alone and afflicted.
17b-My deep distress-b increases;
deliver me from my straits.
18Look at my affliction and suffering,
and forgive all my sins.
19See how numerous my enemies are,
and how unjustly they hate me!
20Protect me and save me;
let me not be disappointed,
for I have sought refuge in You.
21May integrity and uprightness watch over me,
for I look to You.
22O God, redeem Israel
from all its distress.
26 Of David.
Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked without blame;
I have trusted in the LORD;
I have not faltered.
2Probe me, O LORD, and try me,
test my a-heart and mind;-a
3 b-for my eyes are on Your steadfast love;
I have set my course by it.-b
4I do not consort with scoundrels,
or mix with hypocrites;
5I detest the company of evil men,
and do not consort with the wicked;
6I wash my hands in innocence,
and walk around Your altar, O LORD,
7raising my voice in thanksgiving,
and telling all Your wonders.
😯 LORD, I love Your temple abode,
the dwelling-place of Your glory.
9Do not sweep me away with sinners,
or [snuff out] my life with murderers,
10who have schemes at their fingertips,
and hands full of bribes.
11But I walk without blame;
redeem me, have mercy on me!
12My feet are on level ground.
In assemblies I will bless the LORD.
27 Of David.
The LORD is my light and my help;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life,
whom should I dread?
2When evil men assail me
a-to devour my flesh-a—
it is they, my foes and my enemies,
who stumble and fall.
3Should an army besiege me,
my heart would have no fear;
should war beset me,
still would I be confident.
4One thing I ask of the LORD,
only that do I seek:
to live in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD,
b-to frequent-b His temple.
5He will shelter me in His pavilion
on an evil day,
grant me the protection of His tent,
raise me high upon a rock.
6Now is my head high
over my enemies roundabout;
I sacrifice in His tent with shouts of joy,
singing and chanting a hymn to the LORD.
7Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
have mercy on me, answer me.
8 b-In Your behalf-b my heart says:
“Seek My face!”
O LORD, I seek Your face.
9Do not hide Your face from me;
do not thrust aside Your servant in anger;
You have ever been my help.
Do not forsake me, do not abandon me,
O God, my deliverer.
10Though my father and mother abandon me,
the LORD will take me in.
11Show me Your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my watchful foes.
12Do not subject me to the will of my foes,
for false witnesses and unjust accusers
have appeared against me.
13Had I not the assurance
that I would enjoy the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living &ldots;
14Look to the LORD;
be strong and of good courage!
O look to the LORD!
28Of David.
O LORD, I call to You;
my rock, do not disregard me,
for if You hold aloof from me,
I shall be like those gone down into the Pit.
2Listen to my plea for mercy
when I cry out to You,
when I lift my hands
toward Your inner sanctuary.
3Do not a-count me-a with the wicked and evildoers
who profess goodwill toward their fellows
while malice is in their heart.
4Pay them according to their deeds,
their malicious acts;
according to their handiwork pay them,
give them their deserts.
5For they do not consider the LORD’s deeds,
the work of His hands.
May He tear them down,
never to rebuild them!
6Blessed is the LORD,
for He listens to my plea for mercy.
7The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him.
I was helped,b and my heart exulted,
so I will glorify Him with my song.
8The LORD is c-their strength;-c
He is a stronghold for the deliverance of His anointed.
9Deliver and bless Your very own people;
tend them and sustain them forever.
29 A psalm of David.
Ascribe to the LORD, O divine beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name;
bow down to the LORD, majestic in holiness.
3The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD, over the mighty waters.
4The voice of the LORD is power;
the voice of the LORD is majesty;
5the voice of the LORD breaks cedars;
the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
6a-He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,-a
Sirion, like a young wild ox.
7The voice of the LORD kindles flames of fire;
8the voice of the LORD convulses the wilderness;
the LORD convulses the wilderness of Kadesh;
9the voice of the LORD causes hinds to calve,
b-and strips forests bare;-b
while in His temple all say “Glory!”
10The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood;
the LORD sits enthroned, king forever.
11May the LORD grant strength to His people;
may the LORD bestow on His people wellbeing.
30 A psalm of David. A song for the dedication of the House.a
2I extol You, O LORD,
for You have lifted me up,
and not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3O LORD, my God,
I cried out to You,
and You healed me.
4O LORD, You brought me up from Sheol,
preserved me from going down into the Pit.
5O you faithful of the LORD, sing to Him,
and praise His holy name.
6For He is angry but a moment,
and when He is pleased there is life.
b-One may lie down weeping at nightfall;-b
but at dawn there are shouts of joy.
7When I was untroubled,
I thought, “I shall never be shaken,”
8for You, O LORD, when You were pleased,
made [me]c firm as a mighty mountain.
When You hid Your face,
I was terrified.
9I called to You, O LORD;
to my LORD I made appeal,
10“What is to be gained from my death,d
from my descent into the Pit?
Can dust praise You?
Can it declare Your faithfulness?
11Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me;
O LORD, be my help!”
12You turned my lament into dancing,
you undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy,
13that [my] whole being might sing hymns to You endlessly;
O LORD my God, I will praise You forever.
31 For the leader. A psalm of David.
2I seek refuge in You, O LORD;
may I never be disappointed;
as You are righteous, rescue me.
3Incline Your ear to me;
be quick to save me;
be a rock, a stronghold for me,
a citadel, for my deliverance.
4For You are my rock and my fortress;
You lead me and guide me as befits Your name.
5You free me from the net laid for me,
for You are my stronghold.
6Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You redeem me, O LORD, faithful God.
7I detest those who rely on empty folly,
but I trust in the LORD.
8Let me exult and rejoice in Your faithfulness
when You notice my affliction,
are mindful of my deep distress,
9and do not hand me over to my enemy,
but a-grant me relief.-a
10Have mercy on me, O LORD,
for I am in distress;
my eyes are wasted by vexation,
b-my substance and body too.-b
11My life is spent in sorrow,
my years in groaning;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
my limbs waste away.
12Because of all my foes
I am the particular butt of my neighbors,
a horror to my friends;
those who see me on the street avoid me.
13I am put out of mind like the dead;
I am like an object given up for lost.
14I hear the whisperings of many,
intriguec on every side,
as they scheme together against me,
plotting to take my life.
15But I trust in You, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God!”
16My fate is in Your hand;
save me from the hand of my enemies and pursuers.
17Show favor to Your servant;
as You are faithful, deliver me.
18O LORD, let me not be disappointed when I call You;
let the wicked be disappointed;
let them be silenced in Sheol;
19let lying lips be stilled
that speak haughtily against the righteous
with arrogance and contempt.
20How abundant is the good
that You have in store for those who fear You,
that You do in the full view of men
for those who take refuge in You.
21You grant them the protection of Your presence
b-against scheming men;-b
You shelter them in Your pavilion
from contentious tongues.
22Blessed is the LORD,
for He has been wondrously faithful to me,
a veritable bastion.
23Alarmed, I had thought,
“I am thrust out of Your sight”;
yet You listened to my plea for mercy
when I cried out to You.
24So love the LORD, all you faithful;
the LORD guards the loyal,
and more than requites
him who acts arrogantly.
25Be strong and of good courage,
all you who wait for the LORD.
32 Of David. a-A maskil.-a
Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered over.
2Happy the man whom the LORD does not hold guilty,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3As long as I said nothing,
my limbs wasted away
from my anguished roaring all day long.
4For night and day
Your hand lay heavy on me;
my vigor waned
as in the summer drought.
Selah.
5Then I acknowledged my sin to You;
I did not cover up my guilt;
I resolved, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah.
6Therefore let every faithful man pray to You
b-upon discovering [his sin],-b
that the rushing mighty waters
not overtake him.
7You are my shelter;
You preserve me from distress;
You surround me with the joyous shouts of deliverance.
Selah.
8Let me enlighten you
and show you which way to go;
let me offer counsel; my eye is on you.
9Be not like a senseless horse or mule
a-whose movement must be curbed by bit and bridle;-a
c-far be it from you!-c
10Many are the torments of the wicked,
but he who trusts in the LORD
shall be surrounded with favor.
11Rejoice in the LORD and exult, O you righteous;
shout for joy, all upright men!
33 Sing forth, O you righteous, to the LORD;
it is fit that the upright acclaim Him.
2Praise the LORD with the lyre;
with the ten-stringed harp sing to Him;
3sing Him a new song;
play sweetly with shouts of joy.
4For the word of the LORD is right;
His every deed is faithful.
5He loves what is right and just;
the earth is full of the LORD’s faithful care.
6By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
by the breath of His mouth, all their host.
7He heaps up the ocean waters like a mound,
stores the deep in vaults.
8Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world dread Him.
9For He spoke, and it was;
He commanded,