An Exuberant Declaration of Faith

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my (A)light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The (B)Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
To (C)eat[a] up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
(D)Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

(E)One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may (F)dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the [b]beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
For (G)in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall (H)set me high upon a rock.

And now (I)my head shall be [c]lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of [d]joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
(J)Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 (K)When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.

11 (L)Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For (M)false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
(N)In the land of the living.

14 (O)Wait[e] on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Rejoicing in Answered Prayer

A Psalm of David.

28 To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock:
(P)Do not be silent to me,
(Q)Lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
Hear the voice of my supplications
When I cry to You,
(R)When I lift up my hands (S)toward Your holy sanctuary.

Do not [f]take me away with the wicked
And with the workers of iniquity,
(T)Who speak peace to their neighbors,
But evil is in their hearts.
(U)Give them according to their deeds,
And according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
Give them according to the work of their hands;
Render to them what they deserve.
Because (V)they do not regard the works of the Lord,
Nor the operation of His hands,
He shall destroy them
And not build them up.

Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!
The Lord is (W)my strength and my shield;
My heart (X)trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

The Lord is [g]their strength,
And He is the (Y)saving refuge of His [h]anointed.
Save Your people,
And bless (Z)Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also,
(AA)And bear them up forever.

Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty

A Psalm of David.

29 Give[i] (AB)unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
[j]Give unto the Lord the glory [k]due to His name;
Worship the Lord in (AC)the [l]beauty of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
(AD)The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks (AE)the cedars,
Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
(AF)He makes them also skip like a calf,
Lebanon and (AG)Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord [m]divides the flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the Wilderness of (AH)Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the (AI)deer give birth,
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”

10 The (AJ)Lord sat enthroned at the Flood,
And (AK)the Lord sits as King forever.
11 (AL)The Lord will give strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.

The Blessedness of Answered Prayer

A Psalm. A Song (AM)at the dedication of the house of David.

30 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have (AN)lifted me up,
And have not let my foes (AO)rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried out to You,
And You (AP)healed me.
O Lord, (AQ)You brought my soul up from the grave;
You have kept me alive, [n]that I should not go down to the pit.

(AR)Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of [o]His holy name.
For (AS)His anger is but for a moment,
(AT)His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But [p]joy comes in the morning.

Now in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be [q]moved.”
Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong;
(AU)You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

I cried out to You, O Lord;
And to the Lord I made supplication:
“What profit is there in my blood,
When I go down to the pit?
(AV)Will the dust praise You?
Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me;
Lord, be my helper!”

11 (AW)You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off [r]my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
12 To the end that my [s]glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

The Lord a Fortress in Adversity

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

31 In (AX)You, O Lord, I [t]put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
(AY)Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of [u]refuge,
A [v]fortress of defense to save me.

(AZ)For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, (BA)for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.
Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
(BB)Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of (BC)truth.

I have hated those (BD)who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have (BE)known my soul in [w]adversities,
And have not (BF)shut[x] me up into the hand of the enemy;
(BG)You have set my feet in a wide place.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
(BH)My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my [y]body!
10 For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
11 (BI)I am a [z]reproach among all my enemies,
But (BJ)especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
(BK)Those who see me outside flee from me.
12 (BL)I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a [aa]broken vessel.
13 (BM)For I hear the slander of many;
(BN)Fear is on every side;
While they (BO)take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.

14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your (BP)hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
16 (BQ)Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
17 (BR)Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
(BS)Let them be silent in the grave.
18 (BT)Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which (BU)speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

19 (BV)Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
20 (BW)You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
(BX)You shall keep them secretly in a [ab]pavilion
From the strife of tongues.

21 Blessed be the Lord,
For (BY)He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a [ac]strong city!
22 For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.

23 Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24 (BZ)Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord.

The Joy of Forgiveness

A Psalm of David. A [ad]Contemplation.

32 Blessed is he whose (CA)transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord (CB)does not [ae]impute iniquity,
And (CC)in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your (CD)hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
(CE)I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

(CF)For this cause everyone who is godly shall (CG)pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
(CH)You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with (CI)songs of deliverance. Selah

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
Do not be like the (CJ)horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

10 (CK)Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But (CL)he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
11 (CM)Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 27:2 devour
  2. Psalm 27:4 delightfulness
  3. Psalm 27:6 Lifted up in honor
  4. Psalm 27:6 joyous shouts
  5. Psalm 27:14 Wait in faith
  6. Psalm 28:3 drag
  7. Psalm 28:8 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. the strength of His people
  8. Psalm 28:8 Commissioned one, Heb. messiah
  9. Psalm 29:1 Ascribe
  10. Psalm 29:2 Ascribe
  11. Psalm 29:2 Lit. of His name
  12. Psalm 29:2 majesty
  13. Psalm 29:7 stirs up, lit. hews out
  14. Psalm 30:3 So with Qr., Tg.; Kt., LXX, Syr., Vg. from those who descend to the pit
  15. Psalm 30:4 Or His holiness
  16. Psalm 30:5 a shout of joy
  17. Psalm 30:6 shaken
  18. Psalm 30:11 The sackcloth of my mourning
  19. Psalm 30:12 soul
  20. Psalm 31:1 have taken refuge
  21. Psalm 31:2 strength
  22. Psalm 31:2 Lit. house of fortresses
  23. Psalm 31:7 troubles
  24. Psalm 31:8 given me over
  25. Psalm 31:9 Lit. belly
  26. Psalm 31:11 despised thing
  27. Psalm 31:12 Lit. perishing
  28. Psalm 31:20 shelter
  29. Psalm 31:21 fortified
  30. Psalm 32:1 Heb. Maschil
  31. Psalm 32:2 charge his account with

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