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A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread?

When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.

Though an army encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
Even in this I am confident.


One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.(A)

For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.

And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
In His tent I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.


Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
Be gracious and compassionate to me and answer me.

When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor [a]leave me,
O God of my salvation!
10 
Although my father and my mother have abandoned me,
Yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].(B)

11 
Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies [who lie in wait].
12 
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have come against me;
They breathe out violence.
13 
I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 
Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.

A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.

A Psalm of David.

28 To you I call, O Lord,
My rock, do not be deaf to me,
For if You are silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit (grave).

Hear the voice of my supplication (specific requests, humble entreaties) as I cry to You for help,
As I lift up my hands and heart toward Your innermost sanctuary (Holy of Holies).

Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who do evil,
Who speak peace with their neighbors,
While malice and mischief are in their hearts.

Repay them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Repay them according to the deeds of their hands;
Repay them what they deserve.(C)

Because they have no regard for the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not rebuild them.


Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

The Lord is my strength and my [impenetrable] shield;
My heart trusts [with unwavering confidence] in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him.

The Lord is their [unyielding] strength,
And He is the fortress of salvation to His anointed.

Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;
Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.

A Psalm of David.

29 [b]Ascribe to the Lord, O [c]sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness].


The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
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 the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion (Mount Hermon) like a young, wild ox.

The voice of the Lord rakes flames of fire (lightning).

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord [d]makes the doe labor and give birth
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple all are saying, “Glory!”

10 
The Lord sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.
11 
The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.

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

30 I will extol and praise You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You have healed me.

O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).

Sing to the Lord, O you His godly ones,
And give thanks at the mention of His holy name.

For His anger is but for a moment,
[e]His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may endure for a night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.(D)


As for me, in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be moved.”

By Your favor and grace, O Lord, you have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was horrified.

I called to You, O Lord,
And to the Lord I made supplication (specific request).

“What profit is there in my blood (death), if I go down to the pit (grave)?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness [to man]?

10 
“Hear, O Lord, be gracious and show favor to me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
11 
You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;
You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

31 In You, O Lord, I have placed my trust and taken refuge;
Let me never be [f]ashamed;
In Your righteousness rescue me.

Incline Your ear to me, deliver me quickly;
Be my rock of refuge,
And a strong fortress to save me.

Yes, You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.

You will draw me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength and my stronghold.

[g]Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth and faithfulness.(E)


I hate those who pay regard to vain (empty, worthless) idols;
But I trust in the Lord [and rely on Him with unwavering confidence].

I will rejoice and be glad in Your steadfast love,
Because You have seen my affliction;
You have taken note of my life’s distresses,

And You have not given me into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a broad place.


Be gracious and compassionate to me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
My eye is clouded and weakened by grief, my soul and my body also.
10 
For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And even my body has wasted away.
11 
Because of all my enemies I have become a reproach and disgrace,
Especially to my neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me on the street run from me.
12 
I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 
For I have heard the slander and whispering of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they schemed together against me,
They plotted to take away my life.(F)

14 
But as for me, I trust [confidently] in You and Your greatness, O Lord;
I said, “You are my God.”
15 
My times are in Your hands;
Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who pursue and persecute me.
16 
Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
17 
Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on You;
Let the wicked (godless) be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
18 
Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak insolently and arrogantly against the [consistently] righteous
With pride and contempt.

19 
How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You,
[h]Before the sons of man!
20 
In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots and conspiracies of man;
You keep them secretly in a shelter (pavilion) from the strife of tongues.
21 
Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His marvelous favor and lovingkindness to me [when I was assailed] in a besieged city.
22 
As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from Your eyes.”
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications (specific requests)
When I cried to You [for help].

23 
O love the Lord, all you His godly ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful [those with moral and spiritual integrity]
And fully repays the [self-righteousness of the] arrogant.
24 
Be strong and let your hearts take courage,
All you who wait for and confidently expect the Lord.

Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.

A Psalm of David. A skillful [i]song, or a didactic or reflective poem.

32 Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven,
And whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.(G)


When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all the day long.

For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me;
My [j]energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah.

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my wickedness;
I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found;
Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.

You are my hiding place; You, Lord, protect me from trouble;
You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah.


I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you [who are willing to learn] with My eye upon you.

Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bridle and rein to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in and relies on the Lord shall be surrounded with compassion and lovingkindness.
11 
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous [who actively seek right standing with Him];
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Praise to the Creator and Preserver.

33 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart—those with moral integrity and godly character].

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.

Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.

For the word of the Lord is right;
And all His work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.


By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,
And all their host by the breath of His mouth.(H)

He gathers the waters of the sea together as in a wineskin;
He puts the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear and worship the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 
The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He makes the thoughts and plans of the people ineffective.
11 
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The thoughts and plans of His heart through all generations.
12 
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance.(I)

13 
The Lord looks [down] from heaven;
He sees all the sons of man;
14 
From His dwelling place He looks closely
Upon all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 
He who fashions the hearts of them all,
Who considers and understands all that they do.
16 
The king is not saved by the great size of his army;
A warrior is not rescued by his great strength.
17 
A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

18 
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him [and worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
On those who hope [confidently] in His compassion and lovingkindness,
19 
To rescue their lives from death
And keep them alive in famine.
20 
We wait [expectantly] for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 
For in Him our heart rejoices,
Because we trust [lean on, rely on, and are confident] in His holy name.
22 
Let Your [steadfast] lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
In proportion as we have [k]hoped in You.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 27:9 Lit forsake.
  2. Psalm 29:1 This psalm has been called “The Song of the Thunderstorm,” a glorious psalm of praise sung during an earthshaking tempest which reminds the psalmist of the time of Noah and the deluge (see v 10).
  3. Psalm 29:1 The ancient rabbis interpreted this as referring to the patriarchs. Today many scholars regard this as a reference to God’s angels.
  4. Psalm 29:9 Or makes the oaks shake.
  5. Psalm 30:5 Or in His favor is life.
  6. Psalm 31:1 I.e. have my expectations in Your goodness be disappointed.
  7. Psalm 31:5 The ancient rabbis made this statement a bedtime prayer.
  8. Psalm 31:19 I.e. human beings.
  9. Psalm 32:1 Meaning uncertain.
  10. Psalm 32:4 Lit life juices were turned into the drought of summer.
  11. Psalm 33:22 I.e. placed our confidence.

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