Psalm 31-33

Common English Bible

⁹ Have mercy on me, Lord, because I’m depressed.
    My vision fails because of my grief,
    as do my spirit and my body.
¹⁰ My life is consumed with sadness;
    my years are consumed with groaning.
Strength fails me because of my suffering;^[a]
    my bones dry up.
¹¹ I’m a joke to all my enemies,
    still worse to my neighbors.
    I scare my friends,
    and whoever sees me in the street runs away!
¹² I am forgotten, like I’m dead,
    completely out of mind;
    I am like a piece of pottery, destroyed.
¹³ Yes, I’ve heard all the gossiping,
    terror all around;
    so many gang up together against me,
        they plan to take my life!

¹⁴ But me? I trust you, Lord!
    I affirm, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My future is in your hands.
    Don’t hand me over to my enemies,
    to all who are out to get me!
¹⁶ Shine your face on your servant;
    save me by your faithful love!
¹⁷ Lord, don’t let me be put to shame
    because I have cried out to you.
Let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them be silenced in death’s domain!^[b]
18 Let their lying lips be shut up
    whenever they speak arrogantly
    against the righteous with pride and contempt!
¹⁹ How great is the goodness
    that you’ve reserved for those who honor you,
    that you commit to those who take refuge in you—
        in the sight of everyone!
²⁰ You hide them in the shelter of your wings,^[c]
    safe from human scheming.
    You conceal them in a shelter,
    safe from accusing tongues.

²¹ Bless the Lord,
    because he has wondrously revealed
    his faithful love to me
    when I was like a city under siege!
²² When I was panicked, I said,
    “I’m cut off from your eyes!”
But you heard my request for mercy
    when I cried out to you for help.

²³ All you who are faithful, love the Lord!
    The Lord protects those who are loyal,
        but he pays the proud back to the fullest degree.
²⁴ All you who wait for the Lord,
be strong and let your heart take courage.

³ When I kept quiet, my bones wore out;
    I was groaning all day long—
    every day, every night!—
⁴ because your hand was heavy upon me.
    My energy was sapped as if in a summer drought. Selah
⁵ So I admitted my sin to you;
    I didn’t conceal my guilt.
    “I’ll confess my sins to the Lord, ” is what I said.
    Then you removed the guilt of my sin. Selah

⁶ That’s why all the faithful should pray to you during troubled times,^[e]
    so that a great flood of water won’t reach them.
⁷ You are my secret hideout!
    You protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of rescue! Selah

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you
    about the direction you should go.
    I’ll advise you and keep my eye on you.
⁹ Don’t be like some senseless horse or mule,
    whose movement must be controlled
    with a bit and a bridle.^[f]
        Don’t be anything like that!^[g]
10 The pain of the wicked is severe,
    but faithful love surrounds the one who trusts the Lord.
¹¹ You who are righteous, rejoice in the Lord and be glad!
    All you whose hearts are right, sing out in joy!

¹⁰ The Lord overrules what the nations plan;
    he frustrates what the peoples intend to do.
¹¹ But the Lord’s plan stands forever;
    what he intends to do lasts from one generation to the next.
¹² The nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom God has chosen as his possession,
    is truly happy!
¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven;
    he sees every human being.
¹⁴ From his dwelling place God observes
    all who live on earth.
¹⁵ God is the one who made all their hearts,
    the one who knows everything they do.

¹⁶ Kings aren’t saved by the strength of their armies;
    warriors aren’t rescued by how much power they have.
¹⁷ A warhorse is a bad bet for victory;
    it can’t save despite its great strength.
¹⁸ But look here: the Lord’s eyes watch all who honor him,
    all who wait for his faithful love,
¹⁹     to deliver their lives^[h] from death
    and keep them alive during a famine.

²⁰ We put our hope in the Lord.
    He is our help and our shield.
²¹ Our heart rejoices in God
    because we trust his holy name.
²² Lord, let your faithful love surround us
    because we wait for you.