Psalm 7

New American Standard Bible

The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

A ^[a]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord ^[b]concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.

7 O Lord my God, ^(A)in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and ^(B)rescue me,
²Or he will tear ^[c]my soul ^(C)like a lion,
Dragging me away, while there is no one to rescue me.

³O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is ^(D)injustice in my hands,
⁴If I have ^(E)done evil to ^[d]my friend,
Or have ^(F)plundered ^[e]my enemy for no reason,
⁵Let the enemy pursue ^[f]my soul and overtake ^[g]it;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah

⁶^(G)Arise, Lord, in Your anger;
^(H)Raise Yourself against ^(I)the rage of my enemies,
And ^(J)stir Yourself ^[h]for me; You have ordered judgment.
⁷Let the assembly of the ^(K)peoples encompass You,
And return on high over it.
⁸The Lord ^(L)judges the peoples;
^[i]^(M)Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
⁹Please let ^(N)the evil of the wicked come to an end, but ^(O)establish the righteous;
For the righteous God ^(P)puts hearts and ^[j]minds to the test.
¹⁰My ^(Q)shield is ^[k]with God,
Who ^(R)saves the upright in heart.
¹¹God is a ^(S)righteous judge,
And a God who ^(T)shows indignation every day.

¹²If one ^(U)does not repent, He will ^(V)sharpen His sword;
He has ^(W)bent His bow and taken aim.
¹³He has also prepared deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His ^(X)arrows fiery shafts.
¹⁴Behold, an evil person is pregnant with injustice,
And he ^(Y)conceives harm and gives birth to lies.
¹⁵He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has ^(Z)fallen into the hole which he made.
¹⁶His ^(AA)harm will return on his own head,
And his ^(AB)violence will descend on the top of his own head.

¹⁷I will give thanks to the Lord ^(AC)according to His righteousness
And will ^(AD)sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

Footnotes

Psalm 7 Title I.e., Dithyrambic rhythm; or wild, passionate song
Psalm 7 Title Or concerning the words of
Psalm 7:2 Or me
Psalm 7:4 Lit him who was at peace with me
Psalm 7:4 Or him who for no reason was my enemy,
Psalm 7:5 Or me
Psalm 7:5 Or me
Psalm 7:6 One ancient version reads O my God
Psalm 7:8 Lit Judge
Psalm 7:9 Lit kidneys, figurative for inner man
Psalm 7:10 Lit upon

Psalm 27

New American Standard Bible

A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my ^(A)light and my ^(B)salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the ^[a]^(C)defense of my life;
^(D)Whom should I dread?
²When evildoers came upon me to ^(E)devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they ^(F)stumbled and fell.
³If an ^(G)army encamps against me,
My heart will not fear;
If war arises against me,
In spite of this I am ^(H)confident.

⁴^(I)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may ^(J)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold ^(K)the ^[b]beauty of the Lord
And to ^[c]^(L)meditate in His temple.
⁵For on the ^(M)day of trouble He will ^(N)conceal me in His ^[d]tabernacle;
He will ^(O)hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will ^(P)lift me up on a rock.
⁶And now ^(Q)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer ^(R)sacrifices in His tent ^[e]with shouts of joy;
I will ^(S)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷^(T)Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and ^(U)answer me.
⁸When You said, “^(V)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“^(W)I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
⁹^(X)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in ^(Y)anger;
You have been ^(Z)my help;
^(AA)Do not abandon me nor ^(AB)forsake me,
God of my salvation!
¹⁰^[f]For my father and ^(AC)my mother have forsaken me,
But ^(AD)the Lord will take me up.

¹¹^(AE)Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a ^(AF)level path
Because of my enemies.
¹²Do not turn me over to the ^[g]^(AG)desire of my enemies,
For ^(AH)false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent ^(AI)witness.
¹³I certainly believed that I would see the ^(AJ)goodness of the Lord
In the ^(AK)land of the living.
¹⁴^(AL)Wait for the Lord;
Be ^(AM)strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

Footnotes

Psalm 27:1 Or refuge
Psalm 27:4 Lit delightfulness
Psalm 27:4 Lit inquire
Psalm 27:5 Or shelter
Psalm 27:6 Lit of shouts
Psalm 27:10 Or If my father...forsake me, Then the Lord
Psalm 27:12 Lit soul

Psalm 31

New American Standard Bible

A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

31 ^(A)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never ^(B)be ^[a]put to shame;
^(C)In Your righteousness rescue me.
²^(D)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be a ^(E)rock of ^[b]strength for me,
A ^[c]stronghold to save me.
³For You are my rock and ^(F)my fortress;
For the ^(G)sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
⁴You will ^(H)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my ^(I)strength.
⁵^(J)Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have ^(K)redeemed me, Lord, ^(L)God of ^[d]truth.

⁶I hate those who ^(M)devote themselves to worthless ^[e]idols,
But I ^(N)trust in the Lord.
⁷I will ^(O)rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,
Because You have ^(P)seen my misery;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
⁸And You have not ^(Q)handed me over to the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.

⁹Be gracious to me, Lord, for ^(R)I am in distress;
My ^(S)eye is wasted away from grief, ^(T)my soul and my body too.
¹⁰For my life is spent with ^(U)sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My ^(V)strength has failed because of my guilt,
And ^(W)my ^[f]body has wasted away.
¹¹Because of all my adversaries, I have become a ^(X)disgrace,
Especially to my ^(Y)neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
¹²I am ^(Z)forgotten like a dead person, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
¹³For I have heard the ^[g]^(AA)slander of many,
^(AB)Terror is on every side;
While they ^(AC)took counsel together against me,
They ^(AD)schemed to take away my life.

¹⁴But as for me, I trust in You, Lord,
I say, “^(AE)You are my God.”
¹⁵My ^(AF)times are in Your hand;
^(AG)Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
¹⁶Make Your ^(AH)face shine upon Your servant;
^(AI)Save me in Your faithfulness.
¹⁷Let me not be ^(AJ)put to shame, Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the ^(AK)wicked be put to shame, let them ^(AL)be silent in ^[h]Sheol.
¹⁸Let the ^(AM)lying lips be speechless,
Which ^(AN)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.

¹⁹How great is Your ^(AO)goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have performed for those who ^(AP)take refuge in You,
^(AQ)Before the sons of mankind!
²⁰You hide them in the ^(AR)secret place of Your presence from the ^(AS)conspiracies of mankind;
You keep them secretly in a ^[i]shelter from the ^(AT)strife of tongues.
²¹^(AU)Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His ^(AV)marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged ^(AW)city.
²²As for me, ^(AX)I said in my alarm,
“I am ^(AY)cut off from Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You ^(AZ)heard the sound of my pleadings
When I called to You for help.

²³Love the Lord, all ^(BA)His godly ones!
The Lord ^(BB)watches over the faithful
But fully ^(BC)repays the one who acts arrogantly.
²⁴^(BD)Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who wait for the Lord.

Footnotes

Psalm 31:1 Or ashamed;
Psalm 31:2 Or refuge, protection
Psalm 31:2 Lit house of a stronghold
Psalm 31:5 Or faithfulness
Psalm 31:6 Lit futilities
Psalm 31:10 Or bones, substance
Psalm 31:13 Lit whispering
Psalm 31:17 I.e., the netherworld
Psalm 31:20 Or pavilion

Psalm 34

New American Standard Bible

The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.

A Psalm of David, when he pretended to be insane before ^[a]Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

34 I will ^(A)bless the Lord at all times;
His ^(B)praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul will ^(C)make its boast in the Lord;
The ^(D)humble will hear it and rejoice.
³^(E)Exalt the Lord with me,
And let’s ^(F)exalt His name together.

⁴I ^(G)sought the Lord and He answered me,
And ^(H)rescued me from all my fears.
⁵They ^(I)looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will ^(J)never be ashamed.
⁶This wretched man cried out, and ^(K)the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷The ^(L)angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.

⁸^(M)Taste and see that the Lord is good;
How ^(N)blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
⁹Fear the Lord, you ^(O)His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is ^(P)no lack of anything.
¹⁰The young lions do without and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord will ^(Q)not lack any good thing.
¹¹^(R)Come, you children, listen to me;
^(S)I will teach you ^(T)the fear of the Lord.
¹²^(U)Who is the person who desires life
And loves length of days, that he may ^(V)see good?
¹³Keep ^(W)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking ^(X)deceit.
¹⁴^(Y)Turn from evil and do good;
Seek peace and ^(Z)pursue it.

¹⁵The ^(AA)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears are toward their cry for help.
¹⁶The ^(AB)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To ^(AC)eliminate the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷The righteous ^(AD)cry out, and the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸The Lord ^(AE)is near to the ^(AF)brokenhearted
And saves those who are ^[b]^(AG)crushed in spirit.

¹⁹^(AH)The ^(AI)afflictions of the righteous are many,
But the Lord ^(AJ)rescues him from them all.
²⁰He protects all his bones,
^(AK)Not one of them is broken.
²¹^(AL)Evil will bring death to the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will suffer for their guilt.
²²The Lord ^(AM)redeems the souls of His servants,
And none of those who ^(AN)take refuge in Him will suffer for their guilt.

Footnotes

Psalm 34 Title Possibly a title of King Achish of Gath, see 1 Sam 21:10-15
Psalm 34:18 Or contrite

Psalm 52

New American Standard Bible

Futility of Boastful Wickedness.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you ^(A)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The ^(B)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
²Your tongue devises ^(C)destruction,
Like a ^(D)sharp razor, ^(E)you worker of deceit.
³You ^(F)love evil more than good,
^(G)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴You love all words that devour,
You ^(H)deceitful tongue.

⁵^[c]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and ^(I)tear you away from your tent,
And ^(J)uproot you from the ^(K)land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous will ^(L)see and fear,
And they will ^(M)laugh at him, saying,
⁷“Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But ^(N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And ^(O)was strong in ^[d]his evil desire.”

⁸But as for me, I am like a ^(P)green olive tree in the house of God;
I ^(Q)trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever.
⁹I will ^(R)praise You forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, ^(S)for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.