Add parallel Print Page Options

12 Oh, please help us against our enemies,
    for all human help is useless.

Read full chapter

Wisdom from the Lord

This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
    who rely on human strength
    and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
    with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salty land.

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit.

Read full chapter

17 We looked in vain for our allies
    to come and save us,
but we were looking to nations
    that could not help us.

Read full chapter

For these Egyptians are mere humans, not God!
    Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits!
When the Lord raises his fist against them,
    those who help will stumble,
and those being helped will fall.
    They will all fall down and die together.

Read full chapter

But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated,
    and by depending on him, you will be disgraced.
For though his power extends to Zoan
    and his officials have arrived in Hanes,
all who trust in him will be ashamed.
    He will not help you.
    Instead, he will disgrace you.”

Read full chapter

22 Don’t put your trust in mere humans.
    They are as frail as breath.
    What good are they?

Read full chapter

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
    there is no help for you there.
When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
    and all their plans die with them.
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel[a] as their helper,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 146:5 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 44:4.

Psalm 20

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry.
    May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.
May he send you help from his sanctuary
    and strengthen you from Jerusalem.[a]
May he remember all your gifts
    and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Interlude

May he grant your heart’s desires
    and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory
    and raise a victory banner in the name of our God.
May the Lord answer all your prayers.

Now I know that the Lord rescues his anointed king.
    He will answer him from his holy heaven
    and rescue him by his great power.
Some nations boast of their chariots and horses,
    but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.
Those nations will fall down and collapse,
    but we will rise up and stand firm.

Give victory to our king, O Lord!
    Answer our cry for help.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 20:2 Hebrew Zion.

“I have heard all this before.
    What miserable comforters you are!

Read full chapter

13 And God does not restrain his anger.
    Even the monsters of the sea[a] are crushed beneath his feet.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9:13 Hebrew the helpers of Rahab, the name of a mythical sea monster that represents chaos in ancient literature.

Bible Gateway Recommends