Beginning

¹ Judge me favorably, O Lord,
because I have walked in my integrity.
In the Lord I have trusted. I have not wavered.
² Test me, O Lord, and examine me.
Refine my thoughts and my emotions,
³ for your mercy is in front of my eyes,
and I keep walking in your truth.

⁴ I do not sit with deceivers.
I do not associate with hypocrites.
⁵ I hate the company of evildoers.
I do not sit with the wicked.

⁶ I wash my hands from sin,
so I can march around your altar, O Lord,
⁷     to shout thanks to you
    and to proclaim all your wonderful deeds.
⁸ Lord, I love the house where you reside,
the place where your glory dwells.

⁹ Do not snatch my soul away along with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
¹⁰ who grasp wicked schemes in their hands,
whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹ But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
¹² My feet stand on level ground.
In the assemblies I will bless the Lord.

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
² When evildoers advance against me to eat my flesh,
when my foes and my enemies come against me,
it is they who will stumble and fall.
³ If an army lines up against me, my heart will not fear.
If war rises against me, even then I will keep trusting.

⁴ One thing I ask from the Lord. This is what I seek:
that I live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
    to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,
    and to seek him in his temple.^[a]
5 Yes, he will hide me in his shelter on the day of trouble.
He will hide me in his tent.
He will set me high on a rock.
⁶ Then my head will be lifted up above the enemies who surround me.
I will offer sacrifices at his tent with a joyful shout.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

⁷ Hear me, O Lord. With my voice I call.
Be merciful to me and answer me.
⁸ When you say, “Seek my face,” my heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
⁹ Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my help.
Do not reject me or forsake me, O God who saves me.
¹⁰ If my father and my mother abandoned me,
    the Lord would take me in.

¹¹ Lord, teach me your way,
and lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
¹² Do not give me up to the desire of my foes,
because false witnesses rise up against me,
and so do those who breathe out violence.

¹³ Unless I was confident to see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living—^[b]
14 Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart,
and wait for the Lord!

¹ O Lord, I keep calling to you.
My Rock, do not be deaf to me.
If you remain silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit.
² Hear the sound of my plea for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
³ Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those evildoers.
They speak peace to their neighbors but hide evil in their hearts.

⁴ Give to them what they have done to others.
According to their evil actions,
according to the deeds of their hands,
punish them.
Repay to them what they deserve.
⁵ Because they do not recognize the works of the Lord
or the deeds of his hands,
he will tear them down and not build them up.

⁶ Blessed be the Lord,
because he has heard the sound of my plea for mercy.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I am helped.
My heart also celebrates.
With my song I will give thanks to him.
⁸ The Lord is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed king.
⁹ Save your people, and bless the people that belong to you.
Shepherd them, and carry them forever.

¹ Ascribe to the Lord, you sons of God,^[c]
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name.
Bow down to the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
³ The voice of the Lord is heard over the waters.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders above the mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord thunders in power.
The voice of the Lord thunders in majesty.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars.
The Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Mount Lebanon skip like a calf.
Sirion^[d] skips like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord slashes with flashes of fire.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.
The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord destroys the oaks^[e]
and strips the forests bare.
So in his temple they all say, “Glory!”
¹⁰ The Lord is seated over the flood.
The Lord is seated as King forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives strength to his people.
The Lord blesses his people with peace.

¹ I will exalt you, O Lord,
because you lifted me up.
You did not let my enemies rejoice over me.

⁴ Make music to the Lord, you his favored ones,
and give thanks when you remember^[f] his holiness,
⁵ for we spend a moment under his anger,
but we enjoy a lifetime in his favor.
In the evening, weeping comes to stay through the night,
but in the morning, there is rejoicing!

⁶ But I—I said in my security,
“I will never be knocked down.”
⁷ Lord, in your favor you made strength
    stand like a mountain for me.
Then you hid your face. I was terrified.
⁸ To you, O Lord, I call.
To the Lord I cry for mercy:
⁹ “What gain is there in shedding my blood,
in sending me down to destruction?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your truth?
¹⁰ Lord, hear and be merciful to me.
Lord, be a helper for me.”

¹¹ You turned my mourning into dancing.
You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
¹² so that my whole being^[g] may make music to you
and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I thank you forever.

¹ In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.

Let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me.
² Turn your ear toward me.
Hurry! Rescue me!
Be a rock where I take refuge,
a fortified place that saves me.

³ Yes, you are my rocky cliff and my stronghold.
For the sake of your name you will lead me and guide me.
⁴ You will pull me out of the net that they hid for me,
because you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.
⁶ I hate those who keep worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy,
because you saw my affliction.
You knew the distress of my soul.
⁸ You have not left me in the hand of the enemy.
You have made my feet stand in a wide-open space.

⁹ Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress.
My eye grows weak with sorrow—
my soul and my body too.
¹⁰ Yes, my life is consumed by grief,
and my years by groaning.
My strength fails because of my guilt,
and my bones grow weak.
¹¹ Because of all my foes,
I am a disgrace, especially to my neighbors.
I am dreaded by those who know me.
Those who see me on the street flee from me.
¹² I have been forgotten like a dead man, gone from memory.^[h]
I have become like a broken pot.
¹³ Yes, I hear the slander of many.
There is terror on every side.
When they conspire together against me,
they plot to take my life.

¹⁴ But I—I trust in you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My times are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
¹⁶ Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your mercy.
¹⁷ Do not allow me to be put to shame, O Lord,
because I have cried out to you.
But let the wicked be put to shame.
Let them be silent in the grave.^[i]
18 Let lying lips be silenced,
those who speak against the righteous
    impudently with pride and contempt.

¹⁹ How great is your goodness,
which you store up for those who fear you,
which you deliver for those who take refuge in you
    in the presence of the people.
²⁰ You hide them in your presence from the schemes of man.
You conceal them in your shelter from accusing tongues.
²¹ Blessed be the Lord,
because he made his mercy wonderful for me
    when I was in a besieged city.
²² In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from before your eyes!”
But you heard the sound of my cry for mercy
    when I cried out to you.
²³ Love the Lord, all his favored ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but he pays back in full the one who acts proudly.
²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart be firm,
    all you who wait confidently for the Lord.