Psalm 36-38

New American Standard Bible

Wickedness of Humanity and Goodness of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

36 ^[a]Wrongdoing speaks to the ungodly within ^[b]his heart;
There is ^(A)no fear of God before his eyes.
²For it ^(B)flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovery of his wrongful deed and the hatred of it.
³The ^(C)words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ^(D)ceased to ^[c]be wise and to do good.
⁴He ^(E)plans wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself on a ^(F)path that is not good;
He ^(G)does not reject evil.

⁵Your ^(H)mercy, Lord, ^[d]extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
⁶Your ^(I)righteousness is like the ^[e]mountains of God;
Your ^(J)judgments are like the great deep.
Lord, You ^[f]^(K)protect mankind and animals.
⁷How ^(L)precious is Your mercy, God!
And the sons of mankind ^(M)take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
⁸They ^(N)drink their fill of the ^[g]abundance of Your house;
And You allow them to drink from the ^(O)river of Your delights.
⁹For the ^(P)fountain of life is with You;
In Your light we see light.

¹⁰Prolong Your mercy to ^(Q)those who know You,
And Your ^(R)righteousness to the upright of heart.
¹¹May the foot of pride not come upon me,
And may the hand of the wicked not drive me away.
¹²Those who do injustice have fallen there;
They have been thrust down and ^(S)cannot rise.

Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.

A Psalm of David.

37 ^(T)Do not get upset because of evildoers,
Do not be ^(U)envious of wrongdoers.
²For they will ^(V)wither quickly like the grass,
And ^(W)decay like the green plants.
³^(X)Trust in the Lord and do good;
^(Y)Live in the land and ^[h]^(Z)cultivate faithfulness.
⁴^(AA)Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will ^(AB)give you the desires of your heart.
⁵^(AC)Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
⁶He will bring out ^(AD)your righteousness as the light,
And your judgment ^(AE)as the noonday.

⁷^[i]Rest in the Lord and ^(AF)wait ^[j]patiently for Him;
^(AG)Do not get upset because of one who is ^(AH)successful in his way,
Because of the person who carries out wicked schemes.
⁸Cease from anger and ^(AI)abandon wrath;
Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
⁹For ^(AJ)evildoers will be eliminated,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will ^(AK)inherit the land.
¹⁰Yet ^(AL)a little while and the wicked person will be no more;
And you will look carefully for ^(AM)his place and he will not be there.
¹¹But ^(AN)the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in ^(AO)abundant prosperity.

¹²The wicked ^(AP)plots against the righteous,
And ^(AQ)gnashes at him with his teeth.
¹³The Lord ^(AR)laughs at him,
For He sees that ^(AS)his day is coming.
¹⁴The wicked have drawn the sword and ^(AT)bent their bow
To take down the ^(AU)afflicted and the needy,
To ^(AV)kill off those who are upright in conduct.
¹⁵Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their ^(AW)bows will be broken.

¹⁶^(AX)Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷For the ^(AY)arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord ^(AZ)sustains the righteous.
¹⁸The Lord ^(BA)knows the days of the ^[k]blameless,
And their ^(BB)inheritance will be forever.
¹⁹They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And ^(BC)in the days of famine they will have plenty.
²⁰But the ^(BD)wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the ^[l]glory of the pastures,
They vanish—^(BE)like smoke they vanish away.
²¹The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous ^(BF)is gracious and gives.
²²For ^(BG)those blessed by Him will ^(BH)inherit the land,
But those ^(BI)cursed by Him will be eliminated.

²³^(BJ)The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He ^(BK)delights in his way.
²⁴When ^(BL)he falls, he will not be hurled down,
Because ^(BM)the Lord is the One ^[m]who holds his hand.
²⁵I have been young and now I am old,
Yet ^(BN)I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or ^(BO)his ^[n]descendants begging for bread.
²⁶All day long ^(BP)he is gracious and lends,
And ^(BQ)his ^[o]descendants are a blessing.

²⁷^(BR)Turn from evil and do good,
So that you will dwell ^(BS)forever.
²⁸For the Lord ^(BT)loves ^[p]justice
And ^(BU)does not abandon His godly ones;
They are ^(BV)protected forever,
But the ^[q]^(BW)descendants of the wicked will be eliminated.
²⁹The righteous will ^(BX)inherit the land
And ^(BY)dwell in it forever.
³⁰The mouth of the righteous ^(BZ)utters wisdom,
And his tongue ^(CA)speaks justice.
³¹The ^(CB)Law of his God is in his heart;
His ^(CC)steps do not slip.
³²The ^(CD)wicked spies upon the righteous
And ^(CE)seeks to kill him.
³³The Lord will ^(CF)not leave him in his hand
Or ^(CG)let him be condemned when he is judged.
³⁴^(CH)Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the ^(CI)wicked are eliminated, you will see it.

³⁵I have ^(CJ)seen a wicked, violent person
Spreading himself like a ^(CK)luxuriant ^[r]tree in its native soil.
³⁶Then he passed away, and behold, he ^(CL)was no more;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
³⁷Observe the ^[s]^(CM)blameless person, and look at the ^(CN)upright;
For the person of peace will have ^(CO)a future.
³⁸But wrongdoers will altogether be ^(CP)destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be ^(CQ)eliminated.
³⁹But the ^(CR)salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength ^(CS)in time of trouble.
⁴⁰^(CT)The Lord helps them and rescues them;
He ^(CU)rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they ^(CV)take refuge in Him.

Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.

A Psalm of David, for a memorial.

38 Lord, ^(CW)do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
²For Your ^(CX)arrows have sunk deep into me,
And ^(CY)Your hand has pressed down on me.
³There is ^(CZ)no healthy part in my flesh ^(DA)because of Your indignation;
There is no health ^(DB)in my bones because of my sin.
⁴For my ^(DC)guilty deeds have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
⁵My ^[t]wounds grow foul and fester
Because of ^(DD)my foolishness.
⁶I am bent over and ^(DE)greatly bowed down;
I ^(DF)go in mourning all day long.
⁷For my ^[u]sides are filled with ^(DG)burning,
And there is ^(DH)no healthy part in my flesh.
⁸I feel ^(DI)faint and ^[v]badly crushed;
I ^[w]^(DJ)groan because of the ^[x]agitation of my heart.

⁹Lord, all ^(DK)my desire is ^[y]before You;
And my ^(DL)sighing is not hidden from You.
¹⁰My heart throbs, ^(DM)my strength fails me;
And the ^(DN)light of my eyes, even ^[z]that ^[aa]has gone from me.
¹¹My ^[ab]^(DO)loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen ^(DP)stand far away.
¹²Those who ^(DQ)seek my life ^(DR)lay snares for me;
And those who ^(DS)seek to injure me have ^[ac]threatened destruction,
And they ^(DT)plot deception all day long.

¹³But I, like a person who is deaf, do not hear;
And I am like a ^(DU)person who cannot speak, who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴Yes, I am like a person who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
¹⁵For ^(DV)I wait for You, Lord;
You ^(DW)will answer, Lord my God.
¹⁶For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, ^(DX)would exalt themselves over me.”
¹⁷For I am ^(DY)ready to fall,
And ^(DZ)my ^[ad]sorrow is continually before me.
¹⁸For I ^(EA)admit my guilt;
I am full of ^(EB)anxiety because of my sin.
¹⁹But my ^(EC)enemies are vigorous and ^[ae]strong,
And those who wrongfully ^(ED)hate me are many.
²⁰And those who ^(EE)repay evil for good,
They ^(EF)become my enemies, because I follow what is good.
²¹Do not abandon me, Lord;
My God, ^(EG)do not be far from me!
²²^(EH)Hurry to help me,
Lord, ^(EI)my salvation!