Category: Psalms

The Lord a Refuge and Defense.

1 In the LordI take refuge;

How can you say to my soul, “Fleeasa bird to your mountain;

2 For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,

They make ready their arrow upon the string

To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

3 If the foundations are destroyed,

What can the righteous do?”

4 The Lordis in His holy temple; the Lord’sthrone is in heaven;

His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.

5 The Lordtests the righteous and the wicked,

And the one who loves violence His soul hates.

6 Upon the wicked He will rainsnares;

Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.

7 For the Lordis righteous, He loves righteousness;

The upright will behold His face.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/11-235b4c89e181ac880a933a7aa2f639f4.mp3?version_id=100—

God, a Helper against the Treacherous.

1 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

2 They speak falsehood to one another;

With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lordcut off all flattering lips,

The tongue that speaks great things;

4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;

Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

5 “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,

Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

6 The words of the Lordare pure words;

As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

7 You, O Lord, will keep them;

You will preserve him from this generation forever.

8 The wicked strut about on every side

Whenvileness is exalted among the sons of men.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/12-5ef4bcf9b8cb857ca3888544ac6bc7e2.mp3?version_id=100—

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

1 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Havingsorrow in my heart all the day?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Considerandanswer me, O Lordmy God;

Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep thesleep ofdeath,

4 And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

Andmy adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

6 I will sing to the Lord,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/13-0f9a488ab5e443e378e71a3f5c88e9fb.mp3?version_id=100—

Folly and Wickedness of Men.

1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;

There is no one who does good.

2 The Lordhas looked down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there are any who understand,

Who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;

There is no one who does good, not even one.

4 Do all the workers of wickedness not know,

Who eat up my peopleasthey eat bread,

Anddo not call upon the Lord?

5 There they are in great dread,

For God is with the righteous generation.

6 You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,

But the Lordis his refuge.

7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lordrestores His captive people,

Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/14-08a93a5e517f2c11d650cccd54efc959.mp3?version_id=100—

Description of a Citizen of Zion.

1 O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,

And speaks truth in his heart.

3 He does not slander with his tongue,

Nor does evil to his neighbor,

Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,

But who honors those who fear the Lord;

He swears to his own hurt and does not change;

5 He does not put out his moneyat interest,

Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/15-87c6c5e575faadf1b92c157242b17d5a.mp3?version_id=100—

The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.

1 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.

2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good besides You.”

3 As for the saints who are in the earth,

They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.

4 The sorrows of those who have bartered for anothergodwill be multiplied;

I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood,

Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

5 The Lordis the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You support my lot.

6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

7 I will bless the Lordwho has counseled me;

Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

8 I have set the Lordcontinually before me;

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will dwell securely.

10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

Nor will You allow Your Holy One toundergo decay.

11 You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/16-6a2e671df7c5520fb06ed236de2e6e73.mp3?version_id=100—

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.

1 Hear a just cause, O Lord, give heed to my cry;

Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips.

2 Let my judgment come forth from Your presence;

Let Your eyes look with equity.

3 You have tried my heart;

You have visitedmeby night;

You have tested me and You findnothing;

I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.

4 As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips

I have kept from the paths of the violent.

5 My steps have held fast to Your paths.

My feet have not slipped.

6 I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God;

Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.

7 Wondrously show Your lovingkindness,

O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand

From those who rise upagainst them.

8 Keep me asthe apple of the eye;

Hide me in the shadow of Your wings

9 From the wicked who despoil me,

My deadly enemies who surround me.

10 They have closed their unfeelingheart,

With their mouth they speak proudly.

11 They have now surrounded us in our steps;

They set their eyes to castusdown to the ground.

12 He is like a lion that is eager to tear,

And as a young lion lurking in hiding places.

13 Arise, O Lord, confront him, bring him low;

Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword,

14 From men with Your hand, O Lord,

From men of the world, whose portion is inthislife,

And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;

They are satisfied with children,

And leave their abundance to their babes.

15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;

I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/17-7eb226c18caa914a6d516c2ad4ed7245.mp3?version_id=100—

The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.

1 “I love You, O Lord, my strength.”

2 The Lordis my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me,

And the torrents ofungodliness terrified me.

5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,

And cried to my God for help;

He heard my voice out of His temple,

And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

7 Then the earth shook and quaked;

And the foundations of the mountains were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils,

And fire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With thick darkness under His feet.

10 He rode upon a cherub and flew;

And He sped upon the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,

Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

13 The Lordalso thundered in the heavens,

And the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,

And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.

15 Then the channels of water appeared,

And the foundations of the world were laid bare

At Your rebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,

And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

But the Lordwas my stay.

19 He brought me forth also into a broad place;

He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

20 The Lordhas rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all His ordinances were before me,

And I did not put away His statutes from me.

23 I was alsoblameless with Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

24 Therefore the Lordhas recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

25 With the kind You show Yourself kind;

With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

26 With the pure You show Yourself pure,

And with the crooked You show Yourselfastute.

27 For You save an afflicted people,

But haughty eyes You abase.

28 For You light my lamp;

The Lordmy God illumines my darkness.

29 For by You I canrun upon a troop;

And by my God I can leap over a wall.

30 As for God, His way is blameless;

The word of the Lordis tried;

He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

31 For who is God, but the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God,

32 The God who girds me with strength

And makes my way blameless?

33 He makes my feet like hinds’feet,

And sets me upon my high places.

34 He trains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,

And Your right hand upholds me;

And Your gentleness makes me great.

36 You enlarge my steps under me,

And my feet have not slipped.

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

38 I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise;

They fell under my feet.

39 For You have girded me with strength for battle;

You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,

And Idestroyed those who hated me.

41 They cried for help, but there was none to save,

Evento the Lord, but He did not answer them.

42 Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;

I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the contentions of the people;

You have placed me as head of the nations;

A people whom I have not known serve me.

44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;

Foreignerssubmit to me.

45 Foreigners fade away,

And come trembling out of their fortresses.

46 The Lordlives, and blessed be my rock;

And exalted be the God of my salvation,

47 The God who executes vengeance for me,

And subdues peoples under me.

48 He delivers me from my enemies;

Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the violent man.

49 Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord,

And I will sing praises to Your name.

50 He gives greatdeliverance to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,

To David and his descendants forever.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/18-758f60c6d124803f7351c8ef181ceaae.mp3?version_id=100—

The Works and the Word of God.

1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

2 Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard.

4 Theirline has gone out through all the earth,

And their utterances to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the other end of them;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lordisperfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lordis sure, making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the Lordare right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lordis pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lordis clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lordare true; they are righteous altogether.

10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;

In keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discernhiserrors? Acquit me of hiddenfaults.

13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuoussins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I will beblameless,

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/19-97a90b2406e39470694de63f60627408.mp3?version_id=100—

Prayer for Victory over Enemies.

1 May the Lordanswer you in the day of trouble!

May the name of the God of Jacob set yousecurelyon high!

2 May He send you help from the sanctuary

And support you from Zion!

3 May He remember all your meal offerings

And find your burnt offering acceptable! Selah.

4 May He grant you your heart’s desire

And fulfill all yourcounsel!

5 We will sing for joy over your victory,

And in the name of our God we will set up our banners.

May the Lordfulfill all your petitions.

6 Now I know that the Lordsaves His anointed;

He will answer him from His holy heaven

With the saving strength of His right hand.

7 Someboastin chariots and some in horses,

But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.

8 They have bowed down and fallen,

But we have risen and stood upright.

9 Save, O Lord;

May the King answer us in the day we call.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/PSA/20-c9fb1b6d254a598c779f6f24e22c2e06.mp3?version_id=100—