New King James Version (NKJV)

The Confidence of the Foolish

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 Hear this, all peoples;

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

2 Both low and high,

Rich and poor together.

3 My mouth shall speak wisdom,

And the meditation of my heartshallgiveunderstanding.

4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will disclose my dark saying on the harp.

5 Why should I fear in the days of evil,

Whenthe iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

6 Those whotrust in their wealth

And boast in the multitude of their riches,

7 Noneofthemcan by any means redeemhisbrother,

# Norgive to God a ransom for him—

8 Forthe redemption of their soulsiscostly,

And it shall cease forever—

9 That he should continue to live eternally,

# Andnot see the Pit.

10 For he sees wise men die;

Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,

And leave their wealth to others.

11 Their inner thoughtisthattheir houseswilllastforever,

Their dwelling places to all generations;

# Theycalltheirlands after their own names.

12 Nevertheless man,thoughin honor, does not remain;

He is like the beaststhatperish.

13 This is the way of those whoarefoolish,

And of their posterity who approve their sayings.

Selah

14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave;

Death shall feed on them;

# The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;

# And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.

15 But Godwill redeem my soul from the power of the grave,

# For He shallreceive me.

Selah

16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,

When the glory of his house is increased;

17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;

His glory shall not descend after him.

18 Though while he liveshe blesses himself

(Formenwill praise you when you do well for yourself),

19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers;

# They shall never seelight.

20 A manwhoisin honor, yet does not understand,

# Is like the beaststhatperish.

God the Righteous Judge

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 TheMighty One, God theLord,

Has spoken and called the earth

From the rising of the sun to its going down.

2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

# God will shine forth.

3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;

# A fire shall devour before Him,

And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.

4 He shall call to the heavens from above,

And to the earth, that He may judge His people:

5 “GatherMy saints together to Me,

# Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

6 Let theheavens declare His righteousness,

# ForGod HimselfisJudge.

Selah

7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,

O Israel, and I will testify against you;

# IamGod, your God!

8 I will not rebuke youfor your sacrifices

Or your burnt offerings,

Whicharecontinually before Me.

9 I will not take a bull from your house,

Norgoats out of your folds.

10 For every beast of the forestisMine,

Andthe cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know all the birds of the mountains,

And the wild beasts of the fieldareMine.

12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;

# For the worldisMine, and all its fullness.

13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,

Or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer to God thanksgiving,

# Andpay your vows to the Most High.

15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

16 But to the wicked God says:

“Whatrighthave you to declare My statutes,

Or take My covenant in your mouth,

17 Seeing you hate instruction

And cast My words behind you?

18 When you saw a thief, youconsented with him,

# And have been apartaker with adulterers.

19 You give your mouth to evil,

# Andyour tongue frames deceit.

20 You sitandspeak against your brother;

You slander your own mother’s son.

21 Thesethingsyou have done, and I kept silent;

# You thought that I was altogether like you;

ButI will rebuke you,

# Andsetthemin order before your eyes.

22 “Now consider this, you whoforget God,

Lest I tearyouin pieces,

Andtherebenone to deliver:

23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;

# Andto him who ordershisconductaright

I will show the salvation of God.”

A Prayer of Repentance

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David

#

when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

# Blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sinisalways before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,

# And donethisevilin Your sight—

# That You may be found just when You speak,

Andblameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hiddenpartYou will make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

# Wash me, and I shall bewhiter than snow.

8 Make me hear joy and gladness,

# Thatthe bones You have brokenmay rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,

# And do not take YourHoly Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

# And uphold mebyYourgenerous Spirit.

13 ThenI will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

The God of my salvation,

Andmy tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips,

And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

16 ForYou do not desire sacrifice, or else I would giveit;

You do not delight in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of Godarea broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;

Build the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then You shall be pleased withthe sacrifices of righteousness,

With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;

Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

The End of the Wicked and the Peace of the Godly

To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David

#

when Doeg the Edomite went and

#

told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”

1 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?

The goodness of Godendurescontinually.

2 Your tongue devises destruction,

Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

3 You love evil more than good,

Lying rather than speaking righteousness.

Selah

4 You love all devouring words,

Youdeceitful tongue.

5 God shall likewise destroy you forever;

He shall take you away, and pluck you out ofyourdwelling place,

And uproot you from the land of the living.

Selah

6 The righteous also shall see and fear,

And shall laugh at him,saying,

7 “Here is the manwhodid not make God his strength,

But trusted in the abundance of his riches,

Andstrengthened himself in his wickedness.”

8 But Iamlike a green olive tree in the house of God;

I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

9 I will praise You forever,

Because You have doneit;

And in the presence of Your saints

I will wait on Your name, foritis good.

Folly of the Godless, and the Restoration of Israel

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A Contemplation of David.

1 Thefool has said in his heart,

“Thereisno God.”

They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;

# Thereisnone who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,

# To see if there areanywho understand, whoseek God.

3 Every one of them has turned aside;

They have together become corrupt;

Thereisnone who does good,

No, not one.

4 Have the workers of iniquityno knowledge,

Who eat up my peopleasthey eat bread,

And do not call upon God?

5 There they are in great fear

Whereno fear was,

For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;

You have putthemto shame,

Because God has despised them.

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

When God brings back the captivity of His people,

Let Jacob rejoiceandIsrael be glad.

Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries

To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Contemplation of David

#

when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?”

1 Save me, O God, by Your name,

And vindicate me by Your strength.

2 Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers have risen up against me,

And oppressors have sought after my life;

They have not set God before them.

Selah

4 Behold, Godismy helper;

The Lordiswith those who uphold my life.

5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.

Cut them off in Your truth.

6 I will freely sacrifice to You;

I will praise Your name, OLord, foritisgood.

7 For He has delivered me out of all trouble;

# And my eye has seenitsdesireupon my enemies.

Trust in God Concerning the Treachery of Friends

To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Contemplation of David.

1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,

And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

2 Attend to me, and hear me;

# Iam restless in my complaint, and moan noisily,

3 Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the oppression of the wicked;

# For they bring down trouble upon me,

And in wrath they hate me.

4 My heart is severely pained within me,

And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,

And horror has overwhelmed me.

6 So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

7 Indeed, I would wander far off,

Andremain in the wilderness.

Selah

8 I would hasten my escape

From the windy stormandtempest.”

9 Destroy, O Lord,anddivide their tongues,

# For I have seenviolence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they go around it on its walls;

# Iniquity and troublearealso in the midst of it.

11 Destructionisin its midst;

# Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.

12 Foritisnot an enemywhoreproaches me;

Then I could bearit.

# Norisitonewhohates me who hasexaltedhimselfagainst me;

Then I could hide from him.

13 Butitwasyou, a man my equal,

# My companion and my acquaintance.

14 We took sweet counsel together,

# Andwalked to the house of God in the throng.

15 Let death seize them;

# Let themgo down alive into hell,

For wickednessisin their dwellingsandamong them.

16 As for me, I will call upon God,

And theLordshall save me.

17 Evening and morning and at noon

I will pray, and cry aloud,

And He shall hear my voice.

18 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battlethatwasagainst me,

# Forthere were many against me.

19 God will hear, and afflict them,

# Even He who abides from of old.

Selah

Because they do not change,

Therefore they do not fear God.

20 He hasput forth his hands against those whowere at peace with him;

He has broken his covenant.

21 Thewordsof his mouth were smoother than butter,

But warwasin his heart;

His words were softer than oil,

Yet theyweredrawn swords.

22 Cast your burden on theLord,

# AndHe shall sustain you;

He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

23 But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;

# Bloodthirsty and deceitful menshall not live out half their days;

But I will trust in You.

Prayer for Relief from Tormentors

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when the

#

Philistines captured him in Gath.

1 Bemerciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;

Fighting all day he oppresses me.

2 My enemies wouldhoundmeall day,

Fortherearemany who fight against me, O Most High.

3 Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

4 In God (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

# I will not fear.

What can flesh do to me?

5 All day they twist my words;

All their thoughtsareagainst me for evil.

6 They gather together,

They hide, they mark my steps,

When they lie in wait for my life.

7 Shall they escape by iniquity?

In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

8 You number my wanderings;

Put my tears into Your bottle;

# Aretheynot in Your book?

9 When I cry outtoYou,

Then my enemies will turn back;

# This I know, becauseGodisfor me.

10 In God (I will praiseHisword),

In theLord(I will praiseHisword),

11 In God I have put my trust;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12 Vowsmadeto Youarebindingupon me, O God;

I will render praises to You,

13 For You have delivered my soul from death.

HaveYounotkeptmy feet from falling,

That I may walk before God

# In thelight of the living?

Prayer for Safety from Enemies

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David

#

when he fled from Saul into the cave.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!

For my soul trusts in You;

# And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,

# Untilthesecalamities have passed by.

2 I will cry out to God Most High,

# To Godwho performsallthingsfor me.

3 He shall send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.

Selah

# Godshall send forth His mercy and His truth.

4 My soulisamong lions;

I lieamongthe sons of men

Who are set on fire,

# Whose teetharespears and arrows,

And their tongue a sharp sword.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

LetYour glorybeabove all the earth.

6 They have prepared a net for my steps;

My soul is bowed down;

They have dug a pit before me;

Into the midst of it theythemselveshave fallen.

Selah

7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and give praise.

8 Awake,my glory!

Awake, lute and harp!

I will awaken the dawn.

9 I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing to You among the nations.

10 For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,

And Your truth unto the clouds.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

LetYour glorybeabove all the earth.

The Just Judgment of the Wicked

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.

1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?

Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?

2 No, in heart you work wickedness;

You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;

They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

4 Their poisonislike the poison of a serpent;

Theyarelike the deaf cobrathatstops its ear,

5 Which will notheed the voice of charmers,

Charming ever so skillfully.

6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God!

Break out the fangs of the young lions, OLord!

7 Let them flow away as waterswhichrun continually;

Whenhe bendshisbow,

Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.

8 Letthembelike a snail which melts away as it goes,

# Likea stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

9 Before yourpots can feeltheburningthorns,

# He shall take them awayas with a whirlwind,

As in His living and burning wrath.

10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees thevengeance;

# He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,

11 So that men will say,

“Surelythereisa reward for the righteous;

# Surely He is God whojudges in the earth.”