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For the choir director; a psalm by David.

31 I have taken refuge in you, O Lord.
Never let me be put to shame.
Save me because of your righteousness.
Turn your ear toward me.
Rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
Indeed, you are my rock and my fortress.
For the sake of your name, lead me and guide me.
You are my refuge,
so pull me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me.
Into your hands I entrust my spirit.
You have rescued me, O Lord, God of truth.

I hate those who cling to false gods, but I trust the Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
You have seen my misery.
You have known the troubles in my soul.
You have not handed me over to the enemy.
You have set my feet in a place where I can move freely.

Have pity on me, O Lord, because I am in distress.
My eyes, my soul, and my body waste away from grief.
10 My life is exhausted from sorrow,
my years from groaning.
My strength staggers under ⌞the weight of⌟ my guilt,
and my bones waste away.
11 I have become a disgrace because of all my opponents.
I have become someone dreaded by my friends,
even by my neighbors.
Those who see me on the street run away from me.
12 I have faded from memory as if I were dead
and have become like a piece of broken pottery.
13 I have heard the whispering of many people—
terror on every side—
while they made plans together against me.
They were plotting to take my life.

14 I trust you, O Lord.
I said, “You are my God.”

15 My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from my enemies, from those who persecute me.
16 Smile on me.
Save me with your mercy.
17 O Lord, I have called on you, so do not let me be put to shame.
Let wicked people be put to shame.
Let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let ⌞their⌟ lying lips be speechless,
since they speak against righteous people with arrogance and contempt.

19 Your kindness is so great!
You reserve it for those who fear you.
Adam’s descendants watch
as you show it to those who take refuge in you.
20 You hide them in the secret place of your presence
from those who scheme against them.
You keep them in a shelter,
safe from quarrelsome tongues.
21 Thank the Lord!
He has shown me the miracle of his mercy
in a city under attack.
22 When I was panic-stricken, I said,
“I have been cut off from your sight.”
But you heard my pleas for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you godly ones!
The Lord protects faithful people,
but he pays back in full those who act arrogantly.
24 Be strong, all who wait with hope for the Lord,
and let your heart be courageous.

A psalm by David; a maskil.[a]

32 Blessed is the person whose disobedience is forgiven
and whose sin is pardoned.
Blessed is the person whom the Lord no longer accuses of sin
and who has no deceitful thoughts.

When I kept silent ⌞about my sins⌟,
my bones began to weaken because of my groaning all day long.
Day and night your hand laid heavily on me.
My strength shriveled in the summer heat. Selah

I made my sins known to you, and I did not cover up my guilt.
I decided to confess them to you, O Lord.
Then you forgave all my sins. Selah

For this reason let all godly people pray to you
when you may be found.
Then raging floodwater will not reach them.

You are my hiding place.
You protect me from trouble.
You surround me with joyous songs of salvation. Selah

⌞The Lord says,⌟
“I will instruct you.
I will teach you the way that you should go.
I will advise you as my eyes watch over you.
Don’t be stubborn like a horse or mule.
⌞They need⌟ a bit and bridle in their mouth to restrain them,
or they will not come near you.”

10 Many heartaches await wicked people,
but mercy surrounds those who trust the Lord.

11 Be glad and find joy in the Lord, you righteous people.
Sing with joy, all whose motives are decent.

33 Joyfully sing to the Lord, you righteous people.
Praising ⌞the Lord is proper for decent people.
Give thanks with a lyre to the Lord.
Make music for him on a ten-stringed harp.
Sing a new song to him.
Play beautifully and joyfully on stringed instruments.

The Lord’s word is correct,
and everything he does is trustworthy.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice.
His mercy fills the earth.
The heavens were made by the Lord’s word
and all the stars by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the water in the sea like a dam
and puts the oceans in his storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
He spoke, and it came into being.
He gave the order, and there it stood.

10 The Lord blocks the plans of the nations.
He frustrates the schemes of the people of the world.
11 The Lord’s plan stands firm forever.
His thoughts stand firm in every generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.
Blessed are the people he has chosen as his own.

13 The Lord looks down from heaven.
He sees all of Adam’s descendants.
14 From the place where he sits enthroned,
he looks down upon all who live on earth.
15 The one who formed their hearts
understands everything they do.

16 No king achieves a victory with a large army.
No warrior rescues himself by his own great strength.
17 Horses are not a guarantee for victory.
Their great strength cannot help someone escape.
18 The Lord’s eyes are on those who fear him,
on those who wait with hope for his mercy
19 to rescue their souls from death
and keep them alive during a famine.

20 We wait for the Lord.
He is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts find joy.
In his holy name we trust.
22 Let your mercy rest on us, O Lord,
since we wait with hope for you.

By David when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech; Abimelech threw him out, so David left.

34 I will thank the Lord at all times.
My mouth will always praise him.
My soul will boast about the Lord.
Those who are oppressed will hear it and rejoice.
Praise the Lord’s greatness with me.
Let us highly honor his name together.
I went to the Lord for help.
He answered me and rescued me from all my fears.
All who look to him will be radiant.
Their faces will never be covered with shame.
Here is a poor man who called out.
The Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles.
The Messenger of the Lord camps around those who fear him,
and he rescues them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you holy people who belong to him.
Those who fear him are never in need.
10 Young lions go hungry and may starve,
but those who seek the Lord’s help have all the good things they need.
11 Come, children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Which of you wants a full life?
Who would like to live long enough to enjoy good things?
13 Keep your tongue from saying evil things
and your lips from speaking deceitful things.
14 Turn away from evil, and do good.
Seek peace, and pursue it!
15 The Lord’s eyes are on righteous people.
His ears hear their cry for help.
16 The Lord confronts those who do evil
in order to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.
17 ⌞Righteous people⌟ cry out.
The Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to those whose hearts are humble.
He saves those whose spirits are crushed.
19 The righteous person has many troubles,
but the Lord rescues him from all of them.
20 The Lord guards all of his bones.
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil will kill wicked people,
and those who hate righteous people will be condemned.
22 The Lord protects the souls of his servants.
All who take refuge in him will never be condemned.

By David.

35 O Lord, attack those who attack me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
Use your shields, ⌞both⌟ small and large.
Arise to help me.
Hold your spear to block the way of those who pursue me.
Say to my soul, “I am your savior.”

Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgraced.
Let those who plan my downfall be turned back in confusion.
Let them be like husks blown by the wind
as the Messenger of the Lord chases them.
Let their path be dark and slippery
as the Messenger of the Lord pursues them.
For no reason they hid their net in a pit.
For no reason they dug the pit ⌞to trap me⌟.
Let destruction surprise them.
Let the net that they hid catch them.
Let them fall into their own pit and be destroyed.
My soul will find joy in the Lord
and be joyful about his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “O Lord, who can compare with you?
You rescue the weak person from the one who is too strong for him
and weak and needy people from the one who robs them.”

11 Malicious people bring charges against me.
They ask me things I know nothing about.
12 I am devastated
because they pay me back with evil instead of good.
13 But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth.
I humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayer returned unanswered,
14 I walked around as if I were mourning for my friend or my brother.
I was bent over as if I were mourning for my mother.

15 Yet, when I stumbled,
they rejoiced and gathered together.
They gathered together against me.
Unknown attackers tore me apart without stopping.
16 With crude and abusive mockers,
they grit their teeth at me.
17 O Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue me from their attacks.
Rescue my precious life from the lions.
18 I will give you thanks in a large gathering.
I will praise you in a crowd ⌞of worshipers⌟.

19 Do not let my treacherous enemies gloat over me.
Do not let those who hate me for no reason wink ⌞at me⌟.
20 They do not talk about peace.
Instead, they scheme against the peaceful people in the land.
21 They open their big mouths and say about me,
“Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it.”
22 You have seen it, O Lord.
Do not remain silent.
O Lord, do not be so far away from me.
23 Wake up, and rise to my defense.
Plead my case, O my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me by your righteousness, O Lord my God.
Do not let them gloat over me
25 or think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let those who gloat over my downfall
be thoroughly put to shame and confused.
Let those who promote themselves at my expense
be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 Let those who are happy when I am declared innocent
joyfully sing and rejoice.
Let them continually say, “The Lord is great.
He is happy when his servant has peace.”
28 Then my tongue will tell about your righteousness,
about your praise all day long.

Footnotes

  1. 32:0 Unknown musical term.

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