Category: Psalms

A Psalm of Asaph.

[51:1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

[51:2] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

[51:3] For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

[51:4] Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

[51:5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

[51:6] Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

[51:7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

[51:8] Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

[51:9] Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

[51:10] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

[51:11] Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

[51:12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

[51:13] Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

[51:14] Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

[51:15] O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

[51:16] For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

[51:17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

[51:18] Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;

[51:19] then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

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

[52:1] Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

[52:2] Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

[52:3] You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah

[52:4] You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.

[52:5] But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

[52:6] The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,

[52:7] “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

[52:8] But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.

[52:9] I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

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

[53:1] The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

[53:2] God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

[53:3] They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

[53:4] Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

[53:5] There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

[53:6] 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.

To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

[54:1] O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

[54:2] O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

[54:3] For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah

[54:4] Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

[54:5] He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.

[54:6] With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

[54:7] For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

[55:1] Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

[55:2] Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

[55:3] because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

[55:4] My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

[55:5] Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.

[55:6] And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;

[55:7] yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

[55:8] I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.”

[55:9] Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.

[55:10] Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it;

[55:11] ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.

[55:12] For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him.

[55:13] But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.

[55:14] We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.

[55:15] Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

[55:16] But I call to God, and the Lord will save me.

[55:17] Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

[55:18] He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.

[55:19] God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

[55:20] My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant.

[55:21] His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.

[55:22] Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

[55:23] But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.

[56:1] Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;

[56:2] my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.

[56:3] When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

[56:4] In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

[56:5] All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.

[56:6] They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life.

[56:7] For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

[56:8] You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

[56:9] Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.

[56:10] In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise,

[56:11] in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

[56:12] I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.

[56:13] For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-Off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

[57:1] Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

[57:2] I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

[57:3] He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

[57:4] My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts— the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

[57:5] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

[57:6] They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

[57:7] My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!

[57:8] Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!

[57:9] I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.

[57:10] For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

[57:11] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

[58:1] Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

[58:2] No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.

[58:3] The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

[58:4] They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

[58:5] so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.

[58:6] O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

[58:7] Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.

[58:8] Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

[58:9] Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

[58:10] The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

[58:11] Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.

[59:1] Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me;

[59:2] deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.

[59:3] For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

[59:4] for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Awake, come to meet me, and see!

[59:5] You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

[59:6] Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.

[59:7] There they are, bellowing with their mouths with swords in their lips— for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

[59:8] But you, O Lord, laugh at them; you hold all the nations in derision.

[59:9] O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress.

[59:10] My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

[59:11] Kill them not, lest my people forget; make them totter by your power and bring them down, O Lord, our shield!

[59:12] For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter,

[59:13] consume them in wrath; consume them till they are no more, that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah

[59:14] Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.

[59:15] They wander about for food and growl if they do not get their fill.

[59:16] But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

[59:17] O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

[60:1] O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.

[60:2] You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.

[60:3] You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

[60:4] You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah

[60:5] That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

[60:6] God has spoken in his holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth.

[60:7] Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.

[60:8] Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

[60:9] Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

[60:10] Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.

[60:11] Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!

[60:12] With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.