refuge in his own destruction!”2

8  But I am like ma green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

forever and ever.

9  I will thank you forever,

because you have done it.

I will wait for your name, nfor it is good,

in the presence of the ogodly.

There Is None Who Does Good

53 To the choirmaster: according to pMahalath. A Maskil1 of David.

1  qThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

2  God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,2

who seek after God.

3  They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

4  Have those who work evil no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

5  There they are, in great terror,

rwhere there is no terror!

For God sscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;

you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

6  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The Lord Upholds My Life

54 To the choirmaster: with tstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David, uwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1  O God, save me by your vname,

and vindicate me by your might.

2  O God, whear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

3  xFor ystrangers2 have risen against me;

ruthless men zseek my life;

they do not set God before themselves. Selah

4  Behold, aGod is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

5  He will return the evil to my enemies;

in your bfaithfulness cput an end to them.

6  With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, dfor it is good.

7  For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has elooked in triumph on my enemies.

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

55 To the choirmaster: with fstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David.

1  gGive ear to my prayer, O God,

and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

2  Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless hin my complaint and I imoan,

3  because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they jdrop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4  My heart is in anguish within me;

kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5  Fear and trembling come upon me,

and lhorror moverwhelms me.

6  And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

7  nyes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

8  I would hurry to find a shelter

from othe raging wind and tempest.”

9  Destroy, O Lord, pdivide their tongues;

for I see qviolence and strife in the city.

10  Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and riniquity and trouble are within it;

11  ruin is in its midst;

soppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.

12  For it is not an enemy who taunts me—

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who tdeals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

13  uBut it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

14  We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in vthe throng.

15  Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol walive;

for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16  But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

17  xEvening and ymorning and at znoon

I autter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

18  He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for bmany are arrayed against me.

19  God will give ear and humble them,

he who is centhroned from of old, Selah

because they do not dchange

and do not fear God.

20  My companion2 estretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

21  His fspeech was gsmooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were hdrawn swords.

22  iCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

jhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, kwill cast them down

into lthe pit of destruction;

men of mblood and treachery

shall not nlive out half their days.

But I will otrust in you.