Psalm 27-32

New American Standard Bible

A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my ^(A)light and my ^(B)salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the ^[a]^(C)defense of my life;
^(D)Whom should I dread?
²When evildoers came upon me to ^(E)devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they ^(F)stumbled and fell.
³If an ^(G)army encamps against me,
My heart will not fear;
If war arises against me,
In spite of this I am ^(H)confident.

⁴^(I)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may ^(J)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold ^(K)the ^[b]beauty of the Lord
And to ^[c]^(L)meditate in His temple.
⁵For on the ^(M)day of trouble He will ^(N)conceal me in His ^[d]tabernacle;
He will ^(O)hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will ^(P)lift me up on a rock.
⁶And now ^(Q)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer ^(R)sacrifices in His tent ^[e]with shouts of joy;
I will ^(S)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷^(T)Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and ^(U)answer me.
⁸When You said, “^(V)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“^(W)I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
⁹^(X)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in ^(Y)anger;
You have been ^(Z)my help;
^(AA)Do not abandon me nor ^(AB)forsake me,
God of my salvation!
¹⁰^[f]For my father and ^(AC)my mother have forsaken me,
But ^(AD)the Lord will take me up.

¹¹^(AE)Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a ^(AF)level path
Because of my enemies.
¹²Do not turn me over to the ^[g]^(AG)desire of my enemies,
For ^(AH)false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent ^(AI)witness.
¹³I certainly believed that I would see the ^(AJ)goodness of the Lord
In the ^(AK)land of the living.
¹⁴^(AL)Wait for the Lord;
Be ^(AM)strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.

A Psalm of David.

28 To You, Lord, I call;
My ^(AN)rock, do not be deaf to me,
For if You ^(AO)are silent to me,
I will become like those who ^(AP)go down to the pit.
²Hear the ^(AQ)sound of my pleadings when I cry to You for help,
When I ^(AR)raise my hands ^(AS)toward ^[h]Your holy ^(AT)sanctuary.
³^(AU)Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who practice injustice,
Who ^(AV)speak peace with their neighbors,
While evil is in their hearts.
⁴Give back to them ^(AW)according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Give back to them according to the work of their hands;
Repay them what is due them.
⁵Because they ^(AX)do not regard the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not build them up.

⁶Blessed be the Lord,
Because He ^(AY)has heard the sound of my pleading.
⁷The Lord is my ^(AZ)strength and my ^(BA)shield;
My heart ^(BB)trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore ^(BC)my heart triumphs,
And with ^(BD)my song I shall thank Him.
⁸The Lord is ^[i]their ^(BE)strength,
And He is a refuge of ^(BF)salvation to His anointed.
⁹^(BG)Save Your people and bless ^(BH)Your inheritance;
Be their ^(BI)shepherd also, and ^(BJ)carry them forever.

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.

A Psalm of David.

29 ^(BK)Ascribe to the Lord, ^[j]sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
²Ascribe to the Lord the glory ^[k]due His name;
Worship the Lord ^(BL)in holy attire.

³The ^(BM)voice of the Lord is on the waters;
The God of glory ^(BN)thunders,
The Lord is over ^[l]^(BO)many waters.
⁴The voice of the Lord is ^(BP)powerful,
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks ^(BQ)the cedars of Lebanon in pieces.
⁶He makes Lebanon ^(BR)skip like a calf,
And ^(BS)Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷The voice of the Lord divides ^[m]flames of fire.
⁸The voice of the Lord ^[n]shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of ^(BT)Kadesh.
⁹The voice of the Lord makes ^(BU)the deer give birth
And strips the forests bare;
And ^(BV)in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

¹⁰The Lord sat as King at the ^(BW)flood;
Yes, the Lord sits as ^(BX)King forever.
¹¹^[o]The Lord will give ^(BY)strength to His people;
^[p]The Lord will bless His people with ^(BZ)peace.

Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.

A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David.

30 I will ^(CA)exalt You, Lord, for You have ^(CB)lifted me up,
And have not let my ^(CC)enemies rejoice over me.
²Lord my God,
I ^(CD)cried to You for help, and You ^(CE)healed me.
³Lord, You have ^(CF)brought up my soul from ^[q]Sheol;
You have kept me alive, ^[r]that I would not ^(CG)go down to the pit.
⁴^(CH)Sing praise to the Lord, you ^(CI)His godly ones,
And ^(CJ)praise the mention of His holiness.
⁵For ^(CK)His anger is but for a moment,
His ^(CL)favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may ^(CM)last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

⁶Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I will ^(CN)never be moved.”
⁷Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong;
You ^(CO)hid Your face, I was dismayed.
⁸To You, Lord, I called,
And to the Lord I pleaded for compassion:
⁹“What gain is there in my blood, if I ^(CP)go down to the pit?
Will the ^(CQ)dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

¹⁰“^(CR)Hear, Lord, and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my ^(CS)helper.”
¹¹You have turned ^(CT)my mourning into dancing for me;
You have ^(CU)untied my sackcloth and encircled me with ^(CV)joy,
¹²That my ^[s]^(CW)soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will ^(CX)give thanks to You forever.

A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

31 ^(CY)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never ^(CZ)be ^[t]put to shame;
^(DA)In Your righteousness rescue me.
²^(DB)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be a ^(DC)rock of ^[u]strength for me,
A ^[v]stronghold to save me.
³For You are my rock and ^(DD)my fortress;
For the ^(DE)sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
⁴You will ^(DF)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my ^(DG)strength.
⁵^(DH)Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have ^(DI)redeemed me, Lord, ^(DJ)God of ^[w]truth.

⁶I hate those who ^(DK)devote themselves to worthless ^[x]idols,
But I ^(DL)trust in the Lord.
⁷I will ^(DM)rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,
Because You have ^(DN)seen my misery;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
⁸And You have not ^(DO)handed me over to the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.

⁹Be gracious to me, Lord, for ^(DP)I am in distress;
My ^(DQ)eye is wasted away from grief, ^(DR)my soul and my body too.
¹⁰For my life is spent with ^(DS)sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My ^(DT)strength has failed because of my guilt,
And ^(DU)my ^[y]body has wasted away.
¹¹Because of all my adversaries, I have become a ^(DV)disgrace,
Especially to my ^(DW)neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
¹²I am ^(DX)forgotten like a dead person, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
¹³For I have heard the ^[z]^(DY)slander of many,
^(DZ)Terror is on every side;
While they ^(EA)took counsel together against me,
They ^(EB)schemed to take away my life.

¹⁴But as for me, I trust in You, Lord,
I say, “^(EC)You are my God.”
¹⁵My ^(ED)times are in Your hand;
^(EE)Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
¹⁶Make Your ^(EF)face shine upon Your servant;
^(EG)Save me in Your faithfulness.
¹⁷Let me not be ^(EH)put to shame, Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the ^(EI)wicked be put to shame, let them ^(EJ)be silent in ^[aa]Sheol.
¹⁸Let the ^(EK)lying lips be speechless,
Which ^(EL)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.

¹⁹How great is Your ^(EM)goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have performed for those who ^(EN)take refuge in You,
^(EO)Before the sons of mankind!
²⁰You hide them in the ^(EP)secret place of Your presence from the ^(EQ)conspiracies of mankind;
You keep them secretly in a ^[ab]shelter from the ^(ER)strife of tongues.
²¹^(ES)Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His ^(ET)marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged ^(EU)city.
²²As for me, ^(EV)I said in my alarm,
“I am ^(EW)cut off from Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You ^(EX)heard the sound of my pleadings
When I called to You for help.

²³Love the Lord, all ^(EY)His godly ones!
The Lord ^(EZ)watches over the faithful
But fully ^(FA)repays the one who acts arrogantly.
²⁴^(FB)Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who wait for the Lord.

Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.

A Psalm of David. A ^[ac]Maskil.

32 ^(FC)How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
²How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord ^(FD)does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is ^(FE)no deceit!

³When ^(FF)I kept silent about my sin, ^(FG)my ^[ad]body wasted away
Through my ^[ae]^(FH)groaning all day long.
⁴For day and night ^(FI)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My ^[af]^(FJ)vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
⁵I ^(FK)acknowledged my sin to You,
And I ^(FL)did not hide my guilt;
I said, “^(FM)I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”;
And You ^(FN)forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
⁶Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You ^[ag]^(FO)in a time when You may be found;
Certainly ^(FP)in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
⁷You are ^(FQ)my hiding place; You ^(FR)keep me from trouble;
You surround me with ^[ah]^(FS)songs of deliverance. Selah

⁸I will ^(FT)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you ^(FU)with My eye upon you.
⁹Do not be ^(FV)like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
¹⁰The ^(FW)sorrows of the wicked are many,
But ^(FX)the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
¹¹Be ^(FY)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are ^(FZ)upright in heart.