⁶ Come, let’s worship and bow down!
    Let’s kneel before the Lord, our maker!
⁷ He is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the sheep in his hands.

If only you would listen to his voice right now!
⁸     “Don’t harden your hearts
    like you did at Meribah,
    like you did when you were at Massah,
        in the wilderness,
⁹     when your ancestors tested me
        and scrutinized me,
    even though they had already seen my acts.
¹⁰ For forty years I despised that generation;
    I said, ‘These people have twisted hearts.
    They don’t know my ways.’
¹¹ So in anger I swore:
    ‘They will never enter my place of rest!’”

³ When I kept quiet, my bones wore out;
    I was groaning all day long—
    every day, every night!—
⁴ because your hand was heavy upon me.
    My energy was sapped as if in a summer drought. Selah
⁵ So I admitted my sin to you;
    I didn’t conceal my guilt.
    “I’ll confess my sins to the Lord, ” is what I said.
    Then you removed the guilt of my sin. Selah

⁶ That’s why all the faithful should pray to you during troubled times,^[b]
    so that a great flood of water won’t reach them.
⁷ You are my secret hideout!
    You protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of rescue! Selah

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you
    about the direction you should go.
    I’ll advise you and keep my eye on you.
⁹ Don’t be like some senseless horse or mule,
    whose movement must be controlled
    with a bit and a bridle.^[c]
        Don’t be anything like that!^[d]
10 The pain of the wicked is severe,
    but faithful love surrounds the one who trusts the Lord.
¹¹ You who are righteous, rejoice in the Lord and be glad!
    All you whose hearts are right, sing out in joy!

³ The enemy is chasing me,^[a]
    crushing my life in the dirt,
        forcing me to live in the dark
            like those who’ve been dead forever.
⁴ My spirit is weak inside me—
    inside, my mind is numb.

⁵ I remember the days long past;
    I meditate on all your deeds;
    I contemplate your handiwork.
⁶ I stretch out my hands to you;
    my whole being is like dry dirt, thirsting for you.^[b] Selah

⁷ Answer me, Lord—and quickly! My breath is fading.
    Don’t hide your face from me
        or I’ll be like those going down to the pit!
⁸ Tell me all about your faithful love come morning time,
    because I trust you.
Show me the way I should go,
    because I offer my life up to you.
⁹ Deliver me from my enemies, Lord!
    I seek protection from you.^[c]
10 Teach me to do what pleases you,
    because you are my God.
Guide me by your good spirit
        into good land.
¹¹ Make me live again, Lord, for your name’s sake.
    Bring me out of distress because of your righteousness.
¹² Wipe out my enemies because of your faithful love.
    Destroy everyone who attacks me,
        because I am your servant.