¹May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

²May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

³May he remember all your sacrifices

and accept your burnt offerings.

⁴May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

⁵May we shout for joy over your victory

and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶Now this I know:

the Lord gives victory to his anointed.

He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary

with the victorious power of his right hand.

⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

⁸They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

⁹ Lord, give victory to the king!

Answer us when we call!

¹The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

²Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

³They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

⁴Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

⁵It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

⁶It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

⁸The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

⁹The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring for ever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm,

and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

¹¹By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

¹³Keep your servant also from wilful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

¹I love you, Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

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

³I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from my enemies.

⁴The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁵The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

⁷The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

⁹He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

¹⁰He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him –

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

¹²Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

¹⁵The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

²²All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

²³I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

²⁴The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

²⁶to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

²⁷You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

²⁸You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

²⁹With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

³⁰As for God, his way is perfect:

the Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

³²It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

³³He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

³⁶You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

³⁸I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

³⁹You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no-one to save them –

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

⁴²I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled them like mud in the streets.

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

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

⁴⁴foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

⁴⁵They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Saviour!

⁴⁷He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

⁴⁸who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

⁴⁹Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵⁰He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

to David and to his descendants for ever.

A prayer of David.

¹Hear me, Lord, my plea is just;

listen to my cry.

Hear my prayer –

it does not rise from deceitful lips.

²Let my vindication come from you;

may your eyes see what is right.

³Though you probe my heart,

though you examine me at night and test me,

you will find that I have planned no evil;

my mouth has not transgressed.

⁴Though people tried to bribe me,

I have kept myself from the ways of the violent

through what your lips have commanded.

⁵My steps have held to your paths;

my feet have not stumbled.

⁶I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;

turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

⁷Show me the wonders of your great love,

you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes.

⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

⁹from the wicked who are out to destroy me,

from my mortal enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They close up their callous hearts,

and their mouths speak with arrogance.

¹¹They have tracked me down, they now surround me,

with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

¹²They are like a lion hungry for prey,

like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

¹³Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down;

with your sword rescue me from the wicked.

¹⁴By your hand save me from such people, Lord,

from those of this world whose reward is in this life.

May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;

may their children gorge themselves on it,

and may there be leftovers for their little ones.

¹⁵As for me, I shall be vindicated and shall see your face;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

¹Keep me safe, my God,

for in you I take refuge.

²I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;

apart from you I have no good thing.’

³I say of the holy people who are in the land,

‘They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’

⁴Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.

I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods

or take up their names on my lips.

⁵ Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure.

⁶The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

⁷I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

¹¹You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

¹ Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?

Who may live on your holy mountain?

²The one whose way of life is blameless,

who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from their heart;

³whose tongue utters no slander,

who does no wrong to a neighbour,

and casts no slur on others;

⁴who despises a vile person

but honours those who fear the Lord;

who keeps an oath even when it hurts,

and does not change their mind;

⁵who lends money to the poor without interest;

who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things

will never be shaken.

¹The fool says in his heart,

‘There is no God.’

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;

there is no-one who does good.

²The Lord looks down from heaven

on all mankind

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

³All have turned away, all have become corrupt;

there is no-one who does good,

not even one.

⁴Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;

they never call on the Lord.

⁵But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,

for God is present in the company of the righteous.

⁶You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,

but the Lord is their refuge.

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

When the Lord restores his people,

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

¹How long, Lord? Will you forget me for ever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

²How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³Look on me and answer, Lord my God.

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

⁴and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’

and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

⁶I will sing the Lord’s praise,

for he has been good to me.

¹Help, Lord, for no-one is faithful anymore;

those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.

²Everyone lies to their neighbour;

they flatter with their lips

but harbour deception in their hearts.

³May the Lord silence all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue –

⁴those who say,

‘By our tongues we will prevail;

our own lips will defend us – who is lord over us?’

⁵‘Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,

I will now arise,’ says the Lord.

‘I will protect them from those who malign them.’

⁶And the words of the Lord are flawless,

like silver purified in a crucible,

like gold refined seven times.

⁷You, Lord, will keep the needy safe

and will protect us for ever from the wicked,

⁸who freely strut about

when what is vile is honoured by the human race.

¹In the Lord I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:

‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.

²For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart.

³When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?’

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord is on his heavenly throne.

He observes everyone on earth;

his eyes examine them.

⁵The Lord examines the righteous,

but the wicked, those who love violence,

he hates with a passion.

⁶On the wicked he will rain

fiery coals and burning sulphur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

⁷For the Lord is righteous,

he loves justice;

the upright will see his face.