Book Order Plan

¹A Psalm of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away. I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

²My soul makes its boast in the LORD; The humble and downtrodden will hear it and rejoice.

³O magnify the LORD with me, And let us lift up His name together.

⁴I sought the LORD [on the authority of His word], and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.

⁵They looked to Him and were radiant; Their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.

⁶This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him from all his troubles.

⁷The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience], And He rescues [each of] them.

⁸O taste and see that the LORD [our God] is good; How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.

⁹O [reverently] fear the LORD, you His saints (believers, holy ones); For to those who fear Him there is no want.

¹⁰The young lions lack [food] and grow hungry, But they who seek the LORD will not lack any good thing.

¹¹Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you to fear the LORD [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience].

¹²Who is the man who desires life And loves many days, that he may see good?

¹³Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit.

¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous [those with moral courage and spiritual integrity] And His ears are open to their cry.

¹⁶The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷When the righteous cry [for help], the LORD hears And rescues them from all their distress and troubles.

¹⁸The LORD is near to the heartbroken And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).

¹⁹Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous, But the LORD rescues him from them all.

²⁰He keeps all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

²¹Evil will cause the death of the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be held guilty and will be condemned.

²²The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

¹A Psalm of David. Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me.

²Take hold of shield and buckler ( small shield), And stand up for my help.

³Draw also the spear and javelin to meet those who pursue me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation."

⁴Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; Let those be turned back [in defeat] and humiliated who plot evil against me.

⁵Let them be [blown away] like chaff before the wind [worthless, without substance], With the angel of the LORD driving them on.

⁶Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the LORD pursuing and harassing them.

⁷For without cause they hid their net for me; Without cause they dug a pit [of destruction] for my life.

⁸Let destruction come upon my enemy by surprise; Let the net he hid for me catch him; Into that very destruction let him fall.

⁹Then my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; It shall rejoice in His salvation.

¹⁰All my bones will say, "LORD, who is like You, Who rescues the afflicted from him who is too strong for him [to resist alone], And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?"

¹¹Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know.

¹²They repay me evil for good, To the sorrow of my soul.

¹³But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment); I humbled my soul with fasting, And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

¹⁴I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother; I bowed down in mourning, as one who sorrows for his mother.

¹⁵But in my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together [against me]; The slanderers whom I did not know gathered against me; They slandered and reviled me without ceasing.

¹⁶Like godless jesters at a feast, They gnashed at me with their teeth [in malice].

¹⁷LORD, how long will You look on [without action]? Rescue my life from their destructions, My only life from the young lions.

¹⁸I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty people.

¹⁹Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me; Nor let those who hate me without cause wink their eye [maliciously].

²⁰For they do not speak peace, But they devise deceitful words [half-truths and lies] against those who are quiet in the land.

²¹They open their mouths wide against me; They say, "Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!"

²²You have seen this, O LORD; do not keep silent. O Lord, do not be far from me.

²³Wake Yourself up, and arise to my right And to my cause, my God and my Lord.

²⁴Judge me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness and justice; And do not let them rejoice over me.

²⁵Do not let them say in their heart, "Aha, that is what we wanted!" Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up and destroyed him."

²⁶Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who rejoice at my distress; Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.

²⁷Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication and want what is right for me; Let them say continually, "Let the LORD be magnified, who delights and takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."

²⁸And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness (justice), And Your praise all the day long.

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. Transgression speaks [like an oracle] to the wicked (godless) [deep] within his heart; There is no fear (dread) of God before his eyes.

²For he flatters and deceives himself in his own eyes Thinking that his sinfulness will not be discovered and hated [by God].

³The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

⁴He plans wrongdoing on his bed; He sets himself on a path that is not good; He does not reject or despise evil.

⁵Your lovingkindness and graciousness, O LORD, extend to the skies, Your faithfulness [reaches] to the clouds.

⁶Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are like the great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

⁷How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

⁸They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You allow them to drink from the river of Your delights.

⁹For with You is the fountain of life [the fountain of life-giving water]; In Your light we see light.

¹⁰O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart.

¹¹Do not let the foot of the proud [person] overtake me, And do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹²There those who [are perverse and] do evil have fallen; They have been thrust down and cannot rise.

¹A Psalm of David. Do not worry because of evildoers, Nor be envious toward wrongdoers;

²For they will wither quickly like the grass, And fade like the green herb.

³Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness.

⁴Delight yourself in the LORD, And He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the LORD; Trust in Him also and He will do it.

⁶He will make your righteousness [your pursuit of right standing with God] like the light, And your judgment like [the shining of] the noonday [sun].

⁷Be still before the LORD; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him; Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

⁸Cease from anger and abandon wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evil.

⁹For those who do evil will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

¹⁰For yet a little while and the wicked one will be gone [forever]; Though you look carefully where he used to be, he will not be [found].

¹¹But the humble will [at last] inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity and peace.

¹²The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth.

¹³The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous], For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.

¹⁴The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character].

¹⁵The sword [of the ungodly] will enter their own heart, And their bow will be broken.

¹⁶Better is the little of the righteous [who seek the will of God] Than the abundance (riches) of many wicked (godless).

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked will be broken, But the LORD upholds and sustains the righteous [who seek Him].

¹⁸The LORD knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will continue forever.

¹⁹They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have plenty and be satisfied.

²⁰But the wicked (ungodly) will perish, And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures and like the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke], They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and kind and gives.

²²For those blessed by God will [at last] inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

²³The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the LORD, And He delights in his way [and blesses his path].

²⁴When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand and sustains him.

²⁵I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned Or his descendants pleading for bread.

²⁶All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.

²⁷Depart from evil and do good; And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever.

²⁸For the LORD delights in justice And does not abandon His saints (faithful ones); They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off.

²⁹The righteous will inherit the land And live in it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous proclaims wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice and truth.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart; Not one of his steps will slip.

³²The wicked lies in wait for the righteous And seeks to kill him.

³³The LORD will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged.

³⁴Wait for and expect the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; [In the end] when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

³⁵I have seen a wicked, violent man [with great power] Spreading and flaunting himself like a cedar in its native soil,

³⁶Yet he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought him, but he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless man [who is spiritually complete], and behold the upright [who walks in moral integrity]; There is a [good] future for the man of peace [because a life of honor blesses one's descendants].

³⁸As for transgressors, they will be completely destroyed; The future of the wicked will be cut off.

³⁹But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their refuge and stronghold in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰The LORD helps them and rescues them; He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.