Chronological

¹ Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.
Do not discipline me in your wrath.
² Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am fading away.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are trembling,
³ and my soul is terrified.
But you, O Lord—how long?
⁴ Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul.
Save me because of your mercy.
⁵ For in death no one remembers you.
In the grave who praises you?
⁶ I am worn out from my groaning.
I flood my bed all night long.
With my tears I drench my couch.
⁷ My eyes are blurred by sorrow.
They are worn out because of all my foes.

⁸ Turn away from me, all you evildoers,
because the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
⁹ The Lord has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord accepts my prayer.
¹⁰ They will be put to shame.
All my enemies will be terrified.
They will turn back.
They will be put to shame in an instant.

¹ O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Set this glory of yours above the heavens.^[b]
2 From the lips of little children and nursing babies
    you have established strength^[c] because of your foes,
        to put a stop to the enemy and the avenger.

³ Whenever I look up at your heavens, the works of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place—
⁴ what is man that you remember him,
the son of man^[d] that you pay attention to him!
⁵ Nevertheless, you make him suffer need,
    apart from God for a while,^[e]
but you crown him with glory and honor.
⁶ You make him the ruler over the works of your hands.
You put everything under his feet:
⁷ all flocks and cattle, and even the wild animals,
⁸ the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
    which pass through the currents of the seas.
⁹ O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

¹ I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart.
I will tell about all your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will make music to your name, O Most High.

³ When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish from your presence,
⁴ for you have upheld my rights and my cause.
You sat on the throne, judging righteously.
⁵ You have rebuked the nations,
and you made the wicked perish.
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶ As for the enemy, their destruction is complete and final.
You have uprooted cities.
Memory of them has perished with them.

⁷ The Lord is seated forever.
He has established his throne for judgment.
⁸ The Lord himself will judge the world in righteousness.
He will judge the peoples with fairness.
⁹ The Lord will be a refuge for those who have been crushed,
a refuge for times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹ Make music for the Lord, who is seated in Zion.
Proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
¹² Yes, he who avenges bloodshed remembers them.
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
¹³ Have mercy on me, O Lord.
See my afflictions that are caused by those who hate me,
and raise me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ so that I may declare all your praise.
In the gates of the Daughter of Zion^[g] I will rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk into the pit they have made.
Their feet are caught in the net that they have hidden.
¹⁶ The Lord makes himself known by the judgment he has carried out.
By the work of his hands the wicked are snared. Interlude for meditation^[h]
17 The wicked return to the grave,
all the nations who forget God.
¹⁸ But he will never forget the needy.
The hope of the afflicted will never perish.
¹⁹ Rise up, O Lord. Do not let man triumph.
Let the nations be judged in your presence.
²⁰ Strike them with fear, O Lord.
Let the nations know they are only human. Interlude

¹ Why, Lord, do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide in times of distress?

² Because of the pride of the wicked, the oppressed burn.^[i]
They are caught in the schemes that the wicked plan.
³ Yes, the wicked man boasts about his heart’s desires.
He blesses the robber. He despises the Lord.^[j]
4 With his nose in the air, the wicked does not seek God.
There is no room at all for God in his thoughts.
⁵ His ways are prosperous all the time.
He is haughty. Your judgments do not concern him.
He snorts at all of his foes.
⁶ He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken.
Through age after age I will have no trouble.”
⁷ Cursing fills his mouth, along with lies and threats.
Trouble and evil lie under his tongue.
⁸ He waits in ambush by the villages.
In hidden places he murders the innocent.
His eyes are spying on the helpless.
⁹ He lies in ambush. He hides like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to catch the oppressed.
He catches the oppressed by dragging them in his net.
¹⁰ The helpless are crushed. They sink down.
They fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He never sees.”

¹² Rise up, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the oppressed.
¹³ Why does the wicked man despise God?
Why does he say in his heart,
“You do not seek justice”?
¹⁴ But you do see. You notice trouble and grief.
You take it into your own hands.
The helpless one abandons himself to you.
For the fatherless you are indeed a helper.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked.
You pursue the wickedness of the evil man
    until you find no more.^[k]

¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever.
The nations will perish from his land.
¹⁷ Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.
You strengthen their hearts,
and your ear pays attention,
¹⁸ to obtain justice for the fatherless and the crushed,
so that the worldly man^[l] may no longer terrify.

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt. They do disgusting things.
There is no one who does good.
² The Lord looks down from heaven on all the children of Adam
    to see if there is anyone who understands, anyone who seeks God.
³ Every one of them has turned away.
Altogether they have become rotten.
There is no one who does good.
There is not even one.

⁴ Don’t any of these evildoers understand,
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread?
They do not call on the Lord.
⁵ There they are! They are terrified
    because God is present in the circle of the righteous.
⁶ You try to put the plans of the poor to shame,
but the Lord is their refuge.

⁷ Who will provide salvation for Israel from Zion?^[a]
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

¹ Guard me, O God, for I take refuge in you.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
I have no good apart from you.”^[b]
3 The holy ones who are in the land are glorious.
All my delight is in them.
⁴ Those who chase after another god will increase their sorrows.
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood.
I will not take up their names on my lips.

⁵ Lord, you are the cup that has been given to me.
You have secured an allotment for me.
⁶ The property lines chosen for me fall in pleasant places.
Yes, a delightful inheritance is mine.
⁷ I will bless the Lord, who guides me.
Even at night my heart^[c] instructs me.
⁸ I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
⁹ Therefore my heart is glad,
and my whole being^[d] rejoices.
Even my flesh will dwell securely
¹⁰     because you will not abandon my life to the grave.
    You will not let your favored one^[e] see decay.
¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life,
    fullness of joy in your presence,
    pleasures at your right hand forever.

¹ The heavens tell about the glory of God.
The expanse of the sky proclaims the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour out speech.
Night after night they display knowledge.
³ They do not speak. They say no words.
Their voice is not heard.^[a]
4 Their voice^[b] goes out into all the earth,
and their word reaches the end of the world.

⁷ The law^[c] of the Lord is perfect.
It revives the soul.
The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy.
It gives wisdom to the inexperienced.^[d]
8 The precepts of the Lord are right.
They give joy to the heart.
The commandment of the Lord is bright.
It gives light to the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is pure.
It stands forever.
The just decrees of the Lord are truth.
They are altogether righteous.
¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold,
even better than much pure gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the honeycomb.

¹¹ Yes, by them your servant is warned.
In keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can recognize his own errors?
Declare me innocent of hidden sins.
¹³ Restrain your servant also from deliberate sins.
Do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be blameless.
Then I will be innocent of great rebellion.
¹⁴ May the speech from my mouth
and the thoughts in my heart be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

¹ O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength.
He joyfully celebrates salvation from you.
² You have granted him what his heart desired. Interlude
You have not denied the request from his lips.
³ Yes, you meet him to give him great blessings.
You place a crown of pure gold on his head.
⁴ He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
length of days, forever and ever.
⁵ He receives great glory through the salvation you gave.
You bestow splendor and majesty on him.
⁶ Surely you grant him blessings forever.
You make him glad with joy in your presence.
⁷ Surely the king trusts in the Lord,
and through the mercy of the Most High he will not be shaken.

⁸ Your hand will reach all your enemies.
Your right hand will reach those who hate you.
⁹ At the time when you appear, O Lord,
you will make them like a blazing furnace.
In his anger he will swallow them.
Fire will consume them.
¹⁰ You will cause their fruit to perish from the earth,
their seed^[a] from among the children of Adam.
¹¹ Indeed, they intend^[b] evil against you.
They plan wicked schemes,
but they will not succeed,
¹²     because you will make them turn and run
    when you get ready to aim your arrows at them.

¹³ Rise up, O Lord, in your strength.
We will sing and make music because of your might.