Psalm 34-35

New American Standard Bible

The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.

A Psalm of David, when he pretended to be insane before ^[a]Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

34 I will ^(A)bless the Lord at all times;
His ^(B)praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul will ^(C)make its boast in the Lord;
The ^(D)humble will hear it and rejoice.
³^(E)Exalt the Lord with me,
And let’s ^(F)exalt His name together.

⁴I ^(G)sought the Lord and He answered me,
And ^(H)rescued me from all my fears.
⁵They ^(I)looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will ^(J)never be ashamed.
⁶This wretched man cried out, and ^(K)the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷The ^(L)angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.

⁸^(M)Taste and see that the Lord is good;
How ^(N)blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
⁹Fear the Lord, you ^(O)His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is ^(P)no lack of anything.
¹⁰The young lions do without and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord will ^(Q)not lack any good thing.
¹¹^(R)Come, you children, listen to me;
^(S)I will teach you ^(T)the fear of the Lord.
¹²^(U)Who is the person who desires life
And loves length of days, that he may ^(V)see good?
¹³Keep ^(W)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking ^(X)deceit.
¹⁴^(Y)Turn from evil and do good;
Seek peace and ^(Z)pursue it.

¹⁵The ^(AA)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears are toward their cry for help.
¹⁶The ^(AB)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To ^(AC)eliminate the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷The righteous ^(AD)cry out, and the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord ^(AE)is near to the ^(AF)brokenhearted
And saves those who are ^[b]^(AG)crushed in spirit.

¹⁹^(AH)The ^(AI)afflictions of the righteous are many,
But the Lord ^(AJ)rescues him from them all.
²⁰He protects all his bones,
^(AK)Not one of them is broken.
²¹^(AL)Evil will bring death to the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will suffer for their guilt.
²²The Lord ^(AM)redeems the souls of His servants,
And none of those who ^(AN)take refuge in Him will suffer for their guilt.

Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.

A Psalm of David.

35 Contend, Lord, with those who ^(AO)contend with me;
Fight against those who ^(AP)fight against me.
²Take hold of ^[c]^(AQ)buckler and shield
And rise up as ^(AR)my help.
³Draw also the spear and ^[d]the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, “I am ^(AS)your salvation.”
⁴Let those be ^(AT)ashamed and dishonored who seek my ^[e]life;
Let those be ^(AU)turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.
⁵Let them be ^(AV)like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
⁶Let their way be dark and ^(AW)slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
⁷For ^(AX)they ^(AY)hid their net for me without cause;
Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
⁸Let ^(AZ)destruction come upon him when he is unaware,
And ^(BA)let the net which he hid catch him;
Let him fall into that very ^(BB)destruction.

⁹So my soul shall ^(BC)rejoice in the Lord;
It shall ^(BD)rejoice in His salvation.
¹⁰All my ^(BE)bones will say, “Lord, ^(BF)who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from one ^(BG)who is too strong for him,
And ^(BH)the afflicted and the poor from one who robs him?”
¹¹^(BI)Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
¹²They ^(BJ)repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
¹³But as for me, ^(BK)when they were sick, my ^(BL)clothing was sackcloth;
I ^(BM)humbled my soul with fasting,
But my ^(BN)prayer kept returning to ^[f]me.
¹⁴I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I ^(BO)bowed down ^[g]in mourning, like one who mourns for a mother.
¹⁵But ^(BP)at my ^[h]stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The ^[i]^(BQ)afflicted people whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They ^[j]^(BR)slandered me without ceasing.
¹⁶Like godless jesters at a feast,
They ^(BS)gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁷Lord, ^(BT)how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul ^(BU)from their ravages,
My ^(BV)only life from the lions.
¹⁸I will ^(BW)give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will ^(BX)praise You among a mighty people.
¹⁹^(BY)Do not let those who are wrongfully ^(BZ)my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those ^(CA)who hate me for no reason ^[k]^(CB)wink maliciously.
²⁰For they do not speak peace,
But they devise ^(CC)deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
²¹They ^(CD)opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “^(CE)Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it!”

²²^(CF)You have seen it, Lord, ^(CG)do not keep silent;
Lord, ^(CH)do not be far from me.
²³^(CI)Stir Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
²⁴^(CJ)Judge me, Lord my God, according to Your righteousness,
And ^(CK)do not let them rejoice over me.
²⁵Do not let them say in their heart, “^(CL)Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have ^(CM)swallowed him up!”
²⁶May ^(CN)those be ashamed and altogether humiliated who rejoice at my distress;
May those who ^(CO)exalt themselves over me be ^(CP)clothed with shame and dishonor.

²⁷May those ^(CQ)shout for joy and rejoice, who take delight in ^(CR)my vindication;
And ^(CS)may they say continually, “The Lord be exalted,
Who ^(CT)delights in the prosperity of His servant.”
²⁸And ^(CU)my tongue shall proclaim Your righteousness
And Your praise all day long.