Psalm 17-20

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.

A Prayer of David.

17 Hear a ^(A)just cause, Lord, ^(B)give Your attention to my cry;
^(C)Listen to my prayer, which is not from ^(D)deceitful lips.
²Let ^(E)my ^[a]judgment come forth from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look with ^(F)integrity.
³You have ^(G)put my heart to the test;
You have visited me by night;
You have ^(H)sifted me and ^(I)You find ^[b]nothing;
My ^(J)intent is that my mouth will not offend.
⁴As for the works of mankind, ^(K)by the word of Your lips
I have kept from the ^(L)ways of the violent.
⁵My ^(M)steps have held to Your ^[c]paths.
My ^(N)feet have not slipped.

⁶I have ^(O)called upon You, for You will answer me, God;
^(P)Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
⁷^(Q)Show Your wonderful faithfulness,
^(R)Savior of those who take refuge ^[d]at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.
⁸Keep me as ^[e]the ^(S)apple of the eye;
Hide me ^(T)in the shadow of Your wings
⁹From the ^(U)wicked who deal violently with me,
My ^(V)deadly enemies who surround me.
¹⁰They have ^(W)closed their ^[f]unfeeling hearts,
With their mouths they ^(X)speak proudly.
¹¹They have now ^(Y)surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes ^(Z)to cast us down to the ground.
¹²He is ^(AA)like a lion that is eager to tear,
And as a young lion ^(AB)lurking in secret places.

¹³^(AC)Arise, Lord, confront him, ^(AD)make him bow down;
^(AE)Save my soul from the wicked with ^(AF)Your sword,
¹⁴From people by ^(AG)Your hand, Lord,
From people ^[g]of the world, ^(AH)whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You ^(AI)fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babies.
¹⁵As for me, I shall ^(AJ)behold Your face in righteousness;
^(AK)I shall be satisfied with Your ^(AL)likeness when I awake.

The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.

For the music director. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, ^[h]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

18 “I love You, Lord, ^(AM)my strength.”
²The Lord is ^(AN)my rock and ^(AO)my fortress and my ^(AP)savior,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My ^(AQ)shield and the ^(AR)horn of my salvation, my ^(AS)stronghold.
³I call upon the Lord, who is ^(AT)worthy to be praised,
And I am ^(AU)saved from my enemies.

⁴The ^(AV)ropes of death encompassed me,
And the ^(AW)torrents of ^[i]destruction ^[j]terrified me.
⁵The ^(AX)ropes of ^[k]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
⁶In my ^(AY)distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice ^(AZ)from His temple,
And my ^(BA)cry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷Then the ^(BB)earth shook and quaked;
And the ^(BC)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
⁸Smoke went up ^[l]out of His nostrils,
And ^(BD)fire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
⁹He also ^(BE)bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick ^(BF)darkness under His feet.
¹⁰He rode on a ^(BG)cherub and flew;
And He sped on the ^(BH)wings of the wind.
¹¹He made ^(BI)darkness His hiding place, ^(BJ)His ^[m]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds.
¹²From the ^(BK)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and ^(BL)coals of fire.
¹³The Lord also ^(BM)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴He ^(BN)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and ^[n]routed them.
¹⁵Then the ^(BO)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your ^(BP)rebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the ^(BQ)breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶He ^(BR)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of ^(BS)many waters.
¹⁷He ^(BT)saved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were ^(BU)too mighty for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in ^(BV)the day of my disaster,
But ^(BW)the Lord was my support.
¹⁹He also brought me out into an ^(BX)open place;
He rescued me, because ^(BY)He delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord has ^(BZ)rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the ^(CA)cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
²¹For I have ^(CB)kept the ways of the Lord,
And have ^(CC)not acted wickedly against my God.
²²For all ^(CD)His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His ^(CE)statutes from me.
²³I was also ^[o]^(CF)blameless with Him,
And I ^(CG)kept myself from my wrongdoing.
²⁴Therefore the Lord has ^(CH)repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁵With ^(CI)the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the ^[p]blameless ^(CJ)You prove Yourself blameless;
²⁶With the pure You show Yourself ^(CK)pure,
And with the crooked ^(CL)You show Yourself ^[q]astute.
²⁷For You ^(CM)save an afflicted people,
But You humiliate ^(CN)haughty eyes.
²⁸For You ^(CO)light my lamp;
The Lord my God ^(CP)illumines my darkness.
²⁹For by You I can ^(CQ)run at a ^[r]troop of warriors;
And by my God I can ^(CR)leap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, His way is ^[s]^(CS)blameless;
The ^(CT)word of the Lord is refined;
He is a ^(CU)shield to all who take refuge in Him.
³¹For ^(CV)who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a ^(CW)rock, except our God,
³²The God who ^(CX)encircles me with strength,
And ^[t]makes my way ^[u]^(CY)blameless?
³³He ^(CZ)makes my feet like deer’s feet,
And ^(DA)sets me up on my high places.
³⁴He ^(DB)trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can ^(DC)bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵You have also given me ^(DD)the shield of Your salvation,
And Your ^(DE)right hand upholds me;
And ^(DF)Your ^[v]gentleness makes me great.
³⁶You ^(DG)enlarge my steps under me,
And my ^[w]^(DH)feet have not slipped.

³⁷I ^(DI)pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back ^(DJ)until they were consumed.
³⁸I shattered them, so that they were ^(DK)not able to rise;
They fell ^(DL)under my feet.
³⁹For You have ^(DM)encircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced those who rose up against me ^(DN)to bow down under me.
⁴⁰You have also made my enemies ^(DO)turn their backs to me,
And I ^[x]^(DP)destroyed those who hated me.
⁴¹They cried for help, but there was ^(DQ)no one to save,
They cried to the Lord, but ^(DR)He did not answer them.
⁴²Then I beat them fine like the ^(DS)dust before the wind;
I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.

⁴³You have rescued me from the ^(DT)contentions of the people;
You have placed me as ^(DU)head of the nations;
A ^(DV)people whom I have not known serve me.
⁴⁴As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners ^(DW)pretend to obey me.
⁴⁵Foreigners ^(DX)lose heart,
And ^(DY)come trembling out of their ^[y]fortresses.

⁴⁶The Lord ^(DZ)lives, and blessed be ^(EA)my rock;
And exalted be ^(EB)the God of my salvation,
⁴⁷The God who ^(EC)executes vengeance for me,
And ^(ED)subdues peoples under me.
⁴⁸He ^(EE)rescues me from my enemies;
You indeed ^(EF)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from a ^(EG)violent man.
⁴⁹Therefore I will ^(EH)give thanks to You among the nations, Lord,
And I will ^(EI)sing praises to Your name.
⁵⁰He gives great ^[z]^(EJ)salvation to His king,
And shows faithfulness to ^(EK)His anointed,
To David and ^(EL)his ^[aa]descendants forever.

The Works and the Word of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

19 The ^(EM)heavens tell of the glory of God;
And their ^(EN)expanse declares the work of His hands.
²Day to ^(EO)day pours forth speech,
And ^(EP)night to night reveals knowledge.
³There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
⁴Their ^[ab]^(EQ)line has gone out into all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has ^(ER)placed a tent for the sun,
⁵Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.
⁶Its ^(ES)rising is from ^[ac]one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the ^[ad]other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷^(ET)The Law of the Lord is ^[ae]^(EU)perfect, ^(EV)restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is ^(EW)sure, making ^(EX)wise the simple.
⁸The precepts of the Lord are ^(EY)right, ^(EZ)rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is ^(FA)pure, ^(FB)enlightening the eyes.
⁹The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are ^(FC)true; they are ^(FD)righteous altogether.
¹⁰They are more desirable than ^(FE)gold, yes, than much pure gold;
^(FF)Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹Moreover, ^(FG)Your servant is warned by them;
In keeping them there is great ^(FH)reward.
¹²Who can ^(FI)discern his errors? ^(FJ)Acquit me of ^(FK)hidden faults.
¹³Also keep Your servant back ^(FL)from presumptuous sins;
Let them not ^(FM)rule over me;
Then I will be ^(FN)innocent,
And I will be blameless of ^(FO)great wrongdoing.
¹⁴May the words of my mouth and ^(FP)the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
Lord, ^(FQ)my rock and my ^(FR)Redeemer.

Prayer for Victory over Enemies.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

20 May the Lord answer you ^(FS)on a day of trouble!
May the ^(FT)name of the ^(FU)God of Jacob ^[af]protect you!
²May He send you help ^(FV)from the sanctuary,
And ^(FW)support you from Zion!
³May He ^(FX)remember all your meal offerings
And ^[ag]^(FY)accept your burnt offering! Selah

⁴May He grant you your ^(FZ)heart’s desire
And ^(GA)fulfill your whole plan!
⁵^[ah]We will ^(GB)sing for joy over your ^[ai]victory,
And in the name of our God we will ^(GC)set up our banners.
May the Lord ^(GD)fulfill all your desires.

⁶Now ^(GE)I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will ^(GF)answer him from His holy heaven
With the ^[aj]^(GG)saving strength of His right hand.
⁷Some praise their chariots and some their ^(GH)horses,
But ^(GI)we will praise the name of the Lord, our God.
⁸They have ^(GJ)bowed down and fallen,
But we have ^(GK)risen and stood upright.
⁹^[ak]^(GL)Save, Lord;
May the ^(GM)King answer us on the day we call.